THE AUTHOR'S DESIGN.
The writer has spent much of his time
for thirty-five years in the study of electricity
and in inventing appliances for purposes of transmitting
intelligence electrically between distant points, and
is perhaps more familiar with the phenomena of electricity
than with those of any other branch of physics; yet
he finds it still the most difficult of all the natural
sciences to explain. To give any satisfactory
theory as to its place with and relation to other
forms of energy is a perplexing problem.
It is said that Lord Kelvin lately
made the statement that no advance had been made in
explaining the real nature of electricity for fifty
years. While this statement if he really
made it is rather broad, it must be acknowledged
that all the theories so far advanced are little better
than guesses. But there is value in guessing,
for one man’s guess may lead to another that
is better, and, as it is rarely the case that each
one does not give us a little different view of the
matter, it may be that out of the multiplicity of
guesses there may some time be a suggestion given
to some investigator that will solve the problem, or
at least carry the theme farther back and establish
its true relationship to the other forms of energy.
I cannot but think that there is yet a simple statement
to be made of Energy in its relation to Matter that
will establish a closer relationship between the different
branches of physical science. And this, most
likely, will be brought about by a better understanding
of the nature of the interstellar substance called
Ether, and its relation to all forms and conditions
of sensible matter and energy.
In the talks that will follow it will
be the endeavor of the writer to give such a simple
and popular exposition of the phenomena and applications
of electricity, in a general way only, that the popular
reader may get, at least, an elementary understanding
of the subject so far as it is known. As we have
said, the descriptions will have to be elementary,
for nothing else can be done without such elaborate
technical drawings and specifications as would be impossible
in our limited space, and would not be clear to the
ordinary reader who knows nothing of the science.
Thousands who are employed in various
ways with enterprises, the foundations of which are
electrical, know nothing of electricity as a science.
A friend of mine, who is a professor of physics in
one of our colleges, was traveling a few years ago,
and in his wanderings he came across some sort of
a factory where an electric motor was employed.
Being on the alert for information, he stepped in and
introduced himself to the engineer, and began asking
him questions about the electric motor of which he
had charge. The professor could talk ohm, amperes,
and volts smoothly, and he “fired” some
of these electrotechnical names at the engineer.
The engineer looked at him blankly and said: “You
can’t prove it by me. I don’t know
what you’re talking about. All I know is
to turn on the juice and let her buzz.”
How much “juice” is wasted in this cut-and-dry
world of ours and how much could be saved if only all
were even fairly intelligent regarding the laws of
nature! A great deal of the business of this
world is run on the “let her buzz” theory,
and the public pays for the waste. It will continue
to be so until a higher order of intelligence is more
generally diffused among the people. A fountain
can rise no higher than its source. A business
will never exceed the intelligence that is put into
it, nor will a government ever be greater than its
people.
Let us begin the subject of electricity
by going somewhat into its past history. It is
always well to know the history of any subject we are
studying, for we often profit as much by the mistakes
of others as by their successes. I shall also
give the theories advanced by different investigators,
and if I should have any thoughts of my own on the
subject I shall be free to give them, for I have just
as good a right to make a guess as any one. It
must be confessed, however, that the older I grow
the less I feel that I know about the subject of electricity,
or anything else, in comparison with what I see there
is yet to be known. I once met a young man who
had just graduated from college, and in his conversation
he stated that he had taken a course in electricity.
I asked him how long he had studied the subject.
He said “three months.” I asked him
if he understood it and he said that he
did. I told him that he was the man that the
world was looking for; that I had studied it for thirty
years and did not understand it yet.
“A little learning is a dangerous
thing” for it puffs us up, and we
feel that we know it all and have the world in our
grasp; but after we have tried our “little learning”
on the world for a while and have received the many
hard knocks that are sure to come, we are sooner or
later brought up in front of the mirror of experience,
and we “see ourselves as others see us,”
and are not satisfied with the view.
Whatever the theories may be regarding
electricity, and however unsatisfactory they may be,
there are certain well-defined facts and phenomena
that are of the greatest importance to the world.
These we may understand: and to this end let
us especially direct our efforts.