Open Writing

All is well! There is a solution to the problem of future electricity supplies. It does not involve fossil fuel, nuclear power, tidal power, thermal power, or wind power. Mr Whitney, a scientist in Chicago, has come up with a much more ingenious solution. He has patented a system whereby a cable is launched into the ionosphere to collect power from outer space. The lower end of the cable will be anchored to a tower back here on our needy planet.

Mr Whitney, also described as a lawyer, proposes a 150-mile long cable in five sections of diminishing strength. It seems that the first 17-mile section, in particular, would weigh less when upright than it would on the ground. 'The electrical force of the ether' will keep the cable straight, stretched and tight.
Yes, it sounds like one of those mad ideas you find on the Disinformation Highway of the Internet. In fact, Mr Whitney filed his remarkable patent in 1903. Unfortunately, he did not specify the materials to be used in the manufacture of the cable. He did, however, say that it could be launched by means of a small powerful cannon or an airship. Maybe something more like a rocket would have been needed?

Electricity is a wonderful thing. In the same year, a Mr Collins of Edinburgh patented his Improved Electrical Hair Brush. By means of a battery in the back of the brush, an electric current is sent to the scalp via the bristles. Well, not exactly bristles. It was to be a wire brush. He didn't explain how to deal with the consequent scratches, burns and scars on the scalp. He was not, after all, an electrical engineer or a physician. He was a perfumer.

H.S.Park's Magnetic Curative Appliances were given a glowing testimonial in 1880 by Mr J. Manchester: 'I can certainly say that I derived great benefits from your Magnetic Appliances for my chest.' As his full name was the Rt Rev. James Fraser, Lord Bishop of Manchester, that's quite a commendation. The appliances, available for many parts of the body and many afflictions, were made of light material. They generated electricity 'without the aid of Voltaic Batteries, Metallic Plates, Chain Bands, or Acids'. Furthermore, they gave no shocks and caused no sores.

In the mid 1700's, physicians had already used electricity as a means of healing. Paralytic limbs had been loosened. A 'universal tetanus', in which parts of the body were completely immobilised, had been cured. Headaches, sciatica and toothache had been alleviated. Indeed, a Mr Lovet declared that toothache is generally cured in an instant by the use of electricity. Even deafness was cured. At least, these were the claims made by various gentlemen at the time and reported in the first edition of Encyclopædia Britannica.

As might be expected, 'Secrets of Art and Nature', published in 1660, says nothing about electricity. It does, however, cite a means of deterring a particular electrical phenomenon, thunder: 'Bury a Sea Horse skin in the ground, in that Countrey, and no Thunder will fall there.' The publisher of that book also produced 'Panacea, or the Universall Medicine; being a Discourse of the Admirable Nature and Virtues of Tobacco', by Dr. Everard and Others. It's useful to know about these things. isn't it?

The ancient Greeks knew about the effects of electricity but did not know what it is. They wrote of small particles which could penetrate and move through solid matter. Its power in natural phenomena and the movement of human limbs came into their thinking.

It was not until 1776 that Alexander Volta invented the first generator of electric current. Yes, his name gave rise to the eponymous term, volt. Not too long after that, in 1818, Mary Shelley published her ground-breaking novel 'Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus'. Victor Frankenstein puts together parts of different corpses and uses electricity to bring his new creation to life. The novel is still in print after nearly 200 years.

Now back to the present day and our big problem. If you can offer a guaranteed method of getting Mr Whitney's 150-mile long cable up into outer space . . . don't ring us; we'll ring you, OK?

*

References
Encyclopædia Britannica, A.Bell and C.Macfarquar, Edinburgh 1771.
Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Ultimate Reference Suite.
Punch's Almanack for 1882.
Dale, R., & Gray, J., Edwardian Inventions 1901–1905: An extravaganza of eccentric ingenuity. W.H.Allen, London 1979.
Richardson, M., The Penguin Book of Firsts, Penguin Books, Ringwood, Australia 1997.
Wecker, J. & Read, R., Eighteen Books of the Secrets of Art & Nature, Simon Miller, London 1660.

© Copyright Brian Barratt 2008