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Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
17
In
1823,
his
uncle,
the
musical
instrument
maker,
died,
and
Wheatstone,
with
his
elder
brother,
William,
took
over
the
business.
Charles
had
no
great
liking
for
the
commercial
part,
but
his
ingenuity
found
a
vent
in
making
improvements
on
the
existing
instruments,
and
in
devising
philosophical
toys.
At
the
end
of
six
years
he
retired
from
the
undertaking.
In
1827,
Wheatstone
introduced
his
'kaleidoscope,'
a
device
for
rendering
the
vibrations
of
a
sounding
body
apparent
to
the
eye.
It
consists
of
a
metal
rod,
carrying
at
its
end
a
silvered
bead,
which
reflects
a
'spot'
of
light.
As
the
rod
vibrates
the
spot
is
seen
to
describe
complicated
figures
in
the
air,
like
a
spark
whirled
about
in
the
darkness.
His
photometer
was
probably
suggested
by
this
appliance.
It
enables
two
lights
to
be
compared
by
the
relative
brightness
of
their
reflections
in
a
silvered
bead,
which
describes
a
narrow
ellipse,
so
as
to
draw
the
spots
into
parallel
lines.
In
1828,
Wheatstone
improved
the
German
wind
instrument,
called
the
MUND
HARMONICA,
till
it
became
the
popular
concertina,
patented
on
June
19,
1829
The
portable
harmonium
is
another
of
his
inventions,
which
gained
a
prize
medal
at
the
Great
Exhibition
of
1851.
He
also
improved
the
speaking
machine
of
De
Kempelen,
and
endorsed
the
opinion
of
Sir
David
Brewster,
that
before
the
end
of
this
century
a
singing
and
talking
apparatus
would
be
among
the
conquests
of
science.
In
1834,
Wheatstone,
who
had
won
a
name
for
himself,
was
appointed
to
the
Chair
of
Experimental
Physics
in
King's
College,
London,
But
his
first
course
of
lectures
on
Sound
were
a
complete
failure,
owing
to
an
invincible
repugnance
to
public
speaking,
and
a
distrust
of
his
powers
in
that
direction.
In
the
rostrum
he
was
tongue-tied
and
incapable,
sometimes
turning
his
back
on
the
audience
and
mumbling
to
the
diagrams
on
the
wall.
In
the
laboratory
he
felt
himself
at
home,
and
ever
after
confined
his
duties
mostly
to
demonstration.
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