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Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875) was Professor of Experimental
Philosophy at King's College London. The self-taught son of a London-based
musical instrument maker, Wheatstone conducted early experiments
into acoustics and the transmission of sound. His first paper on
the subject was published in 1823. Having inherited the family business,
he went on to invent numerous new musical instruments and devices
including the kaleidophone and, famously, patenting the concertina
in 1829. Wheatstone was a polymath and a successful businessman
fascinated by all aspects of physics, electricity, acoustics and
optics, and in their application to industry.
He began studying electricity and electromagnetism around 1830.
His focus at this time was in seeking to measure the velocity of
electricity. Wheatstone joined King's in 1834 and with the support
of the Royal Society and the College Council laid down a circuit
of copper wiring in the basement of the building to refine the experimental
data. Along with his King's colleague, the chemist John Daniell,
Wheatstone sought new means of generating large quantities of electricity.
During the later 1830s and early 1840s, they both developed designs
of cell or battery and early magneto-induction devices. Wheatstone
went on to patent a number of electric motor systems, including
a pioneering early design of linear induction motor, and coining
the term 'rheostat' to define his design of variable resistance
control. He also developed various measurement devices, the most
famous of which was the so-called 'Wheatstone Bridge' to calculate
electrical resistance, variants of which are still in use today.
Perhaps Wheatstone's two key achievements whilst at King's were
in inventing the stereoscope and perfecting a practical version
of the telegraph. Stereoscopy - creating the illusion of 3D from
flat images - preceded the invention of photography. Wheatstone
was quick to spot the potential of the new medium, however, after
having produced the first working model and coining the term 'stereoscope'
at a public unveiling at the Royal Society in 1838. The device soon
became popular with Victorian families with the invention of photography
and the mass-production of stereoscopic picture cards depicting
life-like images in realistic situations. continue>
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