The Scientific Papers of Sir Charles Wheatstone

by Wheatstone, Charles

• ISBN13: 9781108032025
• ISBN10: 1108032028
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-08-25
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802-75) was a shoemaker's son whose fascination with physics led him to become one of the most celebrated scientists and inventors of his time. Apprenticed to his uncle, a musical instrument manufacturer, Wheatstone studied the physics of sound, publishing his first scientific paper in 1823. He was the chief developer of telegraphy, inventing increasingly advanced instruments for transmitting and receiving information. Telegraphy revolutionized communication in the Victorian era, eventually making almost instantaneous global communication possible. This collection of Wheatstone's works, first published in 1879, spans his entire career and includes fully illustrated details of many of his pioneering inventions. His broad-ranging research led to numerous important advances; those in telegraphy and cryptography were still in military use as late as the Second World War. This collection is a valuable source for the history of science, and a fitting tribute to Wheatstone's 'industry and versatility'.

Table of Contents

Preface

New experiments on sound

Explanation of the harmonic diagram

Description of the kaleidophone, or phonic kaleidoscope

Experiments on audition

On the resonances, or reciprocated vibrations of columns of air

On the transmission of musical sounds through solid linear conductors, and on their subsequent reciprocation

On the figures obtained by strewing sand on vibrating surfaces, commonly called acoustic figures

An account of some experiments to measure the velocity of electricity and the duration of electric light

An account of several new instruments and processes for determining the constants of a voltaic circuit

On the thermo-electric spark

Description of the electro-magnetic clock

Enregistreur électromagnétique pour les observations métorologiques

Note sur le chronoscope électromagnétique

An account of some experiments made with the submarine cable of the mediterranean electric telegraph

On the position of aluminum in the voltaic series

Télégraphe automatique écrivant

On the circumstances which influence the inductive discharges of submarine telegraphic cables

Description of the telegraph thermometer

On a new telegraphic thermometer, and on the application of the principle of its construction to other meteorological indicators

On the augmentation of the power of a magnet by the reaction thereon of currents induced by the magnet itself

On a cause of error in electroscopic experiments

Experimental verification of Bernouilli's theory of wind instruments

Remarks on Purkinje's experiments

On the prismatic decomposition of electrical light

Contributions to the physiology of vision. On some remarkable, and hitherto unobserved, phenomena of binocular vision

On a singular effect of the juxtaposition of certain colours under particular circumstances

On a means of determining the apparent solar time by the diurnal changes of the plane of polarization at the North Pole of the sky

Experiments on the successive polarization of light, with the description of a new polarizing apparatus

Note relating to M. Foucault's new mechanical proof of the rotation of the earth

On Fessel's gyroscope

On the formation of powers from arithmetical progressions

Interpretation of an important historical document in cipher

Instructions for the employment of Wheatstone's cryptograph

Reed organ-pipes, speaking machines, etc.

On the vibrations of columns of air in cylindrical and conical tubes

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