Invention Story of Electric Motor

Ever tried to count how many things around you have electric motor at its heart? The list is endless, starting from your clocks, cars, washing machines, DVD players, vacuum cleaners to hair dryers – most of the electric appliances around us have electric motor inside them. In case your heart is filled with gratitude for its inventor and you want to flip through the pages of the past to know how electric motor was invented, read on…

Like many other creations, this one was also a result of many brilliant and inquisitive minds. The foundation of electic motor invention was only laid after battery, magnetic fields from the electric currents and electromagnet made their way. Throughout the world, there were many inventors who passionately worked towards developing solutions in the electrical science field.

 The first electrical motor is known to have been a simple electrostatic motor fathered by Andrew Gordon in 1740s. Later in 1820, Andre-Marie Ampere discovered the Ampere’s force law – the principle that explained mechanical force production by interactions of magnetic field and electric current. This idea was further shaped into a reality by British chemist and physic, Michael Faraday. The man has been known for his electromagnetic induction discoveries and this certainly was one of the major breakthroughs in the field of electrical science.

Born in a poor family, this genius was an inquisitive soul from his childhood. To make his living, he used to work in bookbinding store in London. His passion for reading made him go through each book he bound. He was so fascinated by all this that he wanted to have a book of his own one day. Who would have thought that his passion and enthusiasm for reading would help him get a greater grip on his interest in the concept of force? This habit helped him while he was inventing at the later stage in his life. Using electromagnetic means, Faraday demonstrated conversion of the electrical into mechanical energy.  He did this by dipping a free hanging wire in the pool of mercury while placing a permanent magnet on it. On passing current through the wire, it rotated around magnet demonstrating that the passing current raised circular magnetic field around wire.

Though such a primitive motor was unfit for the practical use and could be merely used for demonstration in the physics classes by substituting mercury with brine, this laid foundation for this great invention. A curious mind and inspiration lead this man to build the basis of a great invention.

In 1827, Anyos Jedlik experimented with the electromagnetic coils and also solved many technical problems associated with the repeated rotation by introducing commutator. He called his device electromagnetic self rotator. A year after this, Anyos showcased his first machine that he claimed had three major components – rotar, commutator and a stator.

Some years later in 1832, William Sturgeon introduced first ever commutator DC electronic motor. Following the footsteps of Sturgeon, Thomas Davenport created a DC motor for commercial purpose. His machine could power the printing press as well as powered machines. But unfortunately because of high battery power cost involved Thomas became bankrupt. And due to these cost issues involved, the machine could not be used commercially.

1855 yet again Jedlik tried his hand at making the machine work and applied the same principles as his electromagnetic rotors.  Finally the first commercially booming machine was introduced by Zenobe Gramme in the year 1871. He introduced an anchor ring dynamo that took care of the double-T armature pulsating DC issue. Further in 1886, Frank Julian Sprague first feasible DC motor, this machine could maintain constant speed even under different loads.

After Francois Arago’s effort to put together rotating magnetic fields also known as Arago’s rotations in 1824, many other inventors made an effort to develop working AC motors in 1880s - Nikola Tesla and Galileo Ferraris developed rotating AC motors. But Ferraris’s motor was declared to be weak to make a commercial motor.

In the year 1888, Tesla presented a paper on alternating current transformers and motors. George Westinghouse bought Tesla’s patent and also hired him for developing them while CF Scott assisted him. Like many other glitches that make creation a bumpy task, the consistent speed of the AC induction was not considered to be suitable for the street cars. Westinghouse’s smart hires - the engineers working on its development adjusted it for powering mining operation in Colorado in the year 1891.

In the year 1886, an American industrialist named Sprague, introduced the first ever consistent speed DC motor. This allowed his company to issue world’s industrial electric motor catalogue. And soon in the year 1889-90, a Russian inventor and engineer Dolivo-Dobrovolsky introduced first ever cage-rotor versions of a three phased induction motor. Interestingly, these type of motors are used till date for the commercial purposed. Driven by his own invention, Dobrovolsky made a claim that motor by Tesla was unfit for practical use due to two phased pulsations.

Westinghouse was successful in achieving his first ever induction motor that could be used practically in the year 1892. He developed 60 hertz induction motor lien 1893 but all of these early motors were two phased motors. General Electric started producing three phased induction motors by the year 1891. In five years time, in 1896, Westinghouse and General Electric signed agreement for production of squirrel cage rotor.

In 1905, Alfred Zehden described linear induction motor that could be used in the lifts or trains in a patent form. And it took around thirty years from then for Kemper to build this linear induction motor for use 1935. This motor was further improvised by Laithwaite. He was the one to introduce first ever full sized working model of this induction motor.

It’s amazing to witness how conventional motors have progressed to be strong horse powered motors of today. Most of us would say we don’t see this wonder invention everyday just as we see other inventions around us. Think again! This underestimated invention is part of most of the electrical devices we use today. 

Invention Story of Lie Detector

We surely have come a long way in technological developments. Who among us would have envisioned a machine that could figure out whether a person was lying or not? There was time when finding this secret was just in hands of mystical beings or God. Isn’t it startling how a machine can read a person’s mind?

Inventor of Lie detector called it cardio-pneumo-psychograph. It was a magic box that had the power to peep in one’s mind and figure out who was pilfering jewelry and cash at college boardinghouse. But to future generations and newspaper reading people, this magic box was lie detector, a machine to help a way out of doubtful scientific credentials and dubious ethical aura.

In the era that led to birth of scientific industrial management, I.Q. test and time motion study, a group of American Inventors and the social reformers had dreamt of a device that could separate truth from the deception by measuring body responses like pulse rate, blood pressure.

One of the early proponents claimed that this ‘mechanical instrument of future’ would replace jury deliberations, conventional police interrogations. It would also lend a hand to government and private companies in weeding out spies, thieves. It would beam in deepest corners of human psyche and advancing works of psychiatrists. But the man behind the invention, John Larson despaired while taking his breaths and called it a Frankenstein’s monster that had sucked 40 years of his life.

The persistent as well as unusual grip of the lie detector on American thoughts provided rich material for Lie Detector’s invention. Various cases including that of Torso Murderers, Cleveland, story of Dick Tracy or William James stirred with scientific visions led to invention of lie detector.

Earliest antecedents of modern lie detector come from device that used trial by torture or ordeal. During Middle Ages in the Europe, torture was the practice that rooted from theory that stated - an agonizing body could oblige a lying mind to croak the secret out. But in 1730, this method of torture for extracting the truth from a person made an exit and a new lie detection method took over. Daniel Defoe was the earliest of men to suggest such a method through evaluation of heart rate. In 18th century, the torturous methods declined completely due to continuous campaigns against the judicial torture in the Europe. This humane way of detecting lie through lie detector was accepted by majority during this time.

The evolution of lie detector was slow but was a pioneering invention for the entire mankind. The emergence started slowly with the initial tests for determining the physical responses during act of deception. Cesare Lombroso also known as Father of the Modern Criminology was the first one to try of application of science for detecting deception. He made use of device known as plethysmograph that monitored changes in blood flow of person at the time of interrogation.

Another breakthrough came in the year 1897 with development of method to measure galvanic responses by B. Sticker. This method used amount of sweat produced on skin with the help of electric conductibility during the test. And in 1914, breathing rate measurement using the pneumatic tubing was done by Vittorio Benussi. This device was draped around the person’s chest for measuring the rate and depth of breath. Benussi discovered ratio of expiration and inspiration was usually greater at the time of truth telling than lying. This method of truth discovery by Benussi gave an important revelation that it was not just pulse rate, sweat production and the blood pressure that helped in lie detection but the breathing rates too. All these findings amalgamated together formed the modern day lie detector known as polygraph.

Earliest machine that took name of polygraph was originally copy machine invented by John Hawkins in year 1804. Name of the machine simply meant ‘many writings’, originated from Greek, early polygraph allowed users to write with the two pens at the same time, creating duplicate copy. In year 1908, an English doctor named James MacKenzie publicized in ink polygraph invention for monitoring cardiovascular responses of the subject taking blood pressure and pulse.

After a few years, in year 1915, William Marston who was American psychologist, started demonstrated lie detection tests to determine whether subject was deceptive using blood pressure cuffs for taking measurements of the systolic BP at the time of interrogation. He was of the strong view that the interrogation techniques used at conjunction with technology than technology itself that led to detection of lies.

As lie detector captured imagination of public, imitators soon entered the field. A doctor from Chicago doctor, Orlando Scott, endorsed Thought Wave Detector, with claims that it had the capability of tapping electrical current of brain. While suspect squirmed and sweated, a big needle sung forth and backwards between true and false option on a big dial.

Despite of the charlatans like Dr. Scott, lie detector made the headway in search for its respect and acceptance. In year 1923, legal decision barred the tests by lie detectors being used as the evidence in courtroom but at places like factories, government department, banks this magic box carved a place for itself offering an efficient solution for detection.

Advertisers too flirted briefly in various tests for finding what consumers thought about their gasoline, cigarettes and razors. Keeping censors in mind, even film executives used the findings for editing of films like Frankenstein. During cold war too, lie detectors were used by State Department for weeding Communist sympathizers out. Lie detectors have proved to be an amazingly useful technology for the world.

Invention Story of Camera

Camera is undoubtedly one of the most prized possessions for a lot of us and also one of the cherished creations. Our facebook  and other social networking profiles would feel neglected without pictures of us, our families, friends, and all other things around us. Social networking feels lifeless and incomplete without pictures. Camera has endowed us with an ability to put a face to a name in the internet world.

Just as Rome was not built in a day – modern day cameras have long history that goes back far in time. Cameras have witnessed many phases of evolution – camera obscura, daguerreotypes, dry plates, calotypes, film to SLRs and DSLRs.

It all started back in time of camera obscura - a device that used lens or pinhole to project images upside down on viewing surfaces by ancient Greeks and Chinese. In year 1544, this camera was used by Reiners Gemma Frisius, a mathematician for observing a solar eclipse followed by Giovanni Batista della Porta who recommended this as a drawing aid fourteen years later in 1558.

You will be amazed to know that there was a time where we did not have a method to preserve the images produced by the cameras. All one could do to preserve these picture s was tracing them with hand. The transition from room sized camera to a portable camera was envisaged in 1685 by Johann Zahn.
The first camera was invented by Alexander Wolcott. His camera design was patented on 8 may, 1840. With the invention of Alexander Wolcott it was possible to click candid pictures that did not fade away with time.
However, the earliest photographs were not taken with Alexander Wolcott's invention. It was Joseph Nicéphore Niépce who used a sliding wooden box to take photographs.

Nicéphore Niépce created a small camera using silver chloride coating on the paper that darkened on exposure to light and hence this was not permanent method of preserving photographs. To further improve the mechanism, he used wooden box camera created by Charles and Vincent Chevalier in 1826.

And this did not end Nicéphore’s keenness to endow a better device to the world of photography. Ten years later in 1836 along with Louis Daguerre, he created practical photographic mechanism known as daguerreotype. Louis coated silver on a cooper plate which was further treated with iodine vapour so that it could be sensitive to the light. The image could now be developed using solution of salt used with mercury vapour. Henry Fox Talbot – another name in the history of camera made an attempt to improve the process called calotype in the year 1840.

In 1855, collodian dry plates were available courtesy Désiré van Monckhoven. Soon with introduction of gelatin dry plate, Richard Leach Maddox gave a tough competition to quality and speed of the wet plates. This healthy competition to create better device gave birth to cameras small enough to be accommodated in hands. Now there were designs to choose from. Also the lower exposure times made candid photography possible.

The transformational introduction of the photographic films made a remarkable improvement in photography. George Eastman introduced the paper film in the year 1885 and soon in 1889 switched to celluloid. Kodak as many of you would remember was a gift from this gentleman. The camera came into the market in 1888. This was not a flashy camera – fixed focus, same shutter speed but the low price went a long way in appealing to the average consumers. This model came with ability have 100 shots with preloaded film which could be reloaded.

In 1990, Eastman took photography a step further with introduction of an inexpensive and simple box camera known as Brownie. This was a popular camera that captured the market till 1960s. Even with low cost photography options by Eastman, plate camera could offer quality prints and hence was popular even in 20th century. Oskar Barnack experimented by using 35 mm cine film in order to offer a camera capable of quality enlargements in 1913. This design was marketed by Leitz calling it Leica and was produced in 1925.

Kodak once again launched into the market in 1934 with Retina I introducing 135 cartridge. Even while this was introduced comparatively inexpensive, roll film was still a popular choice of the masses. Surprisingly the choice of masses transitioned to Argus A then Argus C3 in 1936 and 1939 respectively.  Also in 1936, Japanese too started to capture the market with introduction of Canon 35 m.

Franke & Heidecke Rolleiflex TLR is known to be one of the initial reflex cameras that came to the fore in 1928. The bulky reflex cameras were replaced by this decently compact camera. Such a revolution was also brought in the SLR designs during 1933 with birth of Ihagee Exakta followed by first ever western SLR that used 35mm film called Kine Exakta.

1952 saw first ever Japanese SLR with 35mm film – Asahiflex introduced by Asahi Optical Company. Soon the market was flooded with many other Japanese camera companies – Nikon, Yashica, Canon. With Nikon F line entry into the market, the company secured its position as professional-quality equipment company.

Among so much of improvement in the world of cameras, the masses witnessed a new type of camera entering the markets – polaroid model 95 in the year 1948. This was also known as the instant picture camera. This wonder camera was invented by Edwin Land who used chemical process for producing the prints from exposed negative within 60 seconds.

The world of cameras kept taking baby steps to enhance the photography experience. In 1960, German Mec 16 SB marked another technological advancement by placing light meter behind lens to better metering.  Digital cameras were introduced too - these could save pictures on the memory cards than using films.

And by late 1980s, there was a need to introduce commercially successful digital cameras and we saw cameras like Fuji DS-1P, Fuji DS-X, Dycam, Kodak DCS-100. With passing years, various formats like JPEG, MPEG became popular. Video recording was also made a part of the cameras to match up with growing demand.  And now one can find these cameras in phones with options of inbuilt GPS system and realtime geotagging options.

 From pinhole cameras to DSLRs – we surely have come a long way in the world of photography.