Inventors at Work, with Chapters on DiscoveryIles, George
History
Inventors at Work, with Chapters on Discovery
Iles, George
Inventions -- History; Inventors
Gramme showed four of his dynamos at the Vienna Exhibition. M. Fontaine,
an electrician, saw a pair of loose wires near one of the machines and
attached them to its terminals; the other ends of the wires happened to
be connected with a dynamo in swift rotation. Immediately the newly
attached machine began to revolve in a reverse direction as a motor.
Thus by an accident, wisely followed up, did electricity add itself to
motive powers, establishing an industry now of commanding importance.
In the chemical effects of a current we have parallel facts. Expose a
nickel-iron plate to the alkaline bath of an Edison storage cell; at
once the metal begins to dissolve, yielding a current. Now send a
slightly stronger current into that plate; forthwith the plate picks out
iron-nickel from its compounds in the liquid, growing fast to its
original bulk. So many cases of this kind occur that chemists believe
that synthesis and electrolysis are always counterparts. Be that as it
may, we must remember that often chemical action is much more intricate
than it seems to be at first sight. Thus in dry air, or even in dry
oxygen, iron is unattacked; but bring in a little moisture and at once
oxidation proceeds with rapid pace. So with the combustible gases
emerging from the throat of a blast furnace; they refuse to burn until
they meet a whiff of steam, when they instantly burst into flame.
Chemical energy usually moves in a labyrinth which the chemist may be
able to thread only in one direction. A retracing of his steps is for
the day when he will know much more than he does now.
Ovens and Safes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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