Adventures in Research
Adventures in Research
44/11/21 95 History of the First Regular Radio Broadcast - How radio broadcasting began with
the experiments of amateurs. Mr. Thomas says, "radio broadcasting began on November 2, 1920."
The program features a recreation of the Harding-Cox election returns as broadcast over KDKA. It
makes fascinating listening!
44/11/28 96 Telegraphy - Samuel Morse demonstrates the first successful electric telegraph.
The predictions of Maxwell, the experiments of Hertz and the invention of Marconi.
46/05/16 173 George Westinghouse - A tribute to the "man who added much to the progress
of our nation" (and was also the founder of KDKA-Westinghouse).
46/07/02 180 Electronics in Communications - How Samuel Morse got the idea for the
telegraph. How Marconi invented the wireless.
46/07/09 181 Electronics in Transportation - Marconi's wireless
saves lives aboard the Titanic, radio beam navigation for airplanes
46/07/30 184 King of Clocks - The story of how "Big Ben" came
into existence.
46/08/06 185 The Paper Invention that Worked - How Rudolph
Diesel designed his famous engine out of paper!
46/08/13 186 Golden Jubilee - A short history of the gasoline
automobile on its fiftieth anniversary.
46/08/20 187 The First American Patent - The building of the first
water-powered saw mill in America, the holder of patent number one.
46/08/27 188 Typewriter History - The history of the typewriter and the man who invented it,
Christopher Latham Sholes.
46/09/03 189 Science in Recreation - How science makes sports faster and more exciting.
46/09/10 190 The Story of Metal X - How Uranium first came to be
refined, and its development into an atomic bomb.
46/09/17 191 Birth of the Balloon - A story about the Montgolfier
brothers and the beginnings of manned flight.
46/10/08 194 Dynamite - The history of dynamite and Alfred Noble.
46/10/15 195 SOFAR - "Sound Fixing and Ranging," the system
developed during the war to find downed pilots and enemy submarines.
46/10/22 196 Hurricane Maker - The development of the wind tunnel
used to test the aircraft of the future.
46/10/29 197 Oil from Shale - Two shepherds discover stones that would burn, leading to the
discovery of oil from shale.
46/11/05 198 The Cash Register - How the device was invented and marketed.
46/11/12 199 Uncle Sam's Attic - The story of the Smithsonian Institution.
46/11/19 200 Toothpowder Mountain - The discovery in Nevada of a whole mountain made of
diatomaceous earth, and its many uses.
46/11/26 201 Gustaf Dahlen - The story of the Swedish inventor who made the first automatic
lighthouse beacon.
46/12/03 202 The Sting of Death - The story of Major Ronald Ross and his studies of Malaria,
for which he won the Nobel prize for physiology in 1902.
46/12/10 203 The Dread Scourge - Typhus - The story of Dr. Stephen Smith, father of our
public health laws, who discovered the cause of typhus.
46/12/31 206 Time Through the Ages - A history of time and timekeeping methods and a
short biography of Seth Thomas.
47/01/07 207 Beauty in Clay - The story of Josiah Wedgewood's boyhood days.
47/01/14 208 Plague Conqueror - The story of Edward Jenner and how he defeated smallpox.
47/01/21 209 Man of Destiny - The story of John A. Roebling, and the building of the Brooklyn
Bridge.
47/01/28 210 The Rain Wizard - A story about the science of climatology and how it put the
rain-makers out of business.
47/02/04 211 Stone that Gave Light - The development of fluorescent lighting.
47/02/11 212 The Perfect Clock - The story of the chronometer built by John Harrison in the
17th Century.
47/02/18 213 The Golden Mold - The story of the miracle of penicillin.
47/02/25 214 The Lost Chemical - How DDT was lost, and then found again.
47/03/04 215 The Modern Road - A history of the developments that led to the smooth modern
road.
51/01/30 417 Afloat on a Cloud - A story about the Montgolfier Brothers and their balloon.
52/12/09 514 Dirty Hands - The story of Dr. Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis, who pioneered in the
use of asepsis and cleanliness at childbirth.
52/12/30 517 George and the Iron Monster - The story of the English coal miner who "spun a
web of steel" across the country with steam locomotives.
53/07/14 545 The Mosquito Doctor - The story of Major William Crawford Gorgas, who
"cleaned up" Havana after the Spanish-American War.
54/01/19 572 The Immigrant Inventor - The story of Michael Pupin, who arrived from Hungary
and invented many telephone and telegraph devices.
54/05/11 588 And Then the Night - The story of Roger Bacon, philosopher/scientist who is
often credited with the invention of gunpowder.
54/05/25 590 The Fight Against Fire - A history of firemen and their equipment.
54/06/01 591 The King of Ice - The story of Frederick Tudor, a Bostonian who was the first
to think of shipping ice to the Indies.
54/06/08 592 I Scream, You Scream - The story of ice cream.
54/06/15 593 Yesterday's Secret Weapons - The history of weapons, from the bow and arrow
to "modern" armaments.
54/06/22 594 The Man Who Found a Continent - The story of Lt. Charles Wilkes, the naval
officer and explorer who discovered Antarctica.
54/06/29 595 Maria Coventry - The story about how a pioneer woman had to make do with her
two hands, with no help from modern appliances.
54/07/06 596 A Piece of Silk - How Andre Garnerin perfected the first parachute
(and used it!).
54/09/14 606 The Recluse of Fitzroy Square - The story of William Hyde Wollaston, discoverer
of Palladium and Rhodium, inventor of the camera lucida.
54/09/21 607 Victory in the Desert - How water was brought to the desert, which led to the
building of Phoenix, Arizona.
54/09/28 608 Patent Number 547860 - How a weaver, a paper maker, and a wasp's nest led
to the discovery of paper from wood.
54/10/05 609 Death of the Dawn Man - The story of the cave-man hoax, "Ecanthropus", known
as "The Piltdown Man."
54/10/12 610 A Cup of Sugar - The story of the development of the linotype machine.
54/10/19 611 The Fabulous Mineral - How diamonds are formed and mined.
54/10/26 612 The Blizzard of '88 - March 12, 1888, a memorable day for New Yorkers, the day
they were literally buried alive!
54/11/02 613 Hairpin in the Bottle - The story of the incandescent light, from Sir Henry Davy
to Swann to Edison and the first successful lamp.
54/11/09 614 American's First Invention - It was a rifle used to fight the British during the
Revolution.
54/11/16 615 Fence Around America - How the opening of the western prairies began with
a fence.
54/11/23 616 No Sale - The story of the cash register.
54/11/30 617 A Touch of Cologne - How "a touch of cologne" led to the invention of local
anesthesia.
54/12/07 618 The Green and the Red - The story of the traffic light.
54/12/14 619 The Perpetual Discovery - The story of chemist Robert Cheesebrough and his
interest in oil.
54/12/21 620 The Overlooked Housefly - The story of the discovery of DDT
54/12/28 621 The Missing Ingredient - The story of a shipping embargo which led a French
chemist to make artificial sodium bicarbonate.
55/01/04 622 Kris Kringle's Helper - The story of Samuel Allen, who invented the modern sled.
55/01/11 623 The Way of an Eagle - The story of man's attempts to fly.
55/01/18 624 The First Skyscraper - How Peter Cooper built the first one, a six story building in
New York.
55/01/25 625 The Million-Dollar Cabbage - The story of Clarence Birdseye, the first man to
successfully market frozen vegetables.
55/02/01 626 The Stamp of Approval - The story of the invention of the postage stamp.
55/02/08 627 Michael Saves His Breath - The story of glass.
55/02/15 628 Seven and a Fifth Degrees - The story of Eratosthenes, the ancient Greek who
first measured the circumference of the Earth.
55/02/22 629 Throw the Oars Away - The story of a Swede named Evinrude, and his invention
of the outboard motor.
55/03/01 630 Free as a Bird - The story of two men who dreamed of manned flight.
55/03/08 631 A Sprig of Mint - The story of a man who set out to prove himself correct, and
did just the opposite!