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Title: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 05, 2014, 05:55:13 PM
Without these brilliant men, we wouldn't be doing what we do.

Here's a cool monument to the trio of Tesla, Hertz and Van de Graaff at http://www.farwestforge.com/Forum/bsgview.php?photo=3835&cat=&by=Tom%20C

If you know of any other cool electrical monuments or mascot pictures, please post them here.

Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 05, 2014, 07:02:41 PM
Here's a mascot from the 1920's when electricity was being promoted in the USA - Reddy Killowatt. One of my favorites that I remember as a kid reading old textbooks about electricity.

Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Jeff Bankston on January 05, 2014, 07:17:50 PM
Here's a mascot from the 1920's when electricity was being promoted in the USA - Reddy Killowatt. One of my favorites that I remember as a kid reading old textbooks about electricity.
i report with great sadness that Reddy Killowatt is dead. some amped up idiot pulled the wrong handle and dropped all the voltage on Reddy. poor Reddy , RIP
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 05, 2014, 08:30:46 PM
What about Pikachu? IIRC he can store electricity in his cheeks and let it loose as big lightning bolts. Don't you wish that YOU could do that?
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Lyle Williams on January 06, 2014, 02:41:54 AM
What about Pikachu? IIRC he can store electricity in his cheeks and let it loose as big lightning bolts. Don't you wish that YOU could do that?

Anyone can do that.

Doing it twice is the hard bit.    :-)

Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Steve M Smith on January 06, 2014, 05:11:52 AM
Just the one about Tesla which I have already shared: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla

And the bit about saving his old laboratory to turn it into a museum: http://theoatmeal.com/blog/tesla_museum_saved

Not really a monument - but a museum is even better!

When I was at school we had a character similar to Reddy Kilowatt called Dead Fred.  He was painted on a board and had a light bulb on his head.  He was carrying a kettle which the teacher could emulate being faulty.  The ground was switchable so it could be shown that if wired correctly and a fault ocurred, the fuse would blow.  If not, the fault current would flow through Fred and Fred would be dead!


Steve.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 06, 2014, 08:37:45 AM
When I was at school we had a character similar to Reddy Kilowatt called Dead Fred.  He was painted on a board and had a light bulb on his head.  He was carrying a kettle which the teacher could emulate being faulty.  The ground was switchable so it could be shown that if wired correctly and a fault ocurred, the fuse would blow.  If not, the fault current would flow through Fred and Fred would be dead!

Here's my version of Dead Fred that I call "Flash". I built him a couple years ago using a $1 action figure and a bulb holder from a Honda Civic. As you see, he has a real photography flash bulb for a head wired between his foot and a hand contacts. I put in a series 10-watt / 100-ohm current limiting resistor in his backpack to limit peak currents when I connect him to a shock hazard. He's standing beside a VW Microbus model with a power cord attached that I use for shock hazard demonstrations. The plate in front of the VW is "grounded" and I can energize the chassis of the VW RV to any AC potential I like from 0 to 150 volts using a B&K AC power supply with an isolated secondary transformer. The isolated secondary allows me to create fault current demonstrations isolated from the building's G-N-E bonding that won't unbalance and trip the GFCI breakers. The only problem with Flash is that he's really BRIGHT. So if you're looking at him when the flash bulb fires, you'll have a big purple blotch in your vision field for a few moments. The antique flash bulbs do cost $1 each, but I get them in lots of 50 on eBay, so it's not too expensive of a demonstration.   
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 06, 2014, 08:52:44 AM
When I was at school we had a character similar to Reddy Kilowatt called Dead Fred.  He was painted on a board and had a light bulb on his head.  He was carrying a kettle which the teacher could emulate being faulty.  The ground was switchable so it could be shown that if wired correctly and a fault ocurred, the fuse would blow.  If not, the fault current would flow through Fred and Fred would be dead!

I've searched everywhere for a pic of Dead Fred, but all I can find is a desktop pen holder that looks like a body stabbed by a pencil. Can you find and post of picture of the UK Dead Fred? That would be very cool...
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Steve M Smith on January 06, 2014, 09:52:11 AM
I think he was just a one off, built and named by our physics teacher, rather than a commercially available teaching aid.


Steve.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Frank Koenig on January 06, 2014, 11:32:03 AM
I learned, just last week, that there is a new statue of Nikola Tesla right here in my neighborhood. I don't know who put it up and, so far as I know, it has nothing to do with Tesla Motors, the electric car manufacturer.

A field trip with photo documentation, perhaps including a stop at a nearby bar, is in order.

--Frank
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 06, 2014, 12:37:30 PM
I learned, just last week, that there is a new statue of Nikola Tesla right here in my neighborhood. I don't know who put it up and, so far as I know, it has nothing to do with Tesla Motors, the electric car manufacturer.

A field trip with photo documentation, perhaps including a stop at a nearby bar, is in order.

--Frank

Excellent. Drink one for me while you're at it...
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Frank DeWitt on January 06, 2014, 12:40:48 PM
there are many monuments to Edison (as there should be)  Here is one
http://www.menloparkmuseum.org/tower-restoration
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4136/4806258230_849b2297e6_z.jpg
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on January 06, 2014, 12:49:38 PM
Menlo park gives us a hint about where you live...

JR
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Tim McCulloch on January 06, 2014, 12:52:59 PM
there are many monuments to Edison (as there should be)  Here is one
http://www.menloparkmuseum.org/tower-restoration
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4136/4806258230_849b2297e6_z.jpg

The quote I remember from Edison is "Genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration."  The Oatmeal cartoon about Tesla v Edison is spot on when the author says "Edison was a CEO."  While Edison came up with ideas it was largely the perspiration of his hired staff that refined those ideas until Edison could determine the monetary worth/practicality of a concept.

If you're interested in some of Edison's legal maneuvering, the movie industry is a good place to start.  Edison formed a cabal (incorporated into a trust fund) of patent holders that in essence became the sole arbiter of what films would be made, the running times, and that no credits for actors be part of the film.  This led to the forming of independent studios and distributors that had to fight hundreds of lawsuits by the Edison trust, and the thugs hired to intimidate and vandalize any exhibitor that refused to allow Edison to dictate how their businesses were run... all hiding behind patent law.  Sound familiar?  The thugs aren't physical these days; they wear pin strip suits and put the word "Esquire" at the end of their names...
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on January 06, 2014, 01:12:32 PM
The quote I remember from Edison is "Genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration."  The Oatmeal cartoon about Tesla v Edison is spot on when the author says "Edison was a CEO."  While Edison came up with ideas it was largely the perspiration of his hired staff that refined those ideas until Edison could determine the monetary worth/practicality of a concept.

If you're interested in some of Edison's legal maneuvering, the movie industry is a good place to start.  Edison formed a cabal (incorporated into a trust fund) of patent holders that in essence became the sole arbiter of what films would be made, the running times, and that no credits for actors be part of the film.  This led to the forming of independent studios and distributors that had to fight hundreds of lawsuits by the Edison trust, and the thugs hired to intimidate and vandalize any exhibitor that refused to allow Edison to dictate how their businesses were run... all hiding behind patent law.  Sound familiar?  The thugs aren't physical these days; they wear pin strip suits and put the word "Esquire" at the end of their names...

I've known a few successful people and a common thread between them is an uncommon drive to succeed. Edison for all his warts managed to shepherd a lot of invention to market.

Nowadays we have patent trolls who prosper on the asymmetry between gaining rights to a patent and cost of defending against charges of infringement. A friend with a small business literally just a few days ago was put out of business by a cease and desist lawsuit claiming patent infringement (lacking merit IMO) that he couldn't afford to defend against the charges even though in the right. Justice isn't free or even cheap.   

Congress is reviewing ways to correct this or at least reduce abuse (business methods patents are the current hot area), but the reality is you can win a patent for low tens of thousands, and spend hundreds of K to millions in court defending against charges of infringement.

No obvious simple answers, and the lawyers** manage to get well paid coming and going.

JR

** Shakespeare had a prescient line in Henry VI regarding what to do with lawyers.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Tim McCulloch on January 06, 2014, 01:58:00 PM

** Shakespeare had a prescient line in Henry VI regarding what to do with lawyers.

Yes, and IIRC it was an answer on how to create anarchy...
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Lyle Williams on January 06, 2014, 02:23:48 PM
We have this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lightning_simulator_questacon02.jpg. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uF0TlYF9xzQ&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DuF0TlYF9xzQ about 5km from where I live. 

Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Al Keltz on January 06, 2014, 02:48:30 PM
Inside the lobby of the Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls Ontario . . the "Teslatron" fountain.(http://C:\teslatron.jpg)
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 06, 2014, 02:51:22 PM
We have this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lightning_simulator_questacon02.jpg. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uF0TlYF9xzQ&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DuF0TlYF9xzQ about 5km from where I live.

In a completer swerve OT, I've been to Organ Stop Pizza in Tempe, AZ a few times. It's an incredible Wurlitzer organ with every time of drum, violin, xylophone, horn, and pipe organ noise maker you can imagine under direct control of the organist. And none of the sounds are generated electrically. Yup, it's all powered by air pressure. You can drink cheap beer and eat average pizza while you watch all mechanisms make music. And the best part is when the organ console rises out of the floor on a hydraulic platform and the organist is revealed wearing a gold sequined jacket. He's got a tip jar on the top of the organ, and will play whatever you like for a few bucks. I tipped him a 5-spot and asked for Chattanooga Choo Choo (one of his faves listed on the playlist). Yup, it's got a real train whistle.

Yeah, it's totally steampunk and anti-electrical, but it's a great mechanical show very close to Phoenix, AZ.

http://www.organstoppizza.com/
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on January 06, 2014, 02:55:26 PM
Yes, and IIRC it was an answer on how to create anarchy...

I was trying to make a humorous and literate reference.

Draw whatever conclusions you will.


 JR
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Frank DeWitt on January 06, 2014, 03:20:44 PM
Menlo park gives us a hint about where you live...

JR

Never been there, But It is on my list.  It is about 6 hrs away from my home.  I have just always admired Edison.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 06, 2014, 03:36:05 PM
I was trying to make a humorous and literate reference.

Everybody play nice, please. Or I'll unleash the Lightning Bolt of Destiny (or whatever...)
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 06, 2014, 03:38:00 PM
Inside the lobby of the Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls Ontario . . the "Teslatron" fountain.(http://C:\teslatron.jpg)

I think I want to live there. Way too cool...
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Al Keltz on January 06, 2014, 03:59:25 PM
Two more, one from the Canada side, Tesla is standing on an AC electric motor which he patented.

The other is out side of "The Cave Of the Winds" attraction.

(http://C:\tesla2.jpg)

(http://C:\tesla3.jpg)
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Josh Millward on January 06, 2014, 04:28:11 PM
In a completer swerve OT, I've been to Organ Stop Pizza in Tempe, AZ a few times. It's an incredible Wurlitzer organ with every time of drum, violin, xylophone, horn, and pipe organ noise maker you can imagine under direct control of the organist.

Yeah, it's totally steampunk and anti-electrical, but it's a great mechanical show very close to Phoenix, AZ.

Along those same lines you may want to explore the Tampa Theatre (http://tampatheatre.org/) in downtown Tampa, FL.

Similar concept with noisemakers all over the theater and the organ rises up through the stage.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Tim McCulloch on January 06, 2014, 04:30:54 PM
In a completer swerve OT, I've been to Organ Stop Pizza in Tempe, AZ a few times. It's an incredible Wurlitzer organ with every time of drum, violin, xylophone, horn, and pipe organ noise maker you can imagine under direct control of the organist. And none of the sounds are generated electrically. Yup, it's all powered by air pressure. You can drink cheap beer and eat average pizza while you watch all mechanisms make music. And the best part is when the organ console rises out of the floor on a hydraulic platform and the organist is revealed wearing a gold sequined jacket. He's got a tip jar on the top of the organ, and will play whatever you like for a few bucks. I tipped him a 5-spot and asked for Chattanooga Choo Choo (one of his faves listed on the playlist). Yup, it's got a real train whistle.

Yeah, it's totally steampunk and anti-electrical, but it's a great mechanical show very close to Phoenix, AZ.

http://www.organstoppizza.com/

The theater organ crowd calls that "the toy counter."  Lots of new technology on the control end but still electrical and pneumatic at its heart.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Frank DeWitt on January 06, 2014, 05:26:04 PM
The quote I remember from Edison is "Genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration."  The Oatmeal cartoon about Tesla v Edison is spot on when the author says "Edison was a CEO."  While Edison came up with ideas it was largely the perspiration of his hired staff that refined those ideas until Edison could determine the monetary worth/practicality of a concept.


One of the things that I like about Edison is that he paid people to do research.  (He created jobs)  The light bulb is a good example of how he did things.  He didn't set out to invent the light bulb because that had been done.  He set out to invent a long lasting light bulb that customers would chose over gas as the way they wanted to light there homes.  That meant looking at the total cost of gas lighting and the relative benefits of gas vs electric and coming up with something better.  He started by specifying a system to compete, and then inventing it.  He specified the brightness,  That it should be high resistance and low current (100 ohms and 1 amp running at 100 volts) all light bulb before that were very low resistance and high current.  He then decided on a system of distribution using underground wiring for safety At that time telegraph and arc light street lamp wires were run from roof top to roof top in cities.  He came up with the 3 wire system (Hot neutral Hot) with a balanced load having no current flow in the neutral.  BTW having smaller branch circuits running off a larger feed had never been done, parallel circuits for lighting had never been done.  He also decided that he needed direct coupled generators for efficiency, a meter, fuse boxes, sockets, switches. and all the other bits.  He then set to work with his staff to invent it all.  In the process he got AC wrong, and he didn't see small appliances coming so he didn't invent the plug and outlet. given all that he got right, I am OK with that.

He had a rule that he would not invent something unless there was a way to commercialize it, and he worked hard to make money from his invention.  I am not only OK with that, I am all for it.  I work for money.

BTW in the early years he worked alone and invented a number of things completely alone. 
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Stephen Swaffer on January 06, 2014, 05:46:31 PM
Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI has-or at least claims to have-several buildings that were a part of Edison's Menlo Park laboratory restored and apparently ready for any new experiments you might dream up while you are there (if you can talk the staff into letting you play!)  Been a while since I've been there-definitely a nice weather field trip though not a good idea today.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Tim McCulloch on January 06, 2014, 07:03:05 PM
{big ol' snip to maintain some kind of continuity...}

He had a rule that he would not invent something unless there was a way to commercialize it, and he worked hard to make money from his invention.  I am not only OK with that, I am all for it.  I work for money.

BTW in the early years he worked alone and invented a number of things completely alone.

I have much more admiration for Edison the CEO than I do for the myth of Edison the inventor.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 06, 2014, 07:11:31 PM
I have much more admiration for Edison the CEO than I do for the myth of Edison the inventor.

My top three favorite inventors have got to be Da Vinci, Tesla and Doc Brown from Back to the Future. And I'm only including Doc Brown because I REALLY want a DeLorean with a flux capacitor.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Steve M Smith on January 06, 2014, 07:14:39 PM
My top three are Tesla, Les Paul and Paul Bigsby.

You can buy flux capacitors on ebay but I don't think they are guaranteed to work!


Steve.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 06, 2014, 07:19:55 PM
My top three are Tesla, Les Paul and Paul Bigsby.

I've got to admit that Les Paul was a true genius and inventor.

Quote
You can buy flux capacitors on ebay but I don't think they are guaranteed to work!

Drats.... and I just put a bid in on this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Limited-Edition-Diamond-Back-to-the-Future-II-Flux-Capacitor-NEW-IN-BOX-/301057581236?pt=US_Action_Figures&hash=item46186e20b4
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Tim McCulloch on January 06, 2014, 07:33:14 PM
I've got to admit that Les Paul was a true genius and inventor.

Drats.... and I just put a bid in on this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Limited-Edition-Diamond-Back-to-the-Future-II-Flux-Capacitor-NEW-IN-BOX-/301057581236?pt=US_Action_Figures&hash=item46186e20b4

If Doc didn't do the refurb, I'd let it go...
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Frank DeWitt on January 06, 2014, 07:46:18 PM
I have much more admiration for Edison the CEO than I do for the myth of Edison the inventor.

I can't imagine why anyone thinks that Edison was not an inventor.  There is ample record of him inventing and patenting things with no help what so ever and I can tell you as a inventor of record on a few patents and co inventor on some others there is nothing wrong with hiring help to bring an invention to the finish line.

One of his more complex inventions done by him alone was bi directional telegraph.  It was a huge benefit at the time. another was the phonograph.  a third was the discovery of "the edison effect"  The bases of vacuum tubes.  He quickly saw it's value and devised the first vacuum tube piece of test equipment for his own use.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Jonathan Johnson on January 06, 2014, 11:21:20 PM
I have much more admiration for Edison the CEO than I do for the myth of Edison the inventor.
And I have more admiration for Bill Gates the CEO than I do for Bill Gates the computer programmer.

Yes, Bill Gates did some programming, but I would not classify him as a computer genius. He got his biggest boost mainly by remarketing DOS at a price much lower than competing operating systems were being sold for, which played a big part in making the purchase of PCs by consumers (as opposed to businesses) possible. I would consider him more marketing genius than computer genius.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Steve M Smith on January 07, 2014, 01:48:54 AM
My top three are Tesla, Les Paul and Paul Bigsby.

Actually, three is not enough. Add Edwin Land to my list.


Steve.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 07, 2014, 01:51:06 AM
And I have more admiration for Bill Gates the CEO than I do for Bill Gates the computer programmer.

Let's all agree that there were many kinds of genius required for technology to grow and become part of our daily lives. There were accidental inventions, one-hit wonders, prolific inventors, wanna-be inventors, investors and CEO's of every kind, and vilified futurists such as Galileo. And there were many captains of industry needed to bring these inventions to the public.

For instance the American railroad system was less about pure technology and more about  the resources required in both human lives and machinery to create the infrastructure needed for the transportation of goods across a vast country. The same goes for the electrification of the world. Before electrical power, many industries were forced to huddle around sources of direct water power. So the northeast textile industry of the 1800's was clustered around rivers with water wheels to power its machinery. It took real genius of all kinds starting at Niagara Falls to develop how to move this same energy over wires across the country. Now everybody connected to the grid could simply plug in an electric motor and manufacture something. Without Edison and Tesla and Westinghouse and a thousand other driven geniuses, we would all still be huddled around wood  stoves and kerosene lights on these cold nights. I salute them all.

Now go find some pictures of cool monuments to electricity and invention that will amuse and entertain us.   
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 07, 2014, 08:05:38 AM
Add Edwin Land to my list.

Yup, another driven inventor in the film and optics industries.

From Wikipedia:

During his time at Polaroid, Land was notorious for his marathon research sessions. When Land conceived of an idea, he would experiment and brainstorm until the problem was solved with no breaks of any kind. He needed to have food brought to him and to be reminded to eat.[6] He once wore the same clothes for eighteen consecutive days while solving problems with the commercial production of polarizing film.[6] As the Polaroid company grew, Land had teams of assistants working in shifts at his side. As one team wore out, the next team was brought in to continue the work.

Elkan Blout, a close colleague of Edwin Land at Polaroid, wrote: "What was Land like? Knowing him was a unique experience. He was a true visionary; he saw things differently from other people, which is what led him to the idea of instant photography. He was a brilliant, driven man who did not spare himself and who enjoyed working with equally driven people."
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Jonathan Johnson on January 07, 2014, 03:02:55 PM
Let's all agree that there were many kinds of genius required for technology to grow and become part of our daily lives.

Almost all invention is built on the work of others. Would Bell and Gray have invented the telephone had the telegraph not been developed first? Would Gutenberg have invented moveable type had the block-printing press not been invented first? Would Apple have developed the iPod had touchpad controllers (ala laptop mouse) and digital media players not first been designed by others?

Giving exclusive credit to a single individual for any invention is a sleight to those upon whose work it was built.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 07, 2014, 03:04:48 PM
Giving exclusive credit to a single individual for any invention is a sleight to those upon whose work it was built.

Agreed. We all stand on the shoulders of giants...
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Steve M Smith on January 07, 2014, 03:15:05 PM
Agreed. We all stand on the shoulders of giants...

I fell off!


Steve.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Jonathan Johnson on January 07, 2014, 03:46:27 PM
Any inventor -- no matter how mundane the invention -- is a visionary. Having the ability to see things differently is a prerequisite to applying a technology in a new way not thought of by others.

From that perspective, nearly everyone has the capacity of invention and is therefore at least somewhat visionary, but some are better at it than the rest of us. The best are the ones who take their crazy ideas and run with them and are not deterred by the naysayers -- and survive the experience. (The rest get Darwin awards.)
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on January 07, 2014, 03:50:18 PM
Almost all invention is built on the work of others. Would Bell and Gray have invented the telephone had the telegraph not been developed first? Would Gutenberg have invented moveable type had the block-printing press not been invented first? Would Apple have developed the iPod had touchpad controllers (ala laptop mouse) and digital media players not first been designed by others?

Giving exclusive credit to a single individual for any invention is a sleight to those upon whose work it was built.
I was the sole inventor for 8 or my nine patents, and while I did not create all the means involved from whole cloth, I came up with the unique novel combination of those existing means, that created some new utility. Embarrassingly it turns out one of my new "wheels" was actually the reinvention of an existing wheel that I didn't know about or find in an art search.

It is the basic rationale of the patent system to trade protected use for a limited duration to the inventor in exchange for the publication of the novel art that expands the collective knowledge of all of us. After the limited protected time period, this becomes public domain for all of us to use freely.   

I don't feel like I participated in some slight of hand, nor do I consider myself a visionary (well a little eccentric). I was handy with making things work and not very satisfied with the status quo, so I was always looking for better ways to do things. Often these better ways were novel and patentable, while as I have already posted, IMO it is a little too easy to get patents. A more rigorous search by the PTO would have knocked out one of mine before it issued.   

I will try to avoid political arguments but I am not a fan of the "You didn't build that" argument, and believe a great deal of our technological progress can be attributed to a series of highly motivated individuals. I believe the Edison quote of 1% inspiration to 99% perspiration is not far from the truth. I did not have any inventions that spontaneously revealed themselves to me in finished form. Most were the culmination of months/years of effort. 

JR

PS: For the record Apple did not invent the IPOD, the MP3 player was actually invented by Creative Labs, other computer bits and odds associated with them were invented by Parc/Xerox research. After years of lawsuits Apple quietly settled with Creative over the music player IP. Apple deserves credit for spectacular product execution, of other people's ideas. That creates value too.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Art Welter on January 07, 2014, 04:12:48 PM
Two more, one from the Canada side, Tesla is standing on an AC electric motor which he patented.

The other is out side of "The Cave Of the Winds" attraction.

I snapped the same monument at Niagra Falls which happened to have an electric vehicle behind.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 07, 2014, 04:47:51 PM
I snapped the same monument at Niagara Falls which happened to have an electric vehicle behind.

That's GREAT. Tesla (the inventor, not the car manufacturer) would be proud.  ;D
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Frank Koenig on January 09, 2014, 12:03:32 AM
This may not be a monument in the narrowest sense but it is electrical and pretty cool. The Boston Museum of Science has a very large Van de Graaff generator which they use to give a lecture/show. I saw it a couple of years ago and was much impressed. They're a little fast and loose with some of the physics, but then I always think that. Worth a look if you're in town.

http://www.mos.org/live-presentations/lightning (http://www.mos.org/live-presentations/lightning)

--Frank
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Frank DeWitt on January 27, 2014, 12:13:01 PM
LEDs light the Edison monument.
http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2014/01/thomas_edisons_monument_will_no_longer_burn_with_thomas_edisons_lightbulbs.html

This summer, when the monument to Thomas Alva Edison on Christie Street reopens after two years of renovations, a small but symbolically significant change will take place.

The 14-foot-tall glass replica light bulb on top of the 118-foot-tall tower will no longer burn with an array of incandescent bulbs, Edison's signature invention. The project calls for changing the lights to the new LED bulbs, a lighting-tech leap that came well after Edison's time.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on January 27, 2014, 12:33:17 PM
LEDs light the Edison monument.
http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2014/01/thomas_edisons_monument_will_no_longer_burn_with_thomas_edisons_lightbulbs.html

This summer, when the monument to Thomas Alva Edison on Christie Street reopens after two years of renovations, a small but symbolically significant change will take place.

The 14-foot-tall glass replica light bulb on top of the 118-foot-tall tower will no longer burn with an array of incandescent bulbs, Edison's signature invention. The project calls for changing the lights to the new LED bulbs, a lighting-tech leap that came well after Edison's time.
That seems just wrong... to use fake IC lamps in a tribute to Edison. but eventually IC lamps will really be antique technology and no longer available.

JR
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Mike Sokol on January 27, 2014, 12:39:09 PM
That seems just wrong... to use fake IC lamps in a tribute to Edison. but eventually IC lamps will really be antique technology and no longer available.

JR

The same could  be said for guitar amplifiers with tubes, I suppose. Hey, there's at least a few modeling guitar amps that have orange-glow LEDs inside a slotted panel so it LOOKS like there's tubes inside. Wonder if that makes it sound any better psychologically?  ::)

Do you think they're going to worry about the color temp on the Edison LED monument?  Hopefully they'll add in enough red LEDs to "warm up" the light a bit.  8)
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: John Roberts {JR} on January 27, 2014, 03:16:19 PM
The same could  be said for guitar amplifiers with tubes, I suppose. Hey, there's at least a few modeling guitar amps that have orange-glow LEDs inside a slotted panel so it LOOKS like there's tubes inside. Wonder if that makes it sound any better psychologically?  ::)

Do you think they're going to worry about the color temp on the Edison LED monument?  Hopefully they'll add in enough red LEDs to "warm up" the light a bit.  8)

The amount of people that it would bother are few, and old so not a major concern. if anything the light bulb is an achievement in refining a common technology. Making a wire turn white hot is not that hard, making it not burn out almost immediately is.

JR

PS: Yup I've seen the faux tube amps with LEDs to fool those who want to be fooled. Even politicians are incapable of understanding the difference between correlation and causation.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: Jonathan Johnson on January 27, 2014, 04:17:43 PM
The amount of people that it would bother are few, and old so not a major concern. if anything the light bulb is an achievement in refining a common technology. Making a wire turn white hot is not that hard, making it not burn out almost immediately is.

I've made my own short-lived filament, a lead from a mechanical pencil, connected to 24VAC, in open air. It glows very brightly for a few seconds before it fails.

I don't think Edison would be upset at the use of LEDs; rather, he would praise the forward movement of technology and laugh at the glorification of old, inefficient technology. But that's just my opinion.
Title: Re: Electrical Monuments
Post by: frank kayser on January 27, 2014, 09:10:09 PM

PS: Yup I've seen the faux tube amps with LEDs to fool those who want to be fooled. Even politicians are incapable of understanding the difference between correlation and causation.

Even politicians?  :o