the stories behind gadgets
DESCRIPTION
This book is a history of very important ancient inventions.TRANSCRIPT
© Fatima Talib. All rights reserved. No part of
this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without prior written permission of Fatima Talib.
IMPORTANT This book has parallel stories to actual events with false names
of characters please do not tell of the stories as real with the names given in the book. References are given in back of actual
names and of any other possibly false information. Any other
resemblances of events or places are entirely coincidental.
Dedicated to:
My teachers for encouraging,
My parents for supporting,
And to those who braved the reading.
Fatima Talib is an 8th grade
student at Eastern Middle
School. Born in Udaipur
Rajasthan, India, she was 18
months old when she came
to America. She loves
reading and enjoys writing
very much and has a
growing love and interest in
technology and its history.
In this book, she strives to
make the concept fun and
easy for everyone to
understand as well as
appreciate.
The Creation of Inventions and the Discoveries
of Mysteries
Necessity is the mother of Inventions, they say, necessities such
as war and horrifying living conditions. So are accidents.
Accidents are just another name for “discoveries”, just like the
“discovery” of the New World. The wheel, the axle and the
lever were created by necessity for heavy objects, but what
about electricity? That’s one of the questions that will be
answered in this chapter.
Electrical Bracelet
Once upon a time, in Turkey in 600 B.C, there was a man named
Thales of Miletus. *It was his marriage anniversary day, and he was
walking through the town square rather panicked. It was almost 8:00,
time to go home and he hadn’t purchased a gift for his wife! He
couldn’t find anything in his budget and he was sure to be kicked
out of the house tonight. He sighed, at a loss for what to do.
Just then he heard a rather loud and rickety voice screeching
“Get beautiful amber necklaces on sale!”
“Sale!” he exclaimed.
He quickly went to the stall and asked to see the best of her
wares. The old woman smiled and shuffled over to a small bag that
jingled as she opened it. She rummaged around and then smiled as
she found what she was looking for. She shuffled back and placed
the necklace on the worn wooden counter. It was a beautiful amber
necklace with amber beads that were held in place by swirling gold
and silver cases that didn’t cover the whole bead. The beads were
large and it was all beaded onto a delicate gold string that looked
so fragile that it seemed as if it would be broken if a small breeze
touched it. He decided it was perfect for his fiery, beautiful wife. But
then he hesitated… It looked incredibly expensive, and he frowned.
The shopkeeper noticed and softly whispered, “Do not worry it
is only five gold coins.”
At that Thales grinned. He took seven gold coins out of his
pocket, and gave them to the woman and said, “Keep this from me
as a thank you gift, and a good afternoon to you!” The woman
smiled and waved good bye as Thales left. She grinned as she
hoped that the rest of the afternoon for Thales wasn’t as stressful as it
had been in the beginning.
****
Thales walked back grinning to himself happily. He had the best
present he could give his wife and it had only cost five gold coins! As
he put the necklace into his pouch and walked home, he didn’t
realize that the ambers were rubbing against the rough wool of his
pouch, and creating a result that would be the beginning of a
millennium of intense movement in science and technology.
****
As Thales reached his home, he happily reached out to knock
on the door but almost fell inside as his wife immediately opened the
door with an expectant face stuck outside.
Thales smiled and said, “It’s a surprise, you’ll have to give me
mine first!”
His wife’s face dropped into a sad pout, but she gave in and
opened the door to let Thales in. There was a merry fire in the
fireplace, and the two sat down on the floor close to the hearth. He
sighed as he looked at his wife, and reached into his pouch to take
out the surprise present, and yelped as a small bolt of static
electricity went through his hand.
He looked at his hand closely to see if it was burned or not. It
did not appear to be. He reached into his pouch again to take the
necklace out and the shock appeared again, only somewhat
slighter. He grabbed hold of it and pulled it out, minding to keep it
hidden in his hand as his wife took out his present. As she was busy
making it look nice he wondered about the shock he had received
from the amber.
What was causing it? He resolved to figure it out in the morning.
After that last thought, Thales spent the rest of his afternoon happily
exchanging gifts with his wife, unknowing that the next morning
would yield great results for him.
*The situation of an anniversary gift is not true, neither is Aphrodite, but the
finding of electricity through Thales rubbing the amber is true.
The Name
*So how did we get the name electricity? Electricity is actually
the Greek name for amber. This name was coined by William Gilbert.
William Gilbert is taken to be the Father of Electricity. Mr. Gilbert
wrote a very legendary book called De Magnete. Gilbert studied all
of the myths regarding magnets, and electrical phenomena. This
included clearing fuzzy understandings between the amber’s static
electricity and magnetic workings. He proved wrong the myth of
garlic altering the direction of magnetic compasses. He also showed
that the magnetic readings changed all the time because of Earth
spinning on its axis. Yet he never showed biasness towards either the
belief of Earth being the center of the universe and heavens, or Earth
rotating inside the heavens and around the Sun. One of Galileo’s
experiments, creating a powerfully armed Lodestone for one of his
patrons, was most probably impacted by reading De Magnete. The
Copernican followers or the people that believed that the Sun was
the center of the Universe, and that the Earth orbited around it were
using the magnetic proofs made by Gilbert to endorse and develop
the Copernican theory.
*All true.
*I was working on my light bulb. It had been going great, you
know, all the theories I had they were perfectly in place and it was
working! But there was this one problem. The light bulb darkened too
fast. I thought… What can it be? Was it the negatively charged
atoms?
Instead, I reasoned, I should go home and get a good night’s
rest so that I can think of the reason and a solution early tomorrow
morning. After all, I also have to run the tests! I went home, still trying
to think up ideas as to why the filament did not last… But before I
could get any ideas, the door to my home loomed in front of me.
I smiled as my wife Mary limped over to the door before I could
knock, and smiled broadly as she ushered me in. She hung my coat
onto the coat hanger, and as I was sitting down onto our sofa, she
brought out some fresh made chamomile tea, and fresh biscuits.
They were undoubtedly homemade.
I smiled at her, “How wonderful! You didn’t have to go through
all that trouble, especially when you are sick, my dear.”
She blushed at my praise, and replied, “Well honey, I thought
you were almost done with your light bulb thing and you’re so
excited, and since it apparently works, I wanted to make a pre-
celebratory something for you.”
I grinned happily, and gave the first bite of the biscuit and the
first sip of the tea to her, and said, “I’ll personally take you out to
dinner once I’ve finished this project, promise. And, I’ll try to keep
from doing a project immediately so that we can be together for
some time before I have to go again. There’s also your illness I’m
worried about.”
Mary smiled ruefully, “Honey I know you love doing this, and I
don’t want to take time away from it. How about I go to the
physician next door and see what’s going on, and tell you tomorrow
night. Just make sure you don’t overwork yourself.”
I looked at Mary carefully, and saw that she had black bags
under her eyes, and her bones were showing quite clearly. I knew
she was eating enough, so what could it be?
“Where does it hurt Mary dear? Can you tell me?” I asked.
Mary told me that her stomach hurt, and that she had these pink
dots showing up on her abdomen, and chest. I asked her a few
questions, and after I was done, I was anxious. It seemed very bad. I
would most definitely take her to the physician tomorrow myself.
“Mary, I am very worried, and therefore I shall not go to the lab
tomorrow, and instead I will go to the physician with you.” I said.
So the conversation continued, and the night wore on. Finally
at around 10:00 PM I got to sleep. The next morning, I woke up bright
and early, determined to go to the lab and find out what that pesky
problem is. I gave my sleeping Mary a kiss on the cheek, and left with
a small whisper of goodbye.
I arrived at the laboratory before anyone else, and
immediately starting trying to figure out why it wasn’t working. I knew
that there were negative electrons hitting each other
when the electric current was turned on. I think,
because the atoms were being recycled, and so
they…expired? So they hit the glass of the bulb,
making it black… It definitely sounds right… I think to
“release” the expiring atoms I can have a cooling
metal plate versus the previous heating plate I
already have, so that they atoms release their
energy, and die, allowing room for more atoms… That’s a good
theory! Maybe it will work! I should patent it… I called it the Edison
Effect.
So then I added a cooling metal plate, and voilà! It worked! I
had figured it out! I just needed to get the finishing touches in, and it
should be ready to work… Of course there is a lot of electricity used,
but it also comes out in a useful manner right? And then there are
the gas emissions of course… But better than fire and kerosene, I say!
Since it was after 11:00 P.M, (I know where does time go when you’re
having fun?) I decided to go home. I had to check on Mary, I didn’t
want her to have any problems, and I admit I was not turning out to
be a good husband.
I hurried home, and knocked at the door, when no one
answered, I yelled at the top of my lungs.
“Mary!” Still, no one answered. But a short moment later, I
heard some serious coughing. I grew scared, and knew immediately
that I would have to break the door.
“What a shame…” A voice said inside my head. But I frowned,
and continued on my decided course. It took a few tries, but I
succeeded in breaking down the door.
I rushed inside, and found Mary on the bed peacefully
sleeping. I breathed a sigh of relief, and leaned against the doorway
with my arms folded.
***
Later I found out that Mary had gone to the physician all by
herself, and had found out that she had typhoid. I was a very
worried by that, and found out that typhoid is a medium term
disease. It takes around three weeks for the symptoms to appear,
and patients usually get 103˚-105˚ fevers.
I kept Mary in bed for the next few weeks, and completely
postponed my light bulb for as long as it took. Mary
was very sick, and if her health was anything close to
bad before, it deteriorated hopelessly in a few days at
most. I stayed by her bedside, and only went to the
laboratory when absolutely important.
These were the times when I absolutely needed
a telephone. I did not want to leave Mary at the least,
but was wanted at work. So, as soon as I could, I
resolved to go buy a telephone, not considering the price. After all,
after I released the light bulb, I would be amid piles of money I
reasoned.
Then it struck me, if I released my light bulb right now, I might be
able to get money for Mary’s medical help!
I told Mary, who was in a drowsy state these days in her bed,
what I was going to do, and heard her murmur her consent. I ran out
the door as fast as I could, and to the laboratory. I called my head
assistant, Nikola and told him what I had planned.
I asked him where he had kept the light bulb. He replied, “I
have kept it where you last put it, sir. I was not sure whether you
would like it being moved or not, since it might be fragile. I have told
everyone to work around it, and not touch it.”
I grinned at my assistant, and gave him a light slap on the
back and said, “That is precisely why you are my head assistant
Nikola. Keep it up.” He led me to where the bulb was, and I
immediately tried turning it on. It worked beautifully, but a few
seconds later there was a blast of light and then it shorted out. Both
Nikola and I jumped, startled. I looked at the bulb, and saw that the
cooling plate was loose.
I asked Nikola to get my toolbox pronto, and within 30 seconds
it was in front of me. I set about carefully opening the screws of the
light bulb’s glass case, and carefully removed the screws attaching
the cooling plate. Then I got sharper screws, because the others had
gotten duller and were not fitting inside the holes. I screwed them in,
and since they were so incredibly small, I had to use my smallest
screw driver.
It took me two hours to get the cooling plate properly out of
the bulb, and then an extra half an hour to get the cooling plate
back in position, to where it was, and another 15 minutes putting the
screws into the holes. By the time I looked up, it was after sundown,
approximately eight o’clock.
*Light bulb facts true, private life untrue. Name of wife is true, as well as
death by typhoid, as well as symptoms. The dialogue is untrue, created by author.
*I was working as usual on my brilliant light bulb. But, every time
I turned the light bulb on, there were these photons jumping out at
the glass. They just wouldn't go to the other end of their "signal"!
What should I do? I thought at my laboratory, sitting after hours. They
needed a focus, but what is that focus? It needed to be magnetic
for the atoms; specifically, photons. Well, not necessarily right? There
was one thing common between all atoms, that negative was
attracted to positive. Of course once they met they would
technically leave in a burst of light, as the notion of quantum
mechanics goes towards. But what if I didn't use positive atoms to
attract the atoms towards the signal? After all I didn't want a
quantum explosion within a glass light bulb that would be really bad,
and would my whole house to a completely different level of energy
with it. I thought and thought as I went outside to have some fresh air
for a break. I came across two children playing outside. There was
one African child, and one white child. I could plainly see that they
were having a lot of fun when some rude shouting started ringing
through my ears.
I turned around to see what it was, and saw a white woman,
presumably the white child's mother running towards the child and
shouting to, "Get away from that black nigger Charlie!" I frowned at
the behavior, and was amused to see the child look grumpily
towards its mother, and frown. Then turn back and continue happily
passing the ball to and fro with his African friend.
Just as the African child was about to pass the ball back to the
white child, the mother caught up to where they were, and slapped
the African child, and yelled at him for "Having the guts to play with
[her] Charlie!" She bent down to her child and looked over him
closely, examining and cooing to him softly. I heard her ask if he was
okay, and whether the "nigger" had hurt him. The white child started
crying and the woman kissed his forehead, shooting the African
child a venomous look. I couldn't stand it anymore, and went over to
the African, who was sobbing gently and had a scared and
confused look on its face. It was as innocent as the white child had
been, and had done nothing wrong. I bent down and put the child
into my arms, where he sobbed freely. I hugged him, and whispered
softly to calm him down.
I asked the woman what the child had done, and she replied,
"He played with my child! Do you know how influential my family is? I
could've killed this child and not gotten in trouble. All I've done is
given him a slap that he deserved."
I looked at her in a confused way, and said, "I am nowhere as
influential as you, yet you can bear talking to me. What has this child
done, he doesn't believe in racial injustice as you do. He is as
innocent as your child. He deserves everything your child deserves.
What if it was your child being slapped by an African woman? How
would you feel? Would your heart not burn as every African mother's
does when she sees her child being whipped for no particular
reason?"
The woman huffed and puffed but had no answer. After wiping
her child's eyes, she rose up, took the child's hand and started
walking away. The child tried to resist, and reached its hand out
towards his African friend, but his mother continued pulling him
away, starting a new round of tears. After which the mother held him
in her arms to keep him from running away. I took the African child
with me to my laboratory having learned a perfect way to make my
light bulb work.
I put the child down, and asked him where his parents were. He
replied that they were in the nearby supermarket. I told him that I
would take him there right away. I set him off the stool and held his
hand as we walked towards the supermarket. As we walked I started
talking to him, and looked at him closely. He was a very handsome
species, with a straight nose, full lips, high cheekbones and a high
intelligent seeming forehead. I knew I would see him somewhere
when he grew up doing something big.
I asked him, "What do your parents do?"
He replied, "Oh, my parents are cleaners and servants at Big
Mother's house. They works from 5 o'clock in the morning to 9 o'clock
at night, but they's happy. They says the Big Mother keep ‘em in a
good place compares to their friends, the Johnsons. We's the
Blackwells. Do come meet us sometimes? We lives at Big Mother's
house too, in the servants quarters, mummy calls it. You do know
where Big Mother's house is, right? The house is two miles to the left of
the supermarket. It’s big and white, and it has lots of porches, they're
a brown color. You'll come wouldn't you?" he begged.
I smiled and said, "Of course I'll come. First let us find your
mummy and daddy. They must be really worried about you."
We went to the supermarket, and the first person that saw us
coming in was by fortune the child's mother. I guessed because of
his shouting, "Mummy!" I smiled as she looked at me with tears in her
eyes, and she fell to my feet thanking me. I told her to get up, and it
was no big deal. She went back to her child, and frowned, looking
worried as she saw a mark on the child's cheek.
"What’s this honey?!" she asked him, but all the child could do
was start crying, so she looked at me for a possible explanation. I
nodded, and she came over. I told her the whole story, and she
looked in horror at me and then back to her child, went back quickly
to get the child and hold him in her arms as he cried, rocking him
gently. I could see the tears beginning to course again from her eyes
as I finished. She thanked me for my efforts with a hoarse voice, and
repeated her child's previously given invitation to visit them. Then she
turned away, and quickly started walking towards a man I presumed
was her husband from the comparison of his looks and his child’s. I
saw the child go to sleep in his mother's arms, the day's events
already forgotten.
I turned back and started walking back to my laboratory,
thinking about what had happened. I had definitely learned
something from the ordeal. I knew exactly how to fix my light bulb
now.
The whole scene had started out with a white child, either
positive or negative charge, playing with a black child, an opposite
charge to the one being used as the white child. The ball was the
atoms. So, the point of this comparison was that, the atoms (the ball)
were not the dependent variables they were the independent
variables, so their change did not depend on any factor. However,
the signal, the dependent factor needed another factor. That factor
was a positive charge. I would need a positive charge versus a
negative charge, to “attract” the atoms. The fundamental law of
magnets is that “opposites attract”, therefore, a “negative” atom
would be pulled towards a positive charge! Therefore, if I had an
opposing charge, a positive charge for the negative one already
there, then I would need a holder for the positive charge.
I had it all figured out, and I had made a new…thing too…
What should I call it? I think I’ll go with, the Edison Effect. Maybe
patent it too…!
*Way Edison Effect works is true, as well as Thomas Edison. Way Edison had idea
is fiction, created by author. Dialogue is also fiction, created by author.
Humankind has always tried to measure time. The first
measurement of time that every culture had is the measurement of
noon, afternoon, midday, and dawn, morning, and meal times. The
calendar was the second. The Babylonians came up with the idea
that there are 360 degrees in a circle, giving the rest of the world the
idea, that in one circle (revolution) around the world, there should
be around 360 days. Therefore, becoming the first steps to the
calendar system. The Mayans developed the first calendars, ending
them at December 21, 2012, a date we've all come to know. Since
then, different cultures have developed different systems of
calendars, so that there is the lunar calendar, used by the Arabs,
and the Russians, the Gregorian calendar used by most of Europe
and America, and the Hindu calendar and the Chinese calendar,
the Julian calendar as well as the Vietnamese calendar. But humans
were also centered on precise times, and various cultures have tried
out their luck at a system for precisely measuring this illusion of time.
They've been trying since the 2nd millennium B.C. The first was the
water clock by the Arabs, then the sun dial by the Romans, and the
tower clock by the Chinese. The modern clock came along first in
1656 through the first pendulum clock created by a Dutch scientist
by the name of Christian Huygens. Since then, there have been
many different clocks created. There are the pendulum clocks, the
father clocks, two hand clocks, digital clocks, and watches, a
revolution which was also then integrated into cellphones and other
such portable electronic devices.
*The first "shadow clocks" were created by the
ancient Egyptians, and Mesopotamians. The latest surviving samples
date back to 1500 B.C. There are also books found that date back to
1290 B.C instructing how to create "shadow sticks". The first
measurement of time was probably done using the gnomon, a
vertical stick or pillar read using the shadows seen. The Egyptians
had large obelisks to use as sundials. These were usually put in the
middle of the town square. The obelisks were put into place making
sure that they were in line with the North Star for precise results.
There were cuts made into the ground indicating the times of day for
more accuracy. There were ten day hours, and two "twilight hours"
one in the morning, and one in the evening. The Egyptians had a
tool called the merkhet, the oldest used astronomical tool. Two of
these were put up in line with the Pole star, creating a north south
line. They were used to mark of nighttime hours by measuring the
other stars that went by the line created by the merkhets. The sun
dial ran on the belief that the Sun was the middle of the Universe.
But this was problematic, as revolutions around the Sun
were done in decimals, and not a whole number. Therefore, the
dates changed, and things such as daylight savings occurred, yet
there was no way to count those with the sun dial. This eventually
became extremely problematic in the year 46 B.C, the year of
confusion in Julius Caesar's reign of Rome. There were days being
celebrated not in their traditional season, i.e. in winter, but instead in
summer. This was fixed by Julius Caesar, and with the help of the
newly made Julian calendar, Christiaan Hugneys made his famous
pendulum clock.
*All true
*It seems so obvious to us. There are 365.25 days in a year. Big
deal, we just measure the amount of days it takes to send us around
the Sun, right? After all, a year is a single revolution around the Sun.
But the question arises, how exactly do you know how long a day is?
How do you know it really is twenty four hours? If you didn't establish
how long a minute is, how would you establish an hour? And if not
an hour, how then a day, a month, and how would you establish a
year? Those were the question people had to deal with before
clocks were created, before they could measure anything. For
measurement of distance, the Greeks did not have rulers, they had
their feet. That was their basic unit of measurement. Yet they made
the most amazing architectures seen in the world; something that
we're still trying to figure out using our high-tech equipment.
So, who was the genius that figured out how to use a year? It
was King Caesar of Rome. Julius Caesar was one of the most
popular, and well known kings of Rome, and the world.
*All true
*In Rome, everyone was really confused. The times that they
used were not precise enough. The dates that they had been using
for some time, such as three kings day was in winter. But it had not
been in winter in the past few years. In fact it had been in summer!
Why were the dates so messed up? They still celebrated it on the
same day. But it would not work. So, King Caesar used the help of
one of Cleopatra’s astronomers, and added two more months to
the year 46 B.C, making it the year of confusion, and giving it 378
days instead of the actual 365. But these extra 13 days helped bring
the year back into order. After that, Caesar’s astronomers helped
create the 365.25 day calendar, now called the Julian calendar. This
discovery has helped the theories of time ever since, and helped
perfect the clock.
*All true
Everyone uses time, has used time, and will continue for as long
as there are organisms on this Earth. All species have their own
concept of time. Humans created clocks for the most precise
timings. We all know how to read time, but no one really knows how
the process of clocks works. What makes the gears tick as the time
goes by? What is that force? We will explore that hear with our Hero
of Time, Dutch scientist, Dr. Christiaan Huygens.
I was working in my lab, still making telescopes and
microscopes. I was bore; I needed something more, something that
had not been done yet; a challenge. I thought of what that could
be. Could I challenge myself in a topic that I wasn't too focused on,
such as literature? Maybe I could write a book. Nah, I thought.
Something very challenging in a field I knew as well as the palm of
my hand. I needed to do something in science. There were a lot of
things the world did not know of yet, such as a precise way of
measuring time.
Just as I was thinking, one my close friends came up next to
me, with a newspaper cut out.
He said, “Christiaan! Look what they have in the newspaper!
I grinned at my friend, and gave him a big hug, thanking him.
I said, “Thanks man, I needed something like this. It’s perfect!
I was thinking about doing a challenge. Making these telescopes
and microscopes is boring. All you have to do is change the designs
outside, and change the magnifying levels. I used to do this for
bigger industries when I was a little kid. I need to do a challenge
something of my own. Something that will give me a higher status,
Offering 1000 f for engineer.
Need someone to create a non-human effort using clock, must be
mechanic. Need it done within one
week at most. Also will get rights to invention for patenting and
selling.
and will help me gets higher as an engineer. You know what I
mean? I actually want to do something for us, for humankind." My
friend nodded, a bit overwhelmed.
I grinned at him, "Sorry. I got a bit overboard there didn't I?" He
nodded uncertainly. I thanked him, and he left the newspaper cut
out with me. I looked it over, and saw the address the advertiser had
listed;
I went to the given address, and knocked at the door.
A pretty girl answered and said, “Hallo”
I replied with the greeting, and said, "I am answering the
advertisement given out by Mr. Vries?
The girl replied, "Yes, what about that?"
I said, "I would like to take part."
The girl replied, "Of course you may, but unfortunately, my
Vader forgot to post that this is a nation-wide competition."
This made me even more excited, and so I asked, "I agree to
the terms then, and one more question,"
"Yes?"
"There are more people competing right?" I said grinning.
"Of course," The girl grinning, "there are ten participants as of
now. I would advise of you to go back to your lab, as I presume you
have one, now, since your time has started...now."
I said a quick goodbye, and ran as fast as I could back to the
laboratory. The girl had been wrong; I did not have my own
laboratory...yet. But once I had won the competition, as I was
certain I would, I intended to make my own laboratory and carry out
House #12 St. Paul’s St. Hjraalen,
The Netherlands
more experiments, and help more people. Besides, then I could woo
the girl as well. I smiled to myself.
I rushed to the director's office, and asked for a one week
leave.
He looked up startled, and asked, "Why on Earth would I give
you one Christiaan?"
I replied, "Because I'm taking part in a nation-wide clock
making competition, and the winner will get 1000 f as winning prize,
as well as patenting and selling rights. I am sure to win, and if I win, I'll
give you a...35% profit in the money I'll make after selling the clock
commercially. How is that?"
My boss mock-glared at me, "Only 35%," he said, "If you want to
get a one week leave, then it will cost you 40% profits my boy. After
all, you're the best engineer we have here. No one works on a rate
as fast as yours here," he grinned, "Tell you what, you can go right
now." I thanked him, winking as I left. I ran down the street and went
to my small ocean side apartment. I immediately got out my
toolbox, and a picture of my mother in front of me, and sat at my
balcony in my yoga position thinking about how I would do this.
First, I thought about what would definitely be needed in a
mechanical clock. There are a few basic things that are going to be
needed to make any mechanism work,
A force
Friction to make the force not go too fast
Something to measure it with, a plate with marks on it
And the markers themselves.
There were 365.25 days in a year, and 24 hours in a day. So,
how long was an hour, and how long smaller markers to make sure
that the hours were on time? I would have to figure all that out. So I
set about doing just that. Doing that took me around two or three
hours, after all, it was basic algebra.
In the end I had it all figured out. There were 60 minutes in an
hour, and 60 seconds in a minute. If there were 360.25 day in a year,
then it was about 360 days a year, a circle. I thought; why not make
it a circle shape? It would definitely beat all of those boring square
shapes that all the other inventors would bring. It also related to the
theme, I smiled to myself.
After that, I had to think about what I would need next. I
thought about the force, it would have to be something that kept
the gears moving. A brilliant idea hit me. What if the force was a
pendulum? Its swinging motion would keep a potential energy there.
It's swinging would also keep the gears constantly moving, making
human efforts non-necessary! It was perfect. I would have to use a
timer and a precise amount of weight to make the pendulum. I
would also need proper fitting gears to make them run smoothly. I
would need to measure the lot. But for that, I would have to start
with one object's measurement.
I decided that I would go with the measure of the pendulum.
That way I could measure the weights of the gears that I would
need, and design the outsides.
I realized that I would also need a chain, or something like
a rope to connect the pendulum onto the gears. They would have
to be connected, or they would have to have an indirect pathway.
Hmm... I thought how about I connected the pendulum to the gear
that will move the "hands" as I had started calling the little markers of
the plate that the marks would be on. Since there were twelve hours
of day and night coming together to make the 24 hours total, I
decided to make 12 total marks, and then since I had 60 minutes in
an hour, I would divide the 12 into five part, so that five*twelve would
beget 60 minutes total.
I had all of my calculations done, all I had to do now was get
my parts, and measure the weights and sizes, put them together,
and I was done! It took me four days, out of the remaining six days I
had to get the inner parts of my clock ready. After that, I had to
design the outsides of my clock. I wanted to do a vintage look, so I
decided with wood. It was also the cheapest thing I could get. After
the other purchases, out of the 500 f I had, I was only left with a minor
100. I had to get the best decoration I could, not gaudy of course,
with the least amount of money I could muster. For myself, I only had
200 f that I could spend. My deadline was also coming up fast.
I finished up the inner workings all tonight, and went to
meet up with one of my old time friends. Someone I knew would do
anything for me. I got to his wood carving shop by 6:30, a time I
knew that he does not get too many customers in. I knocked on his
specially carved mahogany door, and went straight on in. I found
him sitting on his stool aimlessly staring at the floor. All of the days’
projects done, sitting on his table, and if they were too large, then
they were sitting on the floor. There was a large intricately carved
door, a bust of a man’s head, a small structure of swirly lines ending
on a ballerina poised on the tip of a swirl, and other such intricacies.
He stood up as I approached, and I showed him the
clock, which I had been carrying in a sturdy burlap bag with some
packaging so that it wouldn’t be knocked dead by swinging against
something as I ran to his shop. Leon looked startled as well as curious
as I took out my contraption.
In a hoarse voice he asked, “What in Earth’s name is that
Christiaan?”
I replied, “It’s a clock. Something everyone will be using once I
win a competition. I want you to make a cover for it. Just a flat
cylinder, it should cover the whole contraption, and have a space
for a keyhole in the back, which you will also make, and a large hole
as the top base. I want a two stopper holes on the top part of the
lateral face of the cylinder, and… Oh yes, a make two small cylinder
with the bottom base having a small hole as well, and the bottom
part of the cylinder’s lateral face should have two small legs as a
stand.” When I was done giving the details, Leon as looking
completely overwhelmed and had wide eyes staring at me in
disbelief. Now, I had suspected something like this, so I had created
a diagram of the case for Leon. I showed it to him now, and he
sighed in relief.
“I thought I would never be able to understand the first
sentence you said there, Christiaan!” he exclaimed.
I grinned at him and said, “Do not worry Leon. I am not
completely oblivious to how other people think.” Leon smiled at me,
took the diagram and asked all the necessary questions that carvers
must ask. Such as, what type wood do you want? Should it be rough,
or smooth, what type of design do you want on the sides, Victorian
or Greek basic, and all else? I answered all of his questions, and
asked him when he would be done.
He replied, “I…should be done by tomorrow at 12 o’clock.” I
thanked him with a smile and left, thinking of the good night’s sleep I
would get tonight.
I reached home, and went straight to sleep. When I woke up in
the morning, I saw it was 12:30, so I went straight to Leon’s shop, and
asked him for the clock. He smiled at me, and returned to his table,
looking around for the clock. I almost thought he could not find it
when he returned with it safe and sound. I sighed in relief, and
looked closely at the case. It was a real beauty. Now all I had to do
was put the clock into the case, and make sure it worked.
I thanked Leon, and went straight home, not smiling yet,
knowing that there was more to do and that I could not celebrate as
yet. When I got home, I attached the rope to the pull string hole,
and gear so that when I pulled it the potential energy turned into
kinetic energy and so the process happened to every gear keeping
them constantly moving. I attached the rest of the parts and fitted
them into the clock’s wooden case.
After I was done, I cautiously pulled the pull string and…it
worked! I was so happy I could’ve died right there. Such a needed,
such a revolutionary invention, and I had made it. Not just that, I had
made it within five days! I started crying, happy and sad tears. I was
happy that it worked but extremely sad that I did not have anyone
to share with. My whole family was either dead, or if they were alive,
I did not know about them.
After I had finished my little celebration, I headed off to the
advertiser’s home again. I was met with the girl I had talked to last
time, and she saw the bag in my hand, and gasped.
“You actually made it?” she exclaimed.
“Of course I did.” I grinned.
“Vader will be so glad.” the girl said, leading me to her father.
She took me to a deep room, which I guessed was her father’s
study, and introduced me to her father.
“Vader, this is Christiaan Hugneys, one of the competitors for
the competition we had set up.” Mr. Vries looked me up and down,
judging me. He himself had white hair sprinkled with quickly
disappearing pepper gray hair. A tall and broad man, with a slight
swoop I guessed was the result of older age, though he was still a
good 5-6 inches taller than me.
I started taking out the contraption, and put it on his desk. His
eyes widened as he saw it, and I had a feeling that somehow he
already knew how it worked and what it was. I looked at him,
startled. He took it into his hands, and saw the hour, minute and
second hands ticking about. He shook his head up and down every
time a second went by.
He looked up from my contraption with great difficulty to look
at me, and said, “You have done it Mr. Hugneys. I congratulate you,
and here is your 1000 f, as promised.” As soon as I took it, he sat back
down in his chair, staring at the book he had been reading earlier. I
looked at the girl, confused, and she gestured for me to come with
her. I obligingly followed, and she led me back to the front door.
“Thank you very much. You have made my father very happy.
It was his dream to see this, to be able to measure time. You made
him very content…very satisfied. I would advise you to commercially
sell this clock and make a profit, and help the world measure time.”
With that, she shut the door in my face, and I never heard of the
Vries ever again.
But as for me, I did sell the pendulum clock, as I called it, and
made lots of money. I did give 40% of the shares to my boss, and
returned to my job for a while too… Until I realized that there was no
point, so I retired early and enjoyed my wealth until I died. That is the
story of my pendulum clock and I.
*All true except for the newspaper ad, the Vries, Leon and his shop, and the
dialogues and thoughts in this story.
Ever since then, there have been many new types of clocks
made; quartz clocks, atom clocks, and digital clocks, but they all use
the same idea. So we thank Dr. Christiaan Hugneys for his
contributions in the field of time.
There have always been multiple ideas behind every
revolutionary invention. The only difference between the inventors
and us is that they were always introduced to the revolutionary
ideas; we need to go look for them. Never be discouraged, always
go ahead, no matter what comes in your path. You will be able to
gain your final destination if you work for it.
This was the starting of the world of inventions, the first
revolutionary things that came along.
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