By Mary Bellis
Sir
Charles Wheatstone
Sir Charles Wheatstone, (b. Feb.
6, 1802, d. Oct. 19, 1875), was an English physicist and inventor whose
work was instrumental in the development of the telegraph in Great Britain.
Telegraphy
William Cooke and Charles Fothergill
Wheatstone were two physicists and inventors who worked together in Great
Britain. The Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph was patented in 1837, using
the principle of electromagnetism. Samuel
F.B. Morse, an American inventor and painter developed another version
of a telegraph at around the same time, called the Morse Telegraph. Morse's
system was eventually adopted as the standard technique.
According to "TELEGRAPHY"
http://www.alpcom.it/hamradio/storeng.html
The WHEATSTONE needle telegraph comes as an application of the AMPERE
telegraph of 1820.In it the current delivered by a VOLTA battery reached the tip
of a magnetic needle causing it to oscillate. In the very first models the
number of the metal wires and of the needles corresponded to the alphabetic
letters: one can understand why its use was fairly complex. A big improvement
was made by STEINEL and WHEATSTONE, who used batteries with D.C. and
electomagnetical devices; the english physicist CHARLES WHEATSTONE (1802-1875),
the inventor of the instrument to measure the electrical resistance, was in
effect the first applier of the electromagnet.
Accordian and other Inventions
Charles Wheatstone was the inventor
of the accordion in 1829.
Wheatstone also invented three-dimensional
photographs in the form of a stereoscope in 1838.
Charles
Wheatstone (1802 - 1875)
Born into a musical family, it was
sound that first captured Wheatstone's imagination. In 1821, he began classifying
vibrations, the basis of sound.
Charles
Wheatstone
In September, 1821, Wheatstone brought
himself into public notice by exhibiting the 'Enchanted Lyre,' or 'Aconcryptophone,'
at a music-shop at Pall Mall and in the Adelaide Gallery. It consisted
of a mimic lyre hung from the ceiling by a cord, and emitting the strains
of several instruments -- the piano, harp, and dulcimer. In reality it
was a mere sounding box, and the cord was a steel rod that conveyed the
vibrations of the music from the several instruments which were played
out of sight and ear-shot.
Related Innovations
The
Telegraph and Telegraphy
The
History of Microphones
Sound
Recording
