,,wireless ,,possibilities              
,,to-,,day ,,and ,,to-,,morrow ,,series 
,,daedalus1 or ,science and the ,future 
,by ,j4 ,b4 ,s4 ,haldane    ,,icarus1 or
 ,the ,future of ,science         ,by   
,bertrand ,russell1 ,f4,r4,s4    ,,the  
,,mongol ,,in ,,our ,,midst1 or ,man and
 ,his ,three ,faces         ,by ,f4 ,g4 
,crookshank1 ,m4,c4,f4,r4,c4,p4         
,,wireless ,,possibilities         ,by  
,prof4 ,a4 ,m4 ,low      ,in            
,preparation         ,,tantalus1 or ,the
 ,future of ,man         ,by ,f4 ,c4 ,s4
 ,schiller      ,e4 ,p4 ,,dutton        
,,company          ,,wireless           
,,possibilities    ,,by    ,a4 ,m4 ,,low
    ,late ,hon4 ,asst4 ,professor of    
,physics  at the ,royal ,artillery      
,college  ,author of 8,the ,two-,stroke 
,engine10 etc4    ,illustration3 ,logo  
,with four diagrams    ,,new ,,york  ,e4
 ,p4 ,,dutton  ,,company  #fha ,fifth   
,avenue          ,copyright #aibd  ,by  
,e4 ,p4 ,,dutton  ,,company    ,all     
,rights ,reserved      ,printed in the  

,united ,states of ,america             
,,to  ,,john ,,low          ,,preface   
,the effects of history upon the advance
 of science are often noted1 but  the   
result of the march of progress is more 
often entirely neglected4    ,it would  
seem desirable that the future should be
 studied with  reasonable accuracy if we
 are to protect ourselves from the      
ill-effects  and obtain the benefit from
 the good fortunes of invention4        
,a4,m4,l4          ,,wireless           
,,possibilities          ,,invention    
,considering the very evident fact that 
we owe every detail of our  lives1 every
 little comfort which separates us from 
the cave-man1 to  the science of        
invention1 it seems strange that so long
 should have  elapsed before this       
remarkable faculty received proper      
recognition4    ,invention1 in many     
ways1 is the science and art of         
continuity of  thought4 ,the inventor is
 often referred to as a strange person2 
very  true1 very necessarily true when  

we realise that his doings must be      
strange or new1 to be of value4 ,to     
train oneself to forget the smell  of   
the beefsteak when hungry and to        
continue the natural sequence of  ideas 
which may be passing through the mind1  
is to train the brain to  improve4 ,if  
we can but sweep a crossing a very      
little cleaner than  that next to our   
own1 perhaps we have surely accomplished
 one of the  greatest duties of all4    
,if not one day is spent without        
something learnt1 surely we have        
achieved the greatest object of work and
 enabled ourselves to realise  that     
there are no such things as basic facts4
    ,invention is not labour1 for the   
latter is doing something we do not     
wish to do in some one else's time1 and 
invention like all good things  is a    
work of love4 ,possibly that is why it  
is never paid6    ,we are too apt1 ,i   
think1 all of us1 to rejoice in our     
greatness as  her devotees rejoiced in  
the greatness of ,diana of the          

,ephesians3 we  should realise every    
time we undress that we are little      
removed from  the animal1 and that      
before many centuries have passed we    
shall be held  in almost universal      
contempt4    ,if that does not stir us  
to do our best1 we are indeed a nation  
of  shopkeepers4 ,but even the          
proprietor of the meanest store relies  
on his  powers of prophecy for his      
profits4    ,the science of wireless is 
but a few years old4 ,we know about it  
little  more than our schoolboy sons1   
and in many cases not so much2 let us   
therefore be open-minded if we are still
 ignorant4    ,commercial invention     
trusts too far to mass thinking3 an     
original  mistake is very closely       
related to an accomplishment4           
,,the ,,importance ,,of ,,sound ,,in    
,,wireless      ,a few lines of history 
are desirable here4 ,i do not mean the  
history  controlled by the fact that    
,william the ,conqueror made many       
important  appointments in ,a4,d4 #ajff 

or that ,stephen was particularly busy  
in  ,a4,d4 #aajj4 ,i mean the history of
 wireless1 for1 although ,radio ,science
  is new1 it has a history2 all time is 
relative1 and we ourselves are          
functions of that phenomenon4    ,only a
 few years ago the efforts of wireless  
experimenters were  entirely directed to
 the converting of the extremely        
delicate wireless  oscillation1 still   
but little understood1 into a mechanical
 movement1  in order that the motion of 
electrons in a problematical aether     
7which  may be nothing but a thought    
projection and which may exist in many  
different forms7 might be altered into  
something readable by a man with  a     
check waistcoat and a stock and share   
list in his hand4    ,that particular   
use1 and the information that one army  
is about to kill  another could be      
transmitted to headquarters1 naturally  
occurred to  everyone as the first      
valuable applications of ,radio4    ,the
 many devices1 the electro-magnetic     

receivers1 tape machines1  coherers1    
syphon recorders and the thousand and   
one electrical machines  produced at the
 time for these purposes1 have          
practically all gone4    ,even when     
to-day we want to send messages quickly1
 we record them upon  a ,dictaphone and 
rely almost entirely upon the sense of  
hearing4    ,sound1 the regular         
oscillation1 and noise1 the irregular   
oscillation1  of the air1 are really the
 beginning and end of wireless as it is 
known  to the public to-day4    ,i would
 go further when thinking of the public4
 ,they do not want to sit  with a       
telephone upon their heads1 even if     
their ears may be improved  thereby4    
,they require to walk into a            
drawing-room1 and having stood  for a   
moment upon the mat1 they must be able  
to cross the room1 touch  a button in a 
fretwork cabinet1 and by the movement of
 a lever be  able to place themselves in
 touch with any part of the world4      
,paris1  ,hong-,kong1 ,london1 all must 

be one to them if we are to get their   
money  for our art4    ,in other words1 
we are compelled to use what we now     
designate the 8loud  speaker40 ,we have 
got to project a sound into the room    
before we can  sell our instruments1 and
 therein lies one great difficulty4     
,in the first place we dare not         
exaggerate the movements of a delicate  
telephone very much or we shall spoil   
it--therefore we construct  something   
which looks very much like a magnified  
telephone with a  trumpet upon it4 ,the 
mechanism is naturally rather heavy as  
regards the  moving parts4 ,in order to 
vibrate these heavy parts with the aid  
of  our aetherial oscillations we have  
to amplify the available current1  and  
during this process we naturally spoil  
the detail1 or1 in other  words1 we     
magnify it so much that electrical      
distortions occur through  the whole    
range of various transformers and other 
items sold by every  shop in the        
world--at double their value4    ,most  

people are not content with a gentle    
sound3 they find it necessary  to       
express their joy at having reached     
their home by dancing2  consequently    
they want plenty of sound1 and they do  
not mind if it  turns into noise4       
,they will tell you boldly that their   
wireless set with a couple of  dozen    
foreign-made valves can be heard right  
across a large street1  a street by the 
way in which we still permit as much    
nerve-shattering  noise to occur as is  
thought necessary4 ,this means that we  
must  have quite a big movement on a    
diaphragm of large size1 and a large    
diaphragm is made to move by the        
electrical oscillation1 itself not  very
 accurate2 naturally1 if it is heavy1   
like a poker or anything  else1 it has a
 will of its own1 and therefore it      
continues to move when  the wireless    
oscillation has told it to stop4 ,it    
does not even commence  to move when it 
is told to do so1 as it would were it a 
thin delicate  telephone diaphragm from 

which accurate music can be obtained4   
,this means further distortion1 and so  
bad is it that a great many  people say 
plainly that they will only listen to   
wireless concerts  through a telephone  
and that they will only use crystals to 
obtain  rectification because of the    
inaccuracies otherwise unavoidable      
to-day4    ,but this is not business1   
because do not forget we must have our  
cabinet with a fern upon it and         
beautiful music1 if we are to be        
successful4 ,business always leads      
science1 as we know4    ,now think why  
it is that we need this big diaphragm   
moving so hard to  get a big noise2 let 
us neglect electrical details and       
consider what  produces the noise2 or   
sound1 if we are lucky4    ,sound is    
unfortunately purely a mechanical       
phenomenon as we chiefly  understand it1
 and is produced by oscillations1       
alternate compression  and rarefaction  
of the atmosphere4 ,unlike the aether1  
which sometimes  oscillates only too    

readily1 air is a heavy material and has
 great mass4    ,you will soon find this
 out if you put your head out of a      
railway  carriage window1 because the   
air is so heavy that we have got to     
really  kick it and hit it hard before  
we can obtain a reasonable degree of    
noise4    ,when a speaker is standing at
 one end of a room1 irrespective of what
  he says1 the actual temperature-rise  
of the air can be measured1 a fact      
which was used during the war for the   
inspection of sound4    ,sound is a very
 complicated thing4 ,it can be reflected
 in much the same  way as light1 and ,i 
suppose most school-boys know that if a 
concave  mirror is at one end of a room 
and a similar mirror at the other with  
a watch hanging at its focus1 the watch 
cannot be heard by an observer  walking 
across the room1 yet as soon as he      
places his ear at the focus  of the     
other mirror he will hear the tick      
clearly1 showing that sound  is easily  
reflected4 ,everybody who has heard an  

echo should know this4    ,sound travels
 also very slowly1 and there is plenty  
of time for wind  and different         
mechanical scraping effects to spoil the
 purity and  partially absorb its       
delicacies4    ,illustration3 ,fig4 #a4 
,sound can be focussed by a concave     
reflector and  by this means the tick of
 a watch can be heard at a distance4    
,the watch  and the end of the wooden   
rod are placed at the focus of the      
reflector4    ,remember that if ,i am   
addressing a man by wireless who is one 
hundred  miles away1 someone who is     
listening on a telephone will hear my   
voice  before ,i am heard at the end of 
the big hall where ,i am speaking1      
because the velocity of sound is only   
#aajj feet per second1 and  wireless1   
like light1 travels much faster4 ,sound 
can also be actually  refracted4 ,just  
as the old-fashioned jeweller used a    
globe of water to  concentrate the light
 upon his work1 so will a collodion     
balloon filled  with carbon dioxide1 the

 ordinary gas product of average        
combustion1  act as a lens for sound1   
which can be actually focussed by these 
means4    ,this exemplifies the         
complication of our subject1 and        
indicates that  the heavy diaphragm and 
other details of the loud speaker must  
produce  serious distortion4    ,let us 
be honest at once4 ,we can only hear    
such distant places as  ,america by the 
grace of heaven4 ,even ,sunlight can    
tune sweet song into  vague cracklings4 
,until true tuning can be obtained we   
are largely at  the mercy of the        
reproducing instrument1 which too often 
exaggerates  every fault and gives the  
impression that wireless and music are  
in no  way related4 ,no loud speaker of 
to-day really produces voice and song   
which sound exactly like voice and song4
 ,it all too much resembles a  bad      
gramophone1 but without the advantage of
 the user having the choice  of the     
music4    ,if user and manufacturer     
would concentrate upon obtaining purity1

 if  they would try the effects of      
damping upon loud speakers1 which are   
easily obtained2 if they would realise  
that the horn of the loud  speaker      
should be without resonance1 that it    
should be also damped  and pocketed1    
that its goose-necked shape is not      
adopted without an  object1 and if they 
would aim at the delivery of true music 
instead  of noise--then1 we should make 
a great advance4 ,the average loud      
speaker can often be greatly improved by
 padding the horn with some  kind of    
tape1 and as an example of the great    
difficulties of proper  transmission let
 it be made quite clear that with most  
cases of  wireless communication the    
sending is nearly perfect4 ,reception is
  greatly at fault3 it is the reception 
that mangles the sound and makes  it too
 often almost unbearable to anybody of  
reasonably sensitive  hearing4    ,at   
some large transmission stations it was 
at one time quite common to  use three  
separate microphones for the modulation4

 ,one received notes  of high pitch1 one
 of low1 and a third attempted to obtain
 the 8,s0  sound with the result that1  
when this 8,s0 microphone was adjusted  
for a  man who did not say his 8,s0 very
 loudly and someone appeared who did1   
it sounded exactly as if the speaker had
 dropped his false teeth4    ,all this  
is now avoided4 ,the ordinary diaphragm 
is no longer in use1  but a very small  
coil of aluminium wire is suspended     
between the poles  of an electro magnet1
 allowed to rest against an ordinary pad
 of  cotton wool1 and that is all6      
,the infinitesimal movements of this    
aluminium coil will reproduce  speech up
 to about #dj1jjj periods per second in 
oscillatory speed1 yet  speech is well  
recognisable if all frequencies over    
#d1jjj per second  are gridded out4     
,how difficult it is going to be to make
 a large1 heavy1 and rapidly  moving    
diaphragm reproduce accurately when we  
have had to take all  these precautions 
to obtain accuracy of transmission6 ,it 

is not  impossible2 it will come one    
day4    ,now let us see what is the     
result of our sound troubles4    ,we are
 told that before long it will be quite 
easy to hear birds  singing in trees and
 the waves beating against the seashore4
 ,quite  right1 quite easy to do it now1
 but if a bird singing in a tree sounds 
like a man moving his condenser or      
walking about with a pair of squeaky    
boots1 is it progress8    ,illustration3
 ,fig4 #b4 ,if light falls on a very    
thin diaphragm carrying  a mirror1 the  
sound waves being directed into it by a 
trumpet can be  photographed upon a     
revolving sensitised film4    ,perhaps  
it is4 ,the whole point of wireless is  
that it brings a man into  your room1   
but it must sound like the man himself  
if it is to be really  effective2 it is 
this pitiful quality of reproduced sound
 that has  wrecked the talking cinema4  
,it is very easy to photograph sounds   
and to reproduce them  simultaneously   
with the projection of a picture1 but to

 reproduce  all the sounds of a cowboy  
scene accurately is1 at present1 almost 
impossible4 ,if a hero says 8,good-bye0 
to a heroine with a kiss like  a        
creaking board1 in the middle of a      
twenty-reel drama1 instead of  improving
 upon the effect of your imagination1   
which tells you that it  is real1 and   
which acts the scene for you better than
 it can be shown  in life or sound1 it  
would be like putting up a blackboard   
across the  screen with the words       
written upon it1 8this is not real--it  
is only  a fake40 ,that is what is      
wrecking the talking cinema4 ,as a      
scientific  proposition it is easy1 but 
the results are not good enough at      
present1  and1 if we can improve1 let us
 first consider the loud speaker4       
,the talking cinema will come as a      
matter of course4 ,it is so easy to     
record sounds upon the film by          
photography with reproduction by the    
selenium cell or the neon tube2 it is   
easy to photograph the wave2  it is easy

 actually to impress the sound wave upon
 the film with the  picture1 or to use a
 gramophone2 but reproduction is not    
like a human  voice4 ,neither as yet is 
any reproduction ever like the voice    
itself4  ,let that painful fact be      
remembered4    ,unfortunately1 from the 
business point of view1 the long        
distance  reproduction effect is usually
 satisfactory even when re-broadcasted  
upon telephones1 and for business       
purposes it is immaterial whether the   
voice that records the profit or loss is
 harsh or pleasant4    ,so the greatest 
effects we shall soon see from wireless 
and sound  are these3 we shall be able  
to speak to people all over the world by
  relaying and a combination of         
land-line and radio2 we shall easily be 
able to connect our office with a       
wireless station on the coast1 radio    
across the ,continent1 and then connect 
by land-line to another office  on the  
other side of the ,atlantic4    ,all    
this is so easy that no one can doubt   

that we shall soon listen in  to native 
jamborees2 no one can doubt that we     
shall hear the strange  cries of        
partisans at a baseball match taking    
place a few miles from  ,new ,york2 no  
one can question these things1 and when 
reproduction  becomes so accurate that  
the very nature of the people is        
revealed to  us through their speech1   
surely we might be a little more        
neighbourly  even with those whom we now
 pretend to love8 ,relations are        
notoriously  quarrelsome4    ,if you are
 in a concert hall and the number of    
people is varied1  it will alter the    
effect of the sound4 ,you have only to  
look at a  sound-wave photograph        
produced from a violin to realise from  
its dainty  intricacies that the least  
variation of any of its harmonics or the
  very exact shape of its wave beats    
will reveal all the difference  between 
a beginner and the finest musician in   
the world4 ,but these  things are seldom
 noticed in wireless4    ,it is quite   

easy to photograph a sound1 by means of 
a diaphragm beside  which a soap bubble 
is thick1 and to compare wireless sound 
with the  original2 even then we have   
the great difficulties of resonance1 and
 a  diaphragm cannot reproduce properly4
 ,how1 therefore1 dare we neglect  the  
dreadful sounds we hear in the name of  
radio music8    ,if a piece of          
silvering1 one thirty-secondth of an    
inch1 be scraped  from the back of a    
mirror and fastened to the outer part of
 a celluloid  diaphragm 7made by        
water-floating a drop of amyl acetate in
 which  celluloid has been dissolved71  
it only requires a horn and a beam of   
light to render visible the waves of    
sound4 ,a diaphragm movement of a       
millionth of a millionth of an inch is  
sometimes audible4    ,it is the science
 of wireless that is beautiful2 it is   
the  possibilities that are wonderful2  
but to talk of pure sound and to  judge 
of it by the human ear which varies     
after every meal1 is like  measuring the

 amount of current passing through an   
electric-light bulb  by feeling its heat
 with the hand4    ,it is not generally 
known that1 during the ,war1 experiments
 were made  with a sound-reflector for  
listening to different types of         
aeroplane  and submarine1 by means of a 
microphone placed at the centre of a    
concave mirror4 ,the difficulty was that
 of distortion1 which is the  whole     
source of trouble with sound producers  
to-day4 ,distance is  no difficulty and 
when we can obtain purity and realism as
 well as  distance1 the latter is no    
difficulty at all2 then only will be the
  time when we shall have that          
spontaneous mental realism of vision    
that  will help radio to alter the      
world4    ,in a few years time we shall 
be able to chat to our friends in an    
aeroplane and in the streets with the   
help of a pocket wireless set1  and be  
able to do practically everything by the
 aid of radio that we  now do with our  
voice4    ,the only thing that will seem

 intensely strange will be that these   
comforts never existed before6          
,,wireless ,,inaccuracies      ,i have  
often wondered whether people realise   
that broadcasting1 at  present1 is only 
possible or1 shall ,i say is only       
popular1 because of  its extreme        
impracticability for most forms of      
secret communication4    ,supposing two 
people had been able to converse        
privately and with  absolute secrecy    
from other 8listeners in10 then we      
should not mind  trusting all our       
messages to ,radio4 ,at present1 what   
can be coded can  be decoded1 and we are
 not entranced by the idea of entrusting
 our  pennies to the winds of ,heaven   
and the vagaries of a thunderstorm4     
,if wireless had really been selective  
in the first instance1  broadcasting    
would not have been its initial phase4  
,wireless at present is excessively     
inefficient2 a few yards from a  large  
broadcasting station the power is       
measured in millionths of a             

horse-power1 is disseminated in all     
directions1 and is almost without       
definite selectivity4    ,when the day  
comes when we can tune with absolute    
accuracy2 when we  can combine waves    
with accuracy and obtain a directional  
beam with the  shortest waves for       
re-broadcasting purposes1 then we shall 
obtain real  happiness from the results4
    ,parliament must have its special   
wave length1 the divorce courts of  the 
future will be broadcasted to prevent   
people from catching cold by  waiting   
outside4 ,it will be quite easy for the 
,judge1 at a doubtful  passage1 to press
 a switch and to say1 8,i think we will 
cut that out40    ,one can imagine      
broadcasting of the future linking up   
every city from  ,china to ,london2 one 
can see special wave lengths for men1   
and equally  special wave lengths for   
women4 ,and we shall forget the time    
when ships  at sea with ancient sets    
interfere with the murdering of music by
 the  local amateur4    ,it has been    

said that1 at present1 those in         
authority find it necessary  to choose  
special voices for the wireless         
broadcast-delivering4 ,what  an idea6   
,the public want to hear everybody4     
,they want to have local  events        
broadcast1 irrespective of the operator4
 ,they do not want a  perfect voice1    
they want a perfect personality1 and it 
is rather the  wireless that must be    
altered to take any reception than the  
human  voice whose very characteristics 
delight us4    ,we are too accustomed to
 relying upon our senses4 ,we are apt to
 think  that the ear is most delicate4  
,it is nothing of the kind2 it cannot   
even hear notes that delight the heart  
of a dog1 and if one pictures  life with
 the brain of a man1 the ear of an      
antelope1 and microscopic  eyes1        
together with the nose of a dog1 some   
little idea of the  inefficiency of     
those few senses which we slightly      
understand can be  obtained4    ,to live
 in any town would be impossible3 the   

smells of ,bond ,street  instead of     
pleasing the dog would tell us of       
rotting animal matter and  alarm us to  
distraction4 ,we could never sit down   
upon a beautiful piece  of grass without
 listening to the worms and imagining   
ourselves with  them4 ,we could not bear
 to drink water for the peculiar bodies 
we would  see in it4 ,the wind in the   
trees1 the people walking down our      
street or  into our rabbit-warrens of   
flats1 would sound like a battle from   
afar4    ,it is only a question of      
relative senses1 easily tested by anyone
  who has the patience to fit an        
effective microphone to the amplifier   
purchased in mahogany case at the local 
8store40    ,wireless inaccuracies      
abound2 anyone who hears its music will 
agree1  but what of their effect upon   
our bodies6    ,the air1 popularly      
speaking1 must now be full of radio     
oscillations1  and if you tell me that  
they are negligible in effect ,i may    
believe  you1 but if ,i hear there is no

 effect at all1 ,i know that it cannot  
be  true4    ,it is more than likely    
that1 in the far future1 the proper     
study  of oscillatory theories1 the     
proper investigation of the spectrum    
only very partially explored by a few1  
will lead us to a better  understanding 
of the nature of life1 and will help us 
to appreciate  the theories of          
electrical sonics4 ,theories of         
preventing local  thunderstorms1 of     
growing babies and wheat effectively1 by
 electrical  or other similar           
oscillatory means1 of helping ourselves 
to see by  wireless and of affecting our
 health at the end of many generations  
for  the better1 may all be developed in
 the time to come4    ,if some health   
effect is produced1 why should we not   
try to render it  beneficial8 ,a small  
effect can be very cumulative in nature4
 ,one has  only to inspect a human nail 
to agree with that statement4           
,,radio ,,television      ,it has been  
said of sound that a bell never ceases  

to echo and that the  human voice never 
ceases when once words are spoken2      
truly1 it is an  alarming thought when  
the nature of most of our sayings is    
realised4    ,not long ago it was       
claimed that by means of a delicate     
microphone  the sayings of ,henry ,,viii
 had been investigated--though nature of
 the  subject was1 with not less        
delicacy1 omitted4    ,much the same    
basic ideas apply to light except that  
we are dealing  with a very much more   
interesting phenomenon1 one indeed which
 is  not apparently too material and a  
sense which gives us nearly all our     
nonphysical sensations4    ,we actually 
transmit very few senses3 we merely     
convert their nature  by utilising      
different portions of the spectrum4     
,light has undoubtedly  its tone values1
 as in the case of sound1 and it has not
 yet been  definitely established with  
what portion of the body vision is      
actually  obtained4 ,it is likely that  
light is projected along the electro    

lines  of force by the movement of      
electrons but whether the ether consists
  of electrons themselves1 whether it   
exists in many forms1 or is merely  a   
result of the mass effect of thought1 we
 do not yet know4 ,light  very possibly 
proceeds from the eye as well as from   
the luminous body  concerned4    ,the   
science of ,radio has taught us         
something of light1 but only to  a      
modest extent1 for light yet remains one
 of the most inefficient  factors of a  
civilisation which almost entirely      
depends upon it for  existence4         
,there is a strange factor which we may 
call the 8,law of ,supply and  ,demand40
 ,this strongly implies the faculty of  
invention1 a facility of  8wishfulness  
to improve02 something far better than  
the necessity for  invention4 ,let us   
remember that our clothes are not       
necessities2 they  are merely           
comfortable1 and it is comfort that     
distinguishes us to-day  just as it is  
convenience that will in the future give

 us a life which  will be better by far 
than that experienced by the kings and  
princes of  to-day4    ,civilisation has
 depended almost entirely upon the      
speeding up  of communication4 ,we can  
travel fast2 we can convey our thoughts 
at great speed1 but1 unfortunately1     
although all these means of             
intercommunication are devised with the 
one idea of preventing  physical work   
and of obviating the movements of our   
gross bodies1 our  senses are very      
closely combined4 ,it is consequently   
not possible to  ring up somebody on the
 wireless telephone1 a fact itself easy 
of  accomplishment1 and to impress our  
personality upon the listener4 ,this  is
 simply because we require a combination
 of senses for hearing1  seeing1        
smelling1 and other reactions1 in order 
to convey our whole  personality4       
,vision at a distance is1 therefore1    
very necessary as our inclination  for  
travel decreases and its comfort        
increases4    ,it is also important from

 the point of view of 8speeding up10    
which  we have no reason to suppose will
 cease4 ,all operations have steadily   
increased in speed for many generations4
    ,there was a time when we made      
appointments to meet our friends at the 
full of the moon1 but now we say at 8#aj
 o'clock1 and ,i can only give  you two 
minutes40 ,in the future we shall       
probably say1 8,meet me at  #aj4b4a-e   
secs41 and do not keep me waiting40 ,to 
do this we must have  radio sight4      
,many years ago1 when experiments were  
made on the subject1 the usual  cry     
appeared from what ,i always mentally   
typify as the 8,flat ,earth  ,brigade02 
they said1 8,impossible40 ,what would   
our forebears have said  of talking to a
 man in an aeroplane8 8,impossible60 ,it
 is a foolish  word4 ,now all over the  
world experiments are being conducted1  
many of  them with success and some with
 the guarantee of reasonable success in 
twenty years or less4    ,now wireless1 
if ,i may apply the word here1 is very  

like light in many  ways2 it is capable 
of refraction and shadow effects2 it    
travels at the  same speed1 and if the  
wave-lengths of wireless could be       
sufficiently  shortened to become       
visible we should probably find         
ourselves with a  new1 and possibly     
effective1 method of transmitting       
wireless light and  even power4         
,radio is a phenomenon of the spectrum  
like ordinary photographic light1       
,x-rays1 and so on4 ,it is effects which
 determine the difference to our  eyes  
of things invisible1 solid1 and         
transparent4    ,it may well be that1   
when we succeed in inter-planetary      
communication1  we shall discover that  
the inhabitants see by the ,x-ray1 by   
wireless1  or by heat4    ,it is not    
difficult to obtain a proportionate     
interchange of radio  and light         
oscillations4 ,even sunlight affects    
wireless telegraphy1  and experiments   
which have been conducted upon the      
carrying and  directional power of      

certain other rays and oscillations have
 not  been entirely without results4 ,we
 may1 one day1 obtain far greater       
sensitivity of direction1 greater       
carrying power1 from small initial      
output with a degree of selectivity     
almost infinite1 in comparison with     
modern working4    ,to use a light beam 
along which we can talk1 to use a light 
beam  initially and to turn it into     
light when required1 is by no means     
difficult2 it suggests the direct method
 of wireless vision1 but from  the      
mechanical aspect the problem is still  
less complicated4 ,the  difficulties of 
,radio ,television to-day are           
constructional2 in the far  future it   
may be a question of pure physics4      
,there is1 at least1 one simple method  
of sending photographs  by wireless with
 a reasonable degree of accuracy4       
,distance1  re-broadcasting1 relaying   
are1 none of them1 of any great         
technical  importance4 ,interference is 
certainly a difficulty1 for in the case 

of  a picture the eye cannot distinguish
 between faults so easily as the  ear   
can automatically separate unpleasant   
noises from music4    ,if an ordinary   
photograph is transferred to a copper   
plate1 either  flat or round1 and a     
contact finger is allowed to pass over  
it1  clearly the resistance between the 
plate and the finger will vary with  the
 thickness of the photographic film4 ,if
 this resistance is used  to modulate   
the transmission in place of an ordinary
 microphone for  speech1 the current at 
the receiving end can be picked up1     
amplified1  and used to mark darkly1    
lightly1 or not at all1 upon a prepared 
piece  of paper which is affected by the
 passage of an electric current4    ,by 
these means good photographs can be     
reproduced1 and doubtless in the  future
 we shall be able to sign our cheques by
 the rapid transmission  of motion2 we  
shall be able to trace criminals1 send  
out their  finger-prints1 and carry on  
very many classes of business which1 at 

present1 require our bodily attention4  
,illustration3 ,fig4 #c4 ,if light      
passes through the negative to be       
transmitted on to a selenium cell which 
modulates in place of a  microphone1 the
 wave can be picked up1 amplified1 and  
made to open or  close a shutter4 ,this 
permits another light to record1 spot by
 spot1  the reproduction of the original
 photograph4    ,what a help to the man 
who objects to a large city4 ,why could 
he not  conduct his business from his   
house in comfort instead of having his  
spats washed every week in order to     
maintain his financial reputation8      
,there is a still more rapid method of  
transmitting a photograph3 it is  to    
allow the light from an ordinary lamp to
 pass through a spot upon  the negative 
and then to a selenium cell4 ,selenium  
is so constituted  that its resistance  
to the passage of electricity varies    
with the  amount of light to which it is
 exposed4 ,this property has been used  
to  light up and to extinguish ordinary 

street lamps1 for demonstration         
purposes4    ,if a selenium cell is used
 in place of the ordinary broadcasting  
microphone1 the transmission can be     
modulated in accordance with the        
passage of the light through a black    
spot on the negative1 such as part  of a
 top hat1 or a white spot1 such as a    
white face or part of it4    ,the       
received current is picked up and       
amplified in the ordinary manner1  but  
instead of operating a diaphragm to     
produce speech1 it is taken  to a kind  
of electrically operated venetian blind1
 which allows light  to pass through it 
or not to pass through it1 in accordance
 with the  transmitting current4    ,it 
requires little imagination to see that1
 if a beam of light is  allowed to pass 
through each point of the original      
negative in turn1  the final picture can
 be built up from 8spots0 somewhat in   
the manner  of a half-tone block4    ,it
 takes a long time1 is rather patched1  
and is liable to interference2  but the 

whole process is perfectly simple4      
,consider the great  importance of this 
experiment to ,radio ,television4       
,the human eye sees only one point at a 
time but in the fact that  instantaneous
 vision of a complete picture is not    
necessary lie our  hopes of television  
to-day4    ,the eye is a very defective 
piece of mechanism considered from an   
optical standpoint4 ,the pointed rays   
which appear to come from stars  show   
one example of faulty optical           
construction1 however wonderful  may be 
the whole structure4 ,another property1 
and a feature of great  importance from 
the aspect of television1 is that of    
retentivity4    ,we all know that when a
 lighted cigarette is whirled round in  
the hand  the result appears to be a    
ring of fire4 ,our brain assures us that
  the eye is telling lies and that it is
 really a moving point4 ,this is        
because the image is impressed and      
actually lasts upon the eye or its      
retina4    ,this phenomenon is used in  

every cinematograph2 without it the     
ordinary  film would not be practicable4
 ,each picture of an arm about to light 
a  cigarette shows the arm constantly   
closer and closer1 and before one       
picture has had time to die out the     
other is thrown upon the screen4  ,the  
result is an illusion of motion4    ,to 
return to the transmission of a         
photograph1 let us imagine that it  is  
sent in a series of spots beginning in  
the top left-hand corner at  #ab        
o'clock3 the bottom spot will probably  
be completed1 at modern  sending speeds1
 by about #ab4ae1 in the case of a      
picture two inches  square4    ,clearly 
all we have to do is to reduce this time
 to #d_/e of a second  altogether1 and  
we shall be again sending the first spot
 before it has  had time to die away    
from the apparent vision of the         
observer4 ,in other  words1 we will see 
by wireless4    ,the obvious method of  
assisting in this speeding up of sending
 the  thousands of spots1 would be to   

graduate them by some means of rotary   
conversion or to decrease the number of 
spots4 ,the latter is one method  by    
which practical television can be       
accomplished to-day4    ,illustration3  
,fig4 #d4 ,if a photograph is divided   
into spots and the  last be sent only   
#d_/e sec4 after the first1 television  
can be obtained2  but if the spots must 
be large to do this1 only such items as 
the  difference between a cross and a   
circle can be observed4    ,it would be 
quite easy to fix up an apparatus by    
means of which  we could show whether an
 office in ,new ,york was lit up or not1
  the observer being situated in        
,london4 ,this is a form of energy or   
combination of phenomena which amounts  
to wireless sight1 but it does  not help
 us to see shapes or forms or to say if 
the light is from a  candle1 the sun1 or
 an arc lamp4    ,by increasing the     
number of cells from one to1 let us say1
 twenty1 we  could possibly indicate the
 difference between the moving shadow of

 a  cross or a circle1 but to radiate   
detail is a very difficult problem1     
which doubtless will be partially solved
 within the next few years4 ,the        
electro-magnetic theory of light and the
 phenomena exhibited by the  neon tube1 
present many opportunities4    ,what an 
excellent invention this will be6 ,it   
means that a telescopic  camera could be
 attached to an aeroplane and the views 
seen by  thousands in a cinematograph   
theatre who may have the pleasure of    
witnessing the finish of a horse-race   
and knowing without loss of time  how   
much money they have lost4    ,it would 
mean that the crew of a ship1 a         
submarine in difficulties1 or  the      
passengers in an aeroplane1 might be    
visible to people many miles  away4 ,it 
could not yet occur without their wish1 
for the transmitting  apparatus must    
first be put into operation4    ,the    
senses of seeing and hearing are        
possibly amongst the most  important of 
all1 and1 if we can convey both of them 

to a distance1 it  means that we can    
call friends1 nations1 music1 and       
personalities to  our fireside1 by the  
touching of a button4    ,such          
possibilities need no enlargement4      
,wireless may prove a far more  rapid   
link than the ordinary increase of      
travelling speed and may help  nations  
to intermingle to the common good4      
,the question of seeing in colours has  
hardly yet been considered1 but  that   
also will come to us1 however great the 
difficulties may appear  to-day4        
,certainly ,leagues of ,peace will have 
more arguments1 and ,generals will  have
 more weapons4    ,the laziest          
millionaire to-day1 in a physical sense1
 will be  hard-worked in comparison with
 the fortunate individual of the        
scientific future4 ,we will travel in   
the best possible manner and in  such   
comfort that the mind will be free to   
receive impressions4 ,our  main         
objective will be to train it for that  
purpose4    ,after all1 what more can we

 do now8          ,,wireless ,,and ,,war
      ,the subjects of ,war and         
,wireless cover a multitude of closely  
allied  ills4    ,it is only natural    
that wireless should first have been    
applied to ,love  and ,war4 ,i remember 
well one of the most remarkable         
applications of  wireless mentioned in  
the press in the early days was that of 
a cable  sent to an unfortunate man in  
mid-ocean1 informing him that an all too
  successful arrival of twins had taken 
place4    ,war is1 of course1 a natural 
process a little less educated1 and more
  unkind1 in consequence1 than birth    
control4    ,most inventions are first  
applied to the science and art of       
warfare4  ,perhaps we should not regard 
this as all to the bad1 for ,war has a  
remarkable capacity for acceleration4   
,development of the wireless valve was  
greatly assisted by the ,war3 the       
aeroplane1 the art of plastic surgery1  
and many other human benefits  have     
arrived more rapidly from the same      

cause4    ,let us see1 therefore1 what  
wireless can do now1 and what it may    
accomplish for the future of organised  
destruction4    ,mentally1 the fittest  
should survive1 in both the realms of   
invention  and physiology4 ,it is only a
 few years since wireless was of no     
intrinsic value for ordinary land       
warfare1 by virtue of the fact that     
interference was extremely easy1 and    
that any coded message could be so      
easily decoded4    ,at present wireless 
messages are chiefly of service where   
secrecy is  not of such importance as   
speed2 but an enormous number of        
experiments  are being conducted upon   
beam wireless1 directional wireless1 and
 in  the combination of the ,radio      
oscillation with some other oscillations
  such as those of visible or invisible 
light4 ,by these means secrecy  will be 
obtained when we discover how to use    
small powers for long  distance1 but at 
present ,radio is chiefly of value as a 
time-saver4    ,the pilot in an         

aeroplane can talk to his base3 he will 
soon be able  to write and transmit     
vision from a plane which could be      
controlled  by wireless4 ,the time will 
come when low-flying wireless planes    
will  explore1 and render visible at    
many miles distant1 places where no     
human pilot could remain for any length 
of time in safety4    ,it is not long   
ago that we rejoiced because a damaged  
ship was able to  call for help by      
wireless1 but we have only to look back 
to a recent  war to remember an occasion
 when one ship was totally unable to    
call  assistance because its wireless   
was jammed4 ,in other words1 enemy      
interference was possible4    ,this     
should show us how far we have yet to go
 in an utterly new and  very little     
understood science4    ,we began with   
sparks1 we progressed to coherers1 and  
now we have  valves2 but let it not be  
thought for a moment that the valve     
represents finality to any thinking     
being4    ,broadcasting at present has  

really become so universal only on      
account  of the exceedingly public      
nature of wireless1 for1 when we are    
able  to obtain accuracy of tuning and  
direction1 we shall not only use the    
latter to guide ships at sea1 but we    
shall have correspondence which  can be 
conducted with a reasonable degree of   
secrecy4 ,we shall have  special        
wave-lengths for the ,government1       
special wave-lengths for  ,parliamentary
 debates1 and the ,divorce ,courts4 ,we 
shall not conduct  our conversations in 
such a manner that any schoolboy with a 
piece of  wire1 a needle1 and some      
sugar1 can promptly listen in4    ,the  
very idea suggests a new 8,peeping      
,tom40    ,as far as communication is   
concerned1 we shall have whole armies in
  instantaneous touch with each other3  
it may indeed make real secrecy  more   
difficult4 ,it should always be         
recollected that when we refer  to      
wireless speech1 wireless control1 and  
,radio ,vision1 we do not  necessarily  

mean the same form of electrical wave by
 which we now  broadcast a comic opera4 
,it is with oscillation that we are     
really concerned1 and we may  discover  
many forms of electronic vibration at   
present occupying  portions of the      
so-called spectrum which are as yet very
 little  understood4    ,it may be      
impossible for the ,commander-in-,chief 
of the future to  conceal a document    
from the eyes of wireless2 and who knows
 but that  the electrical operation of  
thought may be reduced to a science so  
that  our very ideas are not secret     
without protection8    ,how many of us  
to-day could risk all our thoughts being
 known8 ,it would  probably improve     
moral standards if they were published3 
science tends  to effect an average     
improvement4    ,we have never yet      
really seen the extraordinary value of  
wireless in  war4 ,if we had solved the 
problem of selection1 the transference  
of  speech by phonograph records dropped
 from aeroplanes would never have       

arisen4    ,undoubtedly1 we shall see   
wireless controlled tanks1 submarines1  
and torpedoes on both land1 air1 and    
water4 ,all will be accurately          
controlled1 and they will possibly be   
able to find their way home and  to     
operate from a distance while out of    
sight4    ,even to-day it is possible   
for an aeroplane to operate a torpedo1  
to  steer it properly1 to slow it down2 
and for a pilot of an aeroplane  many   
miles away to work his will upon it with
 a reasonable degree of  accuracy and   
with the help of a gyro control4    ,the
 day will undoubtedly come when the     
problem of defending an island  is not  
that of the mainland itself but of all  
its dependencies4    ,no large town     
could live for long if it were bombed   
from a distance by  wireless1 if gassed 
and poisoned from a distance1 were it   
not for the  balance of protection and  
defence which is usually maintained by  
nature4    ,we shall in the future1 see 
forms of electric death and heat-rays   

which  may materialise not as a direct  
projection of heat but as some form of  
oscillation which produces heat only    
when striking a metallic object4    ,we 
have been so often told that power can  
be transmitted by ,radio that  we are   
apt to look upon this statement with    
contempt4 ,this is quite  wrong3 power  
will one day be transmitted by wireless2
 power can at  present be inductively   
sent over quite a large air gap1 though 
the  energy available quite close to any
 wireless station is practically        
negligible to-day4    ,when motor-cars  
and ships are controlled or stopped by  
wireless1 it is  not the wireless which 
does the work2 the therial oscillation  
merely  sends signals to the ordinary   
operative mechanism4    ,much excitement
 has been caused by the alleged injury  
of aeroplanes and  motor-cars by        
wireless1 but how is it that they can   
afterwards proceed8  ,do we forget that 
the petrol engine has to be restarted1  
and that1 if  allowed to fire when a car

 was in gear1 it might be damaged and   
would  probably not operate the moving  
parts8    ,if wireless power could be   
directed in such a form that it could be
  conveyed along a wave of 8atomic0     
oscillation1 many more valuable ends    
might be served than the enforced       
landing of aeroplanes4    ,our clocks   
could be corrected by wireless1         
experiments could be  conducted upon the
 nature of light and ether in various   
forms4 ,we might  decide the mode of    
propagation of light and thought1 and   
investigate  the apparent motion of the 
electron along the electro lines of     
force4    ,what an opportunity for study
 to the man of medicine6 ,what a chance 
to find out how the oscillations of life
 are connected with those we  partially 
understand4    ,what a chance for the   
burglar to discover the presence of     
hidden  spoons as a mass of metal by    
means of wireless2 what a chance for the
  surveyor and the seeker after oil to  
use this all-prevailing sense of        

oscillation and even to discover the    
meaning of radiation4                   
,oscillation--that is all we mean by    
,radio2 and oscillation is at the  base 
of life itself4 ,it will not be long    
before travellers by air1  land1 and    
water1 will be no longer alone4    ,that
 they will be able to converse with     
their homes may seem no  advantage1 but 
that they can remain in touch with the  
rest of mankind  is most obviously      
desirable4    ,if this were understood  
to-day1 ,i should not need to make      
noises  with my lips or require the     
simulacra of these noises to be         
produced upon paper to convey my        
thoughts4 ,if thought is a process  of  
energy-conversion--and who will deny    
it8--what form of screening  prevents   
its use1 and why should its reception be
 confined eventually  to life upon this 
particular and very troublesome planet8 
,it is remarkable how little is known of
 wireless3 the very simplicity  of its  
painfully standardised features is a    

trap for the unwary4 ,it  is a universal
 science1 but we do not yet know the    
correct diaphragm  size for a loud      
speaker1 nor how damping should be      
employed4 ,the finest  apparatus is     
available to all1 and yet we do not     
understand the fullest  range of        
wave-lengths4 ,the study of radio-active
 materials and short  wave radiation may
 in one day produce the cold-emitter    
valve1 abolish  the outside aerial1 and 
bring to our closer understanding some  
of the  many senses now so atrophied in 
mankind1 that we can only speculate as  
to their existence4 ,i doubt much if the
 schoolboy of the future will  greatly  
esteem the radio expert of this century4