 Short Stories of Science and InventionA Collection of Radio Talks byCharles F. KetteringINDEXWeekly, from September 1942 to July 1945, Charles F. Kettering gave five-minute intermission talks about Science and Invention during the radio broadcasts of the General Motors Symphony of the Air. Kettering invented the first automobile self-starter, and for 31 years directed a research laboratory for General Motors. These radio talks are a fascinating legacy from the mind of a prolific inventor. The obvious anachronisms now add a historical perspective of the war-time period in which they were written. These web pages now preserve some of the most popular stories for a new generation to read The text and art come from a General Motors booklet of selected talks. (Reprint, March 1959) |
A Radio Talk by Charles F. Kettering The submarine came about by a process of evolution. It is the culmination of over 500 years of study and research on the part of many men in many countries. We know that even before the time of Columbus, an unknown inventor built a submarine boat to smuggle men across a river, and in 1586 an Italian, Ganibelli, destroyed a bridge near Antwerp using a nearly submerged boat loaded with gun powder.  About the time the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, Van Drebbel, a Dutchman, invented the first under water boat to carry a crew. Symons, an Englishman, over a hundred years later contributed the idea of. using leather water bottles as adjustable ballast tanks, And David Bushnell of George Washington's day equipped his one man submarine, "The Turtle," with a screw propeller. Robert Fulton in 1805 demonstrated a torpedo-carrying submarine blowing up a 200-ton brig thereby showing the military possibilities of the device. |
