Sir Charles Wheatstone and the Wheatstone Collection

Title page of Johann Sebastian Halle's, Magie, oder, Die Zauberkräfte... Berlin : Pauli, 1785.

Sir Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875), one of the most renowned scientists of the 19th century, experimented with acoustics, optics, electricity and, significantly, the telegraph. He was the first appointed Professor of Experimental Philosophy at King's College London and, when he died in 1875, he left his collection of books, scientific papers and instruments to the College. His personal library of books and pamphlets is housed in the Foyle Special Collections Library of King's College London and is known as the Wheatstone Collection. His personal papers can be accessed from the Archives Department of King's College London while his instruments are cared for in the Physics Department.

The Wheatstone Collection consists of approximately 2000 items and is representative of prominent 19th century scientific thought as well as providing an insight into one of the great minds of that century. It includes works on acoustics by Ernst Chladni and Heinrich Bindseil while works by G.S. Ohm and Michael Faraday represent Wheatstone's keen interest in anything to do with electricity. Optics are covered in works by Humphrey Lloyd and Sir David Brewster while non-scientific interests are seen in philosophical works by Auguste Comte, John Locke and Benjamin Constant. Evidence of Wheatstone's personal interests can be found in works on phrenology by George Combe and F.J. Gall and a collection of books on natural magic and parlour tricks by Johann Samuel Halle point to a humorous side of a professor well known for his entertaining dinner parties in Victorian London.

An example of an image from a Wheatstone book on Phrenology. David Noble. The brain and its physiology... London : Churchill, 1846.

Wheatstone's pamphlet collection covers an extensive range of topics in a variety of European languages and shows how well read Wheatstone was and how broad his interests were. Subjects covered in the pamphlet collection include astronomy, meteorology, theology, artillery, horology and climatology. Many of these pamphlets are believed to be the only recorded copies. A large number of books and pamphlets have been personally inscribed to Wheatstone and show how esteemed he was considered to be both as a scientist and as a friend.

Wheatstone was a shy, retiring person who did not choose to become a scientist. However, he had an enquiring mind and an ability apply scientific principles practically. What follows is an outline of his life and achievements.

Title page showing an inscription to Wheatstone. Daniell was a colleague and lifelong friend of Wheatstone. John Frederic Daniell. An introduction to the study of chemical philosophy... London : Parker, 1843.

Wheatstone becomes a scientist

Charles Wheatstone was born in Gloucester on February 1802 to William and Beata Wheatstone. William Wheatstone had a musical instrument making business in Gloucester and consequently Charles's first interests were musical. From a young age Charles Wheatstone conducted experiments on musical instruments and studied the scientific principles involved. In 1806 his father moved his business from Gloucester to Pall Mall, London where he not only made musical instruments but also taught music. It was in this shop that Wheatstone first showed his inventive nature to the public. In 1822 he set up the acouryptophone or 'enchanted lyre' as it was known. This involved the suspension of a lyre from the soundboards of a piano in the room above. When a person in this room played the piano, the lyre in the room below, as if by magic, would make music. In the same way that gas is brought to households, Wheatstone imagined that music could be transmitted.

In 1823 the acclaimed Danish scientist, Christian Örsted (1777-1851) came to London and saw the Enchanted Lyre. He requested an audience with Wheatstone and, on meeting, discovered that he and Wheatstone had performed many experiments in common. Örsted encouraged Wheatstone to write a paper, which Wheatstone subsequently did, and Örsted took this paper to Paris where it was reported. The paper was not read in full or published in Paris but it was presented with the authority of Professor Örsted to the Académie royale des Sciences in June of 1823. Three months later the paper was published in full in England under Wheatstone's name as "New Experiments in Sound" in Thomson's Annals of Philosophy and Wheatstone's scientific career was launched.

Wheatstone's interest in music

Title page with portrait of author. Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni.Die Akustik. Leipzig : Breitkopf, 1830.

Considering Wheatstone's upbringing, it is not surprising that his first scientific interests and patents were to do with sound. In 1825 Wheatstone demonstrated his kaleidophone. The kaleidophone is a metal rod with a bead attached. When the rod is struck, the vibrations carry the bead along giving a visual perception of the movement of sound. In 1827 Wheatstone published a paper on the kaleidophone called "Description of the Kaleidophone or Phonic Kaleidoscope: a new Philosophical Toy, for the Illustration of Several Interesting and Amusing Acoustical and Optical Phenomena". He was influenced by Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladini (1756-1827) and in 1833 he wrote a memoir on Chladni's figures, "On the Figures obtained by strewing Sand on Vibrating Surfaces, commonly called Acoustic Figures". In this paper he shows how the curves of vibrations can be predicted. Wheatstone worked on the premise that sound is like light and can be refracted and polarised.

In 1829 and 1830 Wheatstone worked on the concertina. This is a musical instrument which made the best use of the idea of the free reed instrument. Wheatstone concluded that a cylindrical shape would be the most efficient and hence the six-sided shape of the early concertina. In 1844 Wheatstone patented his concertina and set up a firm to make the instruments. The concertina quickly caught on in England and Wheatstone's firm called Wheatstone and Co. continues to this day to make concertinas.

Wheatstone's contributions to electricity

From an early age Wheatstone took an active interest in electricity. As a youngster he had bought a book by Volta and had duplicated many of the experiments there. He was an accomplished linguist and was able to read widely on electricity. Consequently one of his first papers on the subject brought to the attention of the English speaking world the works of two Italian scientists, Professor Antinori of Florence and Professor Linari of Sienna. In the article, "On the Thermo-electric Spark", Wheatstone describes an experiment whereby a chemical combination or thermopile is used to generate a spark. Wheatstone later demonstrated before the British Association in Dublin how an electric spark could be used to discriminate between metallic bodies and in 1843 Wheatstone gave the annual Bakerian lecture to the Royal Society entitled, "An account of several new instruments and processes for determining the constants of a voltaic circuit." Although Wheatstone gives full credit to Samuel Hunter Christie, the inventor of the instrument he describes, Wheatstone has forever been associated with this instrument which is today called Wheatstone's Bridge. The significance of this instrument is that it measures resistance in an electric circuit. Christie did not intend it to be used for this purpose and it was Wheatstone who discovered this use - hence its name. It was Wheatstone's experiments with electricity that led him to the telegraph whose development he continued to be involved with until his death in 1875 and for which he is arguably most well known.

A diagram of Wheatstone's Bridge. Charles Wheatstone, An account of several new instruments and processes for determining the constants a voltaic circuit.Extracted from Wheatstone's scientific papers, London : Taylor and Francis, 1879.

Wheatstone, Cooke and the development of the telegraph

Frederick William Cooke (1806-1879) and Wheatstone were the first persons to develop a viable telegraph system which was made available to the public. In 1837 Cooke approached Wheatstone with a proposition that Wheatstone provide scientific assistance and for this would receive one sixth of any profits should the telegraph become a viable venture. Cooke had previously come across the telegraph at a lecture given by Professor Muncke in 1837 where Schilling's telegraph was demonstrated. Cooke could see the potential of the telegraph and immediately devoted his energies into trying to develop a telegraph that could transmit messages over some distance. Despite his enthusiasm, Cooke was unable to make his telegraph work and was referred to Wheatstone for assistance. On contacting Wheatstone, Cooke discovered that Wheatstone had already been working on a telegraph instrument which was intended for practical use. It was only natural that Cooke and Wheatstone form a partnership. However, Wheatstone dismissed Cooke's offer of a sixth of profits for scientific assistance and instead demanded to be a partner on equal footing and so began a long and acrimonious relationship which never achieved quite was intended but for which Cooke and Wheatstone are best remembered.

Not long after the partnership was formed, a patent was signed and Cooke and Wheatstone were given six months in which to enrol a specification. Although credit is given to Cooke for the development of the telegraph, it was essentially Wheatstone's instrument which was patented. Cooke had little understanding of scientific principles and was not able to make his instrument work over long distances. Wheatstone, on the other hand, had a fundamental understanding of Ohm's law. This meant that he understood the principles of electricity and was consequently able to develop a hatchment telegraph which worked over long distances. It was this hatchment telegraph which was patented and developed.

In July 1837, Cooke and Wheatstone publicly demonstrated their telegraph by running a line alongside the railway tracks between Camden and Euston and successfully transmitted and received a message. Both believed that the ultimate acceptance of the telegraph would depend on it being used in conjunction with the railway network which was already an essential part of the British infrastructure. Unfortunately, Wheatstone's hatchment or five-wired telegraph was not accepted as the norm and instead, Morse's simpler and more reliable single-wire system was adopted.

A Wheatstone telegraph. J. Gavarret. Télégraphie électrique. Paris : Masson, 1861.

Sadly, Cooke and Wheatstone's relationship also deteriorated due more to personality differences than to any other cause. Cooke believed that Wheatstone was accepting more than his share of recognition for the part played by both in the development of the telegraph and Wheatstone, who was scrupulous always in acknowledging the contribution of others, felt that Cooke was envious of the developments which Wheatstone had made on his own with the telegraph. The dispute eventually went to arbitration. Little was settled this way but a statement of award was produced which acknowledged the significant role of both in developing the telegraph for practical use. This award appeared to satisfy both parties and nothing further was heard until 13 years later when Cooke once again raised the issue by publishing, The electric telegraph: was it invented by Professor Wheatstone? By this stage Wheatstone was working on other projects and although he replied this time, he did not reply a second time when Cooke published, The electric telegraph: was it invented by Professor Wheatstone? A reply to Mr. Wheatstone's answer. However, tipped into Wheatstone's personal copy of this book are three newspaper articles. The first article tipped into the front of the book is dated November 2, 1868 and is from The Scientific Review. It outlines the roles that Wheatstone and Cooke played in the invention of the telegraph, although it is blatantly in favour of Cooke being due more credit than Wheatstone. However, it does call on Wheatstone to reply and to state his position once and for all with regard to his role in the development of the telegraph. The second article tipped into the back of Cooke's publication is from The Court Circular and is dated January 25, 1868. This article is to do with Wheatstone's knighthood. However, it is in the same vein as the first article and insists that Cooke stands alone in his position as the first to introduce the practical telegraph. The final article is an extract from The Journal of the Society of Arts and is dated June 28, 1867. This extract refers to the Albert Medal which was jointly conferred on both Cooke and Wheatstone. It was unprecedented at the time for the medal to be given to two people but the Council of the Society of Arts felt that considering the significance of the telegraph and the role that both played, neither could be omitted. Wheatstone, however, did not claim his award and it is possible that he was either tired of the whole debate or perhaps he felt that Cooke really did deserve to take credit on his own. We will never know because Wheatstone never did say anything further on the matter, although it is possible he was considering further publication and this is why he saved these three articles in Cooke's publication.

Wheatstone made one further significant contribution through his work with the telegraph and that was his invention of the paper tape. This paper tape used two rows of holes to represent Morse's dots and dashes. It could be prepared off line and then transmitted by telegraph automatically. It meant that the telegraph could transmit messages at 100 words per minute as opposed to 10 words per minute. It was this same method that was used by the first computers to store data.

Wheatstone's contribution to optics

Wheatstone's best known contribution to optics are his works on stereoscopy. He was initially led to the study of this subject through his visual expression of acoustic phenomena. In 1838 Wheatstone presented a paper to the Royal Society whereby he describes the stereoscope. Wheatstone's principle of stereoscopy was based on the work of Euclid who understood that each eye sees a slightly different view. Wheatstone realised that the brain makes use of these differences to determine perspective and consequently his stereoscope provided a three-dimensional image by the mental combination of two pictures set in dissimilar perspective. Wheatstone was the first person to show an understanding of the visual intricacies of spatial perception and it is his principles shown in the invention of the stereoscope which led to further development in binocular vision. So significant were Wheatstone's discoveries that all work since on optical perception has been based on these principles.

Diagram of Wheatstone's stereoscope taken from, Contributions to the physiology of vision... Extracted from the Philosophical Magazine, April 1852.

Wheatstone the scientist and professor

Charles Wheatstone had no formal scientific education but was an aggressive learner and avid reader. From a young age he taught himself to read and write in French, German, Italian, Latin and Greek. This enabled him to read foreign scientific journals, which gave him access to ideas and thoughts which many English academics were unable to comprehend. In 1825 he began a lifelong association with the Royal Institution and it was partly this relationship which brought about Wheatstone's appointment, in 1834, as the first professor of Experimental Philosophy at King's College London. Wheatstone's position here was not seen to be universally popular as he was shy in the presence of an audience and incapable of giving a satisfactory lecture. However, it seems that he was so highly thought of in scientific circles that King's College overlooked this fault and sought the services of Wheatstone as opposed to Wheatstone soliciting for the position. In the Royal Institution Wheatstone ensured an eager and willing audience to his papers by using the services of his good friend, Michael Faraday, to deliver his lectures. Faraday was considered to be one of the great speakers of the 19th century on scientific thought and this may have gone some way in earning for Wheatstone the respect his works deserved. As far as we know, Faraday never did lecture on behalf of anyone else.

In 1875 Wheatstone died from bronchitis in Paris. He never retired and was engaged in discussions with the French telegraph authorities about the applications of the telegraph when he died. Wheatstone was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery and left behind a wife and five children as well as a legacy of ideas and influences far reaching into the 21st century.

Kensal Green Cemetery

References

• Bowers, Brian. Sir Charles Wheatstone FRS, 1802-1875, London : H.M.S.O., 1975.
  
• Hubbard, Geoffrey. Cooke and Wheatstone and the invention of the electric telegraph, London : Routledge, [1965].
  
• Dictionary of national biography, Sidney Lee, ed. London : Smith, Elder, & Co., 1899.
  
• "Medals". Journal of the Society of Arts, June 28, 1867.
  
• "Sir Charles Wheatstone". Court circular, Jan. 25, 1868.
  
• "The electric telegraph: Sir C. Wheatstone's share in its invention". The scientific review, and Journal of the Inventors' Institute, Nov. 2, 1868.
  
• Greenslade, T.B. Instruments for natural philosophy, Kenyon College.
  
• Wade, N.J. "Charles Wheatstone". Perception, 2002, Vol. 31.
  
• "Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875)". Historic figures, BBCi.
  
• "Concertina history". The hobgoblin info source.
  
• Wheatstone, Peter. Sir Charles Wheatstone.
  
• Charles Wheatstone, Columbia University.

If you would like to refer to any items in the collection please contact the Special Collections Librarian Katie Sambrook

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