 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 
In a short time, thousands of us will be digging in the earth and
planting seeds - Victory gardens, we will call them. The farmer will be
doing the same thing but on a much larger scale. As an experiment, we
might try planting in a single row all the different kinds of seeds.
And if we are patient, out of that row we can eventually get vegetables
and seeds of all kinds, and flowers of all colors from the same earth,
receiving the same sunshine! Thousands of different materials - a
chemical factory supreme, without even a test tube or Bunsen burner!How this is done remains one of the important unsolved problems. Man, with all of his knowledge, has not been able to tell us much of the why or how of the green leaf. Yet we know this is the fundamental link between life on earth and the inexhaustible energy of the sun. We depend on the leaf for our food and clothing - our very existence. |
