Airships
Retro-futurist Anticipations
03/25/2009 16:58
Things to track down:
HG Wells Anticipations and Wells’ life.
Other people to consider? Oscar Wilde?
Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) (also built the Crystal Paris, Santiago rail station, etc) and also.
Also Edison’s life in pics (Pop Sci 1929)
Maybe the thing that killed the airship was its military use in WWI. If not for that, it may have prospered, and the French and British may have continued working on it, as well as Count Zeppelin. Also, and here’s a brief timeline:
Sir William Ramsay (1895) discovers helium in rock – large concentrations found in France.
In 1896, “Public Opinion” reprints an American military article on “The Influence of the Air-Ship on War.”
1901 Smithsonian article on “Count von Zeppelin’s Dirigible Airship.”
1903 Outing presents “Yachting Among the Clouds.”
In 1909, McClure’s Magazine featured a long article on “The Aërial Battleship.”
1919 artcicle on “Commercial Production of Helium”
Pop. Sci 1923 was talking about US airships and helium…
Even 1945 Pop Sci was still hoping for a new airship age…
And then there’s real transportation for the people – bicycles!
And the occasional steam-bike.
Okay. Back to the causes of WWI. For my purposes, this might be boiled down to basically, Bismarck and the isolation of France from GB. The 3rd Republic , probably some good things in the Boulanger and Dreyfus crises (and) – this would be a good way to incorporate CB, Thiers, the Paris Commune, Zola, and even to flash back to Disraeli, Rothschild, and Paine v. Burke.
HG Wells Anticipations and Wells’ life.
Other people to consider? Oscar Wilde?
Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) (also built the Crystal Paris, Santiago rail station, etc) and also.
Also Edison’s life in pics (Pop Sci 1929)
Maybe the thing that killed the airship was its military use in WWI. If not for that, it may have prospered, and the French and British may have continued working on it, as well as Count Zeppelin. Also, and here’s a brief timeline:
Sir William Ramsay (1895) discovers helium in rock – large concentrations found in France.
In 1896, “Public Opinion” reprints an American military article on “The Influence of the Air-Ship on War.”
1901 Smithsonian article on “Count von Zeppelin’s Dirigible Airship.”
1903 Outing presents “Yachting Among the Clouds.”
In 1909, McClure’s Magazine featured a long article on “The Aërial Battleship.”
1919 artcicle on “Commercial Production of Helium”
Pop. Sci 1923 was talking about US airships and helium…
Even 1945 Pop Sci was still hoping for a new airship age…
And then there’s real transportation for the people – bicycles!
And the occasional steam-bike.
Okay. Back to the causes of WWI. For my purposes, this might be boiled down to basically, Bismarck and the isolation of France from GB. The 3rd Republic , probably some good things in the Boulanger and Dreyfus crises (and) – this would be a good way to incorporate CB, Thiers, the Paris Commune, Zola, and even to flash back to Disraeli, Rothschild, and Paine v. Burke.
Turn of the Century Tech
03/24/2009 18:08
Ideas from today’s research:
William Thomson: Transatlantic Cable – Lord Kelvin
1851 Dover-Calais cable.
1853 Port Patrick-Donaghadee cable
1856 Atlantic Telegraph Co., William Thomson a director.
1858 Ireland-Newfoundland cable. Proves Thomson’s mirror galvanometer, but quickly fails.
1865-6 Two attempts, 2nd a success (plus recovers the first cable and completes it). Thomson knighted.
1892 Victoria creates Thomson (then Pres. of Royal Society) Baron Kelvin of Netherhall.
(Alexander Russell, Lord Kelvin: His Life and Work, 1912)
Paris Pneumatic post network
1867: Wheatstone Automatic telegraph – “electric Jacquard” used morse code on punched tape.
1874: Jean Maurice Emile Baudot’s 12x line multiplexer uses 5-unit binary electrical pulses. Baudot’s apparatus was very stressful to operate, due to the timing requirements. But in general, technological improvement changed telegraphy from a high-skill to a low-skill job.
The telephone completely eliminated need for skilled intermediary. June 1877: 230 phones, July: 750, August: 1300, 1880: 30k.
Samuel FB Morse and Jedediah Morse – Illuminati conspiracy.
A couple more books on Tesla (and also on Edison, Westinghouse, Steinmetz, etc.) came in today, so there’s info to process…
1905: “How to recognize the Autos of Today” and. Also the Berliet “French Mercedes”, How to recognize buses, and, and; taxis (and their history). Edison, batteries, more batteries and White Steam Cars
In the air, the Davidson Aeroplane, the Lebaudy airship (and a wiki) and the Antionette Co. (Fr) made planes and efficient gas engines 1903-12. An Antionette engine powered Paul Cornu’s first helicopter in 1907. The Wright Bros first flight and Alberto Santos Dumont (Brazilian airship maker and first European flight), and, and , and, and a wiki. And of course, Count Zeppelin.
Finally, a Renault racer, an Oldsmobile Van, a Steam Motorcycle, and Sir Marcus Samuel Bart., who started Royal Dutch Shell.
William Thomson: Transatlantic Cable – Lord Kelvin
1851 Dover-Calais cable.
1853 Port Patrick-Donaghadee cable
1856 Atlantic Telegraph Co., William Thomson a director.
1858 Ireland-Newfoundland cable. Proves Thomson’s mirror galvanometer, but quickly fails.
1865-6 Two attempts, 2nd a success (plus recovers the first cable and completes it). Thomson knighted.
1892 Victoria creates Thomson (then Pres. of Royal Society) Baron Kelvin of Netherhall.
(Alexander Russell, Lord Kelvin: His Life and Work, 1912)
Paris Pneumatic post network
1867: Wheatstone Automatic telegraph – “electric Jacquard” used morse code on punched tape.
1874: Jean Maurice Emile Baudot’s 12x line multiplexer uses 5-unit binary electrical pulses. Baudot’s apparatus was very stressful to operate, due to the timing requirements. But in general, technological improvement changed telegraphy from a high-skill to a low-skill job.
The telephone completely eliminated need for skilled intermediary. June 1877: 230 phones, July: 750, August: 1300, 1880: 30k.
Samuel FB Morse and Jedediah Morse – Illuminati conspiracy.
A couple more books on Tesla (and also on Edison, Westinghouse, Steinmetz, etc.) came in today, so there’s info to process…
1905: “How to recognize the Autos of Today” and. Also the Berliet “French Mercedes”, How to recognize buses, and, and; taxis (and their history). Edison, batteries, more batteries and White Steam Cars
In the air, the Davidson Aeroplane, the Lebaudy airship (and a wiki) and the Antionette Co. (Fr) made planes and efficient gas engines 1903-12. An Antionette engine powered Paul Cornu’s first helicopter in 1907. The Wright Bros first flight and Alberto Santos Dumont (Brazilian airship maker and first European flight), and, and , and, and a wiki. And of course, Count Zeppelin.
Finally, a Renault racer, an Oldsmobile Van, a Steam Motorcycle, and Sir Marcus Samuel Bart., who started Royal Dutch Shell.
