Stories of Inventors

Russell Doubleday (1872 - 1949)

Doubleday chronicles the history of everyday inventions that form the foundation of technology now common through the world. While some of the inventions are no longer used, each example shows how inventors contributed to technology through perseverance, inspiration and clever observations. In each chapter, he gives a clear, understandable background of the technology.

Many of the now outdated inventions may have inspired later inventions by meeting emerging demands. For example, Edison's filament bulb is now being phased out by more efficient CFL's, but Edison's contribution to indoor lighting likewise removed the need for inefficient gas-burning lamps. While trains for carrying mail and freight have largely been replaced by more nimble semi trailers, one example shows how technology can translate from ground to air travel. Trains with curved pipes that scooped water to refill reservoirs could be controlled from the train engine-cab without stopping, and mirrors the in-flight refueling systems that keep aircraft flying without the need to land. Although computers have replaced typewriters, word processing programs and web browsers justify text with similar algorithms. (Summary By LivelyHive)

Genre(s): *Non-fiction, History, Science

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 Contents and Introduction LivelyHive
00:03:08
Play 01 How Guglielmo Marconi Telegraphs Without Wires LivelyHive
00:37:52
Play 02 Santos-Dumont and His Air-Ship LivelyHive
00:34:34
Play 03 How a Fast Train Is Run LivelyHive
00:15:24
Play 04 How Automobiles Work LivelyHive
00:25:05
Play 05 The Fastest Steamboats LivelyHive
00:14:50
Play 06 The Life-Savers and Their Apparatus LivelyHive
00:21:42
Play 07 Moving Pictures—Some Strange Subjects and How They Were Taken LivelyHive
00:25:34
Play 08 Bridge Builders and Some of Their Achievements LivelyHive
00:28:47
Play 09 Submarines in War and Peace LivelyHive
00:36:46
Play 10 Long-Distance Telephony—What Happens When You Talk into a Telephone Receiver LivelyHive
00:25:02
Play 11 A Machine That Thinks—A Type-Setting Machine That Makes Mathematical Calculations LivelyHive
00:10:04
Play 12 How Heat Produces Cold—Artificial Ice-Making LivelyHive
00:17:38