Who Invented It?

Author(s): S. C. Gilfillan
Source: The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 25, No. 6 (Dec., 1927), pp. 529-534
Published by: American Association for the Advancement of Science
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 WHO INVENTED
By S. C. GILFILLAN
FJX*WATER,
"BLESSINGS on themanwhoinvented called great because such and such an
sleep," said the classic Sancho Panza;
and the English balladist:
So I wish in heaven his soul may dwell
Who firstfound out the leather bottell.
Perhaps, indeed, he was thinkingmore
of the inner spirit of the bottle,than of
its outerintegument. Anywaytheseold-
timersexpress a thoughtthat is common
to-day,the rule even,and whichnot even
a single social scientisthas shaken him-
self sufficiently free from,viz., that the
great inventionswere made by certain
greatmen. We knowthenamesreported
formanyof the inventors,chieflyAmeri-
cans, which were taught us in unques-
tioning youth. Many heroes have been
forgot,perhaps, but they were individ-
uals, it is believed,and mightbe known.
Here is Rear-AdmiralBradley A. Fiske,
U. S. N., for example, a very distin-
guished inventor,author of "Invention,
the Master-keyto Progress" (1921), say-
ing in it thatto Daedalus are ascribedthe
saw, gimlet,plumb-line,ax, wedge,lever,
mastsand sails. "As no recordsshow to
us that the inventionsjust enumerated
(except masts and sails) had been in-
vented elsewhere,we may feel justified
in inferringthat they were inventedin
Greece by Daedalus, or by some other
man bearing a differentname-or by
some other men." Not one was. In
some of his other passages, to be sure,
the Admiral reflectsa sounder sense of
inventivehistory.
However, that all inventions were
made by celtain men, and the great in-
ventions by great men, is the almost
universalbelief. But here a difficulty at
once appears. The famousinventorsare
529
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IT?
W. J.
inventionis attributedto them. Yet we
do not call a commandera great general
for gaining one crucial battle,nor a poet
greatforone perfectpoem. For a single
achievement,howevermomentousto us,
may have been an accident to its maker.
Now among all the inventorsof whom
popular historytells, only three,Archi-
medes, Ericsson and Edison, have been
credited with more than one important
invention. Others may have equaled
them in genius, but not in luck. So,
leaving aside these three "great inven-
tors," let us take up the "inventors"
who did everythingelse, and later the
question of who were really great in-
ventors.
Who invented the telegraph? Any
American who has been through the
eighth grade knows that it was Morse
and Vail, in 1844. But there was an
English commercial line seven years
earlier, and the Germans credit the
telegraph to S6mmering,of Munich, in
1809, and in Switzerland there was an
electrictelegraphin 1774, and one was
proposed in Scotland in 1753. The
matter becomes rather confusing for
the eighth grade. Who invented the
friction match? There are so many
claimants that we don't know who the
devil inventedit, and so have named it
afterLucifer. Who devised the aneroid
barometer? In Paris in 1848 two men,
Vidi and Bourdon,each claimed it, with
apparent sincerity,and differentcourts
decidedforeach of them. But 152 years
earlier the philosopherLeibniz had sug-
gested such a barometer,describing it
exactly. If we should really examine
the roll of honors, from Archimedes,
530 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY
called the inventor of the pulley, to Delaware, who realized good speed and
Marconi and the muchoverratedWright long commercialuse, and by Evans, and
brothers, we should find that almost Miller,who in 1789 made 6 knotson the
every claim is disputed, and rightly. Forth & Clyde Canal. In 1802 on the
The chief reason for this confusionof same water Symington'ss CharlotteDun-
parentage is that the process of making das was a perfectsuccess, save that she
a great invention is totally different washed down the canal's banks. Pres-
from the commonunderstandingabout ently John Stevens, of Hoboken, had
it. A great inventionis not a completed speedy steam yachts on the Hudson,
product, issuing at one time from the even with twin screws, tubular boilers
brain of one inventor. It is a multi- and high pressure,excellentsave for the
tudinous collection of little inventions, damning workmanshipin their motive
and is a growth of centuries. Had a plant.
single inventor to make the whole, he Meanwhile Fulton, as we know from
would need more hands than a monkey, direct testimony,had been studyingthe
morelives than a cat and moreinventive plans or boats, and interviewingthe de-
genius than Pallas, Hermes and Loki signers, of every one of the important
combined. Let us illustratethis by the previous projects, in France, England
historyof the steamship. and America. So had the other in-
The firststage of an inventionis the ventors been studying, the steamboat
beginning of a desire for it. We find evolving out of joint experience; but
the utility of the steamship perceived none were so assiduous as Fulton. In
by Homer, who sang of the marvelous, all about thirty steamboats had been
great, black ships of the Phaeacians, built, all in those three countries,gen-
which withoutsail or oar or crew,sped erally in the order given. Fulton first
swiftly to the remotestends of earth, built a 66-footboat on the Seine at Paris,
bringingback merchandise. Next, pad- and obtained some speed, but little at-
dle-wheels descend from Roman days. tentionand no success. So he returned
In the thirteenthcenturyRoger Bacon, to the great rivers of America, and in
from his experimentswith gunpowder, 1807 launched the Clermontin the Hud-
glimpsedthe internalcombustionengine, son, and steamed for Albany at 5 miles
and the means of fulfillingthe Homeric per hour.
desire. He wrote " Art can construct There was apparently nothing new
instrumentsof navigation such that the and valuable about this famous boat.
largestvessels,governedby a singleman, Her engineswere fromBoulton & Watt,
will traverseriversand seas morerapidly and in no way except in her proportions
than if they were filledwith oarsmen." she was superiorto or differentfromher
A steamboat had probably been sug- predecessors. Why then was she more
gested by 1651, and built by 1738, and successful? Chieflybecause Fulton had,
we have patents with descriptions of with his forerunnerStevens, made one
1729 and 1736. But no success was to crucial discovery-the Hudson River-
be expected from such craft, for their and got a patent on it! It was fitting
engines were wretched. Watt's double- that we celebratedtogetherthe anniver-
acting expansive steam engine appeared saries of Henry Hudson and Robert
in 1782, and the next year the Marquis Fulton, for each owes his greatestfame
de Jouffroyhad built a great boat, not to discovering the Hudson River, al-
fast enough,at Lyons. Before the end though each had been preceded by a
of the centurysteamboatshad been built navigator of its lower waters, and had
by manyinventors,especiallyRumseyon pioneered more elsewhere. This river
the Potomac and Thames, Fitch in the was the one best water in the world on

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 WHO INVENTED IT? 531
which to run a steamboat. It was the was her significance-onceit was possible
only water which combinedall the ad- to make moneyout of steamboats,more
vantages of poor winds (for good winds and more craft were built, and each
would mean superior efficiency for sail- brought its little mite, or its valuable
ing vessels), no tow-paths,bad roads, contribution, to the art of steam naviga-
triflingwaves,a deep channel,no rapids, tion. Each added its inventions,its im-
a long straightroute betweencentersof provementsof detail, which enabled the
commerce,yet paralleled only by bad steamboatto navigate morewaters,to be
roads, with an intelligentpopulation,no swifter,safer,larger and more economi-
nationalboundary,and an abundantfuel cal and effectivein every way. So the
supply. I am convincedthat the lack of number of launchings and the rate of
success of several pre-Clermontsteam- progresssteadily grew.
boats was mainly due to their faulty About the time of the Clermont,
environmaent (and also inferior patent Stevenshad revertedto low pressureand
protectiona). The Hudson was the one paddle-wheels, and produced a small
properwater forsuch craftas they; and vessel of high speed. His Phoenix,
it is noteworthythat the Hudson has launched a little later, which first of
always continuedto float the best river steamerssailed the sea, and survived a
steamboats in the world. But a New storm,in 1809, when drivenby Fulton's
York paper on the famousday said that patentto the Delaware, was a bettership
Fulton's boat had been inventedwith a than the Clermont, with a simpler
view to navigationof thewindlessMissis- steeple engine and much better lines.
sippi-Fitch's' aim, which was attained She presents excellent evidence of Ful-
before there was a successful boat in ton's non-necessity,for it appears that
Europe. she was designed chieflypreviouslyand
I do not mean to disparage Fulton's independently,beginning in 1805, and
genius: he was a most brilliantinventor that there was likely as much give as
of many other things; but he did not take with Stevens.' Thus we may not
invent the steamboat in the Clermont. conjecture, but flatly state, that had
Nor did he later, for, after rebuilding Fulton never lived, the firstfully suc-
her at once and ably adapting steam to cessful steamboat would have been
various types of vessels,and strivingto launched by the Stevensesat practically
monopolize steam navigation in New the same timeand quite the same waters
York waters (like his successorsin acci- as the Clermont.
dental fame, the Wright brothers'),he The ripening art spread slowly, and
died in 1815. where most needed. The St. Lawrence
The reader has not been fatigued,we knew steam in 1809, and the wild but
hope, by the voyage of the steamship swiftand windless Father of Waters in
from Homer to Fulton, for this is only 1811. Not until the year afterthat was
the beginningof her trip, and we can a steamboat successful on a river of
best understandinventionsin generalby Europe (the Clyde). By 1819 they
keepingfull speed ahead. The Clermonzt smote the sea with the resoundingpad-
was a crazy craft,unseaworthy,and slow dle, forshortcoastingjumps. Not until
as a geologicprocess. If steamboatshad 1840 could theycrossthe broad Atlantic,
stopped evolving with her they would with its wind and as
waves, as efficiently
be as rare and unimportantto-day as 1 Authoritieshave disagreedas to the date
dirigible balloons or intelligence in a of the Phoenix' launch,but it was April 9,
jury. She is like the ape in our ances- 1808, whileher independentdesignis likewise
tral tree, which we left long ago, and attestedby A. D. Turnbull,Stevens' forthcom-
glad we are to have left it. But this ing biographer.

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532 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY
the sailing packets, and then only for who have lived since timebegan. She is
cabin passengers. By 1893 half the a museumof moderncivilization,riveted
world's marine tonnage was steam-pro- togetherand called a steamship. Fulton
pelled, but not yet has the steamshipbe- noomore invented her than he did the
come so perfectedas to be betteron all moon. And just so is it with a printing
voyages than the sailer (also constantly plant, a telephonesystemor any other
perfected). so-called great invention-each is the
A steamship like the Leviathan re- complicatedproduct of a vast and age-
semblesthe Clermontno more than she old series of inventionsin its own and
does the Flying Dutchman or a quin- all related fields,due to no one man, nor
quireme. Perhaps every principle that nation,nor centurynor millenniumeven.
was in the Clermontis tuckedsomewhere An "invention" is simply a certain
aboard the modernmarine monster,but grouping,definedby an English word,of
her 60,000tonsare builtup on inventions all the achievements of men's minds
other and countless,millions of inven- since time began. So the "great inven-
tions. She has ears beneath the water, tions" were never made by any one-
wherewithto hear the signals of the sea, each is perpetuallybeing made.
whenthe foglies over,and she has varied Why thenis therethat ridiculouscom-
instrumentsas well to pierce the fog, mon report, echoed even by inventors
hearing and makingheard. The stock- and engineers,that Fulton inventedthe
less anchor in her bow is an invention; steamshipof to-day,or any steamboat?
and so are the machinesthat forgedthe It is a matter of language, and of psy-
mightylinks of her chain cables. There chology. People want a definiteorigin
are typewritersin her office,and ele- for things. "Jubal: he was the father
vators connect her decks. The anti- of all suechas handle the harp an-dorgan.
foulingpaint on her keel is an invention, And . . . Tubal-cain, an instructor of
and the tools that made it. Cheap steel, every artificerin brass and iron." The
such as makespossibleher hull, has been Greeks gave their thanks to Apollo for
called the greatestof moderninventions; the invention of the lyre, if not to
and necessaryfor that steel were all the Hermes, to whom also they ascribed the
instruments,processes and sciences in- alphabet, astronomy,numbers, weights
volved, from finding'the iron's ore in and measures, the syrinx,music, gym-
Lorraine, to devising the giant's thumb nastics, tactics and olive culture. But
and finger,that pinched her plates to- let us consult a modern authority,the
getherwith one-inchrivets,and left the Ceentury Book of Facts (sic), "authentic,
surface smooth. Her turbine engines, comprehensive,up-to-date," and pub-
propellers, endless electrification-these lished in 1902 in Springfield,Mass., ac-
are new. So we might progress from cording to the title page, under the
her keel up to the wirelessantenna,and editorship of Henry W. Ruoff, M.A.,
find represented in her, or involved D.C.L. and sometimeprofessor. We read
ashore, so many inventions that their here, along with a typical chronologyof
very descriptionswould load the ship. modern inventions, that wine was
Scarce one of themis indispensablefora broughtfromIndia by Bacchus, weights
great liner,yet all help, and all the mil- and measuresinventedby Phidon in the
lions of themare necessaryto make her year 864 B. C., and that the reported
as she is. Few of these inventionswere inventionsof Daedalus, which Admiral
representedin the Clermont. The Levi- Fiske cited, were made in 1240 B. C.
athan's real inventorswere half of all What admirable precision! And see
the fathersof devices or improvements Professor Ruoff's cosmopolitanrespon-

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 WHO INVENTED IT? 533
sivenessto the voice of authority:Wheat The popular idea, then, of an inven-
bread was invented by Ching-Noung, tion is a mythologicconcept,a personal
1998 B. C.; the fluteand musical concord symbolto accountforthe originof some-
by Hyagnis, 1506; "it is, however, thing. What determinesthe personage
agreed that music was firstreduced to -why is Fulton called the inventor
rules by Jubal, 1800 B. C. " Silk was of the steamship instead of Roger
inventedby Se-ling,wifeof the Emperor Bacon or Symington or Thornycroft?
Hoangti, about 2637 B. C. (never mind That man is preferredas the titular in-
if authenticChinese historydoes begin ventorwho belongs to our own national
two millenniumslater), and the violin history,if possible,or to a related coun-
in 5000 B. C. by Ravana, king of Ceylon. try,and who was the firstman to make
But as to weaving the compiler finds the device a commercialsuccess. Fulton
some difficulty,for the Egyptians as- was no morethe firstman to improvethe
cribed the art to Isis, the Greeksto Pal- steamboatthan he was the last, but he
las, and the Peruvians to the wife of was the firstto make money out of it.
Manco Capac. He is not deifiedjust because he made
A similarlist, with mythologyas bad, money,but because his Clermont (with
is to be found in Le Machinisme Uni- Stevens's Phoenix) was indeed a cardi-
versel, written in 1925 by Etienne nal event in the evolutionof the steam-
Pacoret, "Ingenieur, Laureat de societes ship. Previously, building steamboats
savantes et industrielles," author of had seemed a pretty sure way to lose
seven books on engineering,perfectly money,so only a few fools built them.
competentin the engineeringside of this After the ClermontFulton had money
his latest,but innocentof sociology,like and reputationwherebyto make further
the Admiral. experiments,and other men, especially
Now simply add an American myth the brilliant R. L. Stevens, were en-
that the steamboatwas inventedby Ful- couraged to build boats elsewhere, to
ton. Primitive minds having their make money. The more boats were
similarities,whetherin Homerie Greece built, the more inventions were made
or Chicago, the recurrent question of thereon, and the faster the steamship
whence something came, which it is evolved. What Fulton achieved,through
knowndid not always exist,is answered his lucky step of launching the right
by ascribingit to some definiteand per- sized boat on the rightwaters,was only
sonal origin. " The telegraph?" Tom to changethe steamboatfromsay 95 per
says,"why, someone musthave invented cent. worthwhile (i.e., froma means of
it-it seems to me I've heard about losing money) to 105 per cent. worth
Morse-yes, it must have been invented while (i.e., a means of gaining money).
by Morse." Not Justas a joke, but as There is a supremelyimportanteconomic
an attemptat truerlibraryclassification differencebetween a 5 per cent. deficit
in the Dewey system,I would suggest and a 5 per cent. profit-between the
that grammarschool Americanhistories numberof people who will entera losing
be classifiedunder 292, Mythology,for business,and a lucrative one. Yet the
this and similarreasons. genius required to make that small in-
The fundamentalistassault upon bio- crease of return was no greater than
logic evolutionis partlyan expressionof some later inventor's who raised the
this same trait of the ordinary mind, steampship's usefulness from 8,030 per
which can not so easily conceiveand re- cent,to 8,040 per cent. We shall speak
member the developmentof a gradual in anotherarticle of the crucial impor-
evolution,as a single creationby act of tance of some one's being able to make
one person. moneyout of a contrivance.

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534 THE SCIENTIFIC
Well, so it is with the mythologyof
each other invention-the Wright Bros.
for the airplane, Bell to answerthe tele-
phone,Marconi for wireless,are selected
out of the millionsof Wheir helpers,for
having been the men who were conduct-
ing an invention,the gradual productof
centuries, in that moment when it
crossed the dividing line between com-
mercialfailureand commercialprofit.
We have mentionedthe tendencyfor
thetitularinventorto hail fromthe right
country. The English believe that the
steamboatwas invented by Symington,
the Scotch call Bell (1812) the fatherof
the steamboat, the French swear by
Jouffroy, and the Spaniards have had a
thoroughlymythical Blasco de Garay.
Mythologydoes not relish heroes who
were foreigners. The American list of
inventorsallots most of the honors to
Americans, and about all the rest to
Englishmen(includingMarconiwho did
his work in England). Perhaps these
personalsymbols,as parts of our national
epic, our patrioticreligion,are necessary
or proper concepts for grammarschool
children. At any rate they are bound
to be propagated while Americanization
is the watchword,for they strengthen
hero-worshipand patriotism,combatting
socialism. But at least let thosewho are
old and sane enoughto hear such truths
about the great inventionsas are known
to any specialist,not repeat that parrot
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MONTHLY
follyof assigningsinglepersonalsymbols
to the greatinventions,on whichmillions
of minds have toiled for centuries,and
still toil. There is no morenecessityfor
our believing in such an origin for the
sewing-machine than thereis for such an
origin of man or coats or modern agri-
culture; and to continuedoing so would
be equally fatal to all understandingof
inventions.
If we desire greatinventorsto look up
to, forlearninghow to live and labor,let
us reverencethosediscoverersin all lands
who througha lifetimeof successfulin-
venting showed indomitable persever-
ance,egregiousingenuity,shininggenius.
Such heroesinclude (rememberingtheir
lives, not their mythologicattributes),
Archimedes,Roger Bacon, the Marquis
of Worcester,Watt, Fulton, the Brunels,
the Stevensesand Stephensons,Ericsson,
Edison, Siemens, Hiram Maxim, Elihu
Thomson, Charles Scribner, Steinmetz,
Emmet, Coolidge and others who have
labored long, avidly and brilliantly to
advance humanlife.
But the commonidea that the greatin-
ventionshave been dependentupon the
genius of a single man, so that if the
great So-and-so had died of whooping-
cough all historywould have been differ-
ent-this idea must now appear er-
roneous; and it will appear absurd from
our furtherexaminationinto the social
processand controlsof invention.