Discoveries and inventions

[Jim Koepke]

I love the back story of the Wright Flyer replica that is in the museum at Kitty Hawk. It was built in the workshop at the Smithsonian Institute. If I remember correctly the replica cost a million dollars and took a team of workers a year to build. The Wright Brothers built the original in a few weeks with a few dollars.

The Wright brothers were not getting paid for their work. They likely didn't have a team of engineers and designers creating a file of drawings and documentation of every nut, bolt and washer.

Also, when people are paid by the hour, they don't tend to work as enthusiastically as someone who is thinking about how they are going to pay for their next meal.

jtk

[Kent A Bathurst]

Don't think the Toyota solid state battery will reduce demand for lithium, they still use lithium, the difference is they don't use a liquid electrolyte. "Long seen as a potential game-changer for BEVs, Toyota has made a technological breakthrough in its quest to improve the durability of Li-Ion solid-state batteries."
https://newsroom.toyota.eu/toyotas-a...e%20batteries.

Oh. Well. There are clearly smarter people than I on this topic. Thanks

[Maurice Mcmurry]

The Wright brothers were not getting paid for their work. They likely didn't have a team of engineers and designers creating a file of drawings and documentation of every nut, bolt and washer.

Also, when people are paid by the hour, they don't tend to work as enthusiastically as someone who is thinking about how they are going to pay for their next meal.

jtk

No disrespect to the Smithsonian Institute intended. The Wright Brothers corresponded with the Smithsonian extensively.

The Wright Brothers never knew poverty or went hungry. They were both excellent cooks and they took their cooking and dining very seriously. I have read everything I can get my hands on about them. The David Mccullough book is a favorite.

[Doug Garson]

Oh. Well. There are clearly smarter people than I on this topic. Thanks

And his name is "hey Google"

[Rick Potter]

Another interesting thing about the Wright brothers is that they actually made their own engine to run the plane. I read that they even cast the engine block, with help from locals near their bike shop. I think they made their own propeller also.

And then, they also discovered that Lilienthal (?) who wrote early manuals on aerodynamic lift made a math mistake, and that was what had been holding back other attempts.

Correct me if I am off on this, it has been a long time since I visited Kitty Hawk. Working from memory here.

[Kent A Bathurst]

And his name is "hey Google"

I didn't say it was a short list............

[Maurice Mcmurry]

They did work on engine designs. I am fairly certain the one in the original flyer was manufactured by others. The propellers were their own design. The Mccullough book is loaded with details. I recommend it.

I went ahead and googled it. Rick is correct. However they did get some help.

1903 Wright Engine

[Jim Koepke]

No disrespect to the Smithsonian Institute intended. The Wright Brothers corresponded with the Smithsonian extensively.

The Wright Brothers never knew poverty or went hungry. They were both excellent cooks and they took their cooking and dining very seriously. I have read everything I can get my hands on about them. The David Mccullough book is a favorite.

Oh. Well. There are clearly smarter people than I on this topic. Thanks

What Kent said.

jtk

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Wilbur and Orville Wright were certainly smart. Also very determined, hardworking and highly skilled. Their accomplishments are truly remarkable. David McCullough himself read for the audiobook version of The Wright Brothers and does an excellent job. My wife brought that home too so she could hear someone other than me waffle on about the Wrights.

[Mel Fulks]

Been there a number of times and it’s always a treasured event. They worked well together. When they were ready to try the thing out
it was a Sunday and they waited for another day . I think it was on their Father’s wish.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

I was trying to remember how to use a slide rule a few weeks ago when I bought one at a flea market. I remember an acquaintance,, engineering student at Bucknell about 1971, worked an entire summer to buy a scientific calculator that can now be purchased for around $10. and probably for which there is a free app for cell phones.

Discoveries and inventions are not always true discoveries or inventions at a lot, but of times, more of somebody applled the idea to a new set of circumstances. There were revolving firearms in central Europe in the late 1500's. But metallurgy and industrial precision had advanced sufficiently by the 1830's to make Samuel Colts application of the idea a huge deal. Ben Franklin developed an electric motor in the 1700's, nut thought it was just a curiousity. He did use it to turn a turkey on a spit in the kitchen, but the wide applications were not realized until Tesla invented a more practical improvement. In this day and age, we know where vast resources are, it just takes industry's evolution to make such resources worth using.

[Lawrence Duckworth]

I was trying to remember how to use a slide rule a few weeks ago when I bought one at a flea market. I remember an acquaintance,, engineering student at Bucknell about 1971, worked an entire summer to buy a scientific calculator that can now be purchased for around $10. and probably for which there is a free app for cell phones.
.

....I think you get a free Mortgage payment calculator that does PMI, taxes, monthly payments and insurance with a McDonalds happy meal.

[Doug Garson]

I was trying to remember how to use a slide rule a few weeks ago when I bought one at a flea market. I remember an acquaintance,, engineering student at Bucknell about 1971, worked an entire summer to buy a scientific calculator that can now be purchased for around $10. and probably for which there is a free app for cell phones.

How did you make out with the slide rule? I used one for almost a decade at work in the 70s. I think even back then I probably only knew how to do about a quarter of what it was capable, now not sure if I could multiply 2 x 2 today.

[Bill Dufour]

The jacuzzi bothers, in Berkeley California, built an airplane and made their own design of a propellor. From that they moved into pump impellers. Later came hot tube pumps when one had medical problems and needed hydro therapy.
Bill D

[Bill Howatt]

How did you make out with the slide rule? I used one for almost a decade at work in the 70s. I think even back then I probably only knew how to do about a quarter of what it was capable, now not sure if I could multiply 2 x 2 today.

I used one in the 60s and later primarily for electrical/electronics work. It wasn't a specific EE model but had all the exponent scales etc. Found it in the back of a cupboard a few years ago and I could do the basic multiply and divide but the fancier scales were certainly not obvious anymore.
My boss had a much longer one so he could get at least one more digit in the calculation. The PITA with a slide rule is determining where the decimal point goes in the answer.