convent, a9t5, mv Loran, Lax & Srsano Co Corvery, 1939, 940m Lorman, Lar & Sirsa Co. CCoovaser, 1548, Larunor, Lax & Senin CO, need t Stone’ Hi Landon 3ge> sand Ping, November 198 “Ted Pte, ary 151 ering, December 192 ‘tn Printing, Anco 195 Sth Pen, Ape 1986 Seventh Pring Ocbe 1957 ght Fini, Spent 1957 ‘Ninh Pritig Joe 1961 “enh Ping, Senter 192 vent rin, Serene 3964 Tarts Pine Ose 1956 PREFACE ‘Owce upon a time, and this isa true tale, a boy had a whole railroad system for a toy. The train ran automatically, pro- pelled by tiny electric motors, the signals went up and down, the station was reached, a bell rang, the train moved! on again and ‘was off on its journey around many feet of track to come back over the old route, ‘The boy viewed his gift with raptured eyes, and then his face changed and he cried out in the bitterness of his disappoint- ‘ment: “But what do T do?” The toy was so elaborate that the hoy was left entirely out of the play. Of eourse he did not like it, His ery tells a long story. ‘The prime instinct of almost any boy at play is to make and 0 create, He will make things of such materials a8 he has at hhand, and use the whole force of dream and fancy to create something out of nothing. ‘The five-year-old will lay half a dozen wooden blocks together with a spool on one end and tell ‘you it is a steam train, And it is, He has both made and ‘reated an engine, which he sees but which you don't, for the blocks and spool are only a symbol of his crestion. Give his Older brother a telephone receiver, some wire and bits of brass ‘and he will make a radio outfit and listen to music and messages ‘sent through space from sources hundreds of miles away. ‘The ‘dio set is not a symbol. Tt is something real, Tt can be heard nd seen in operation. And as soon as the mystery of this ‘modern wonder more firmly grips your imagination, you per= 12 PREFACE haps may come to realize that we are living more and more in the age of electricity. Electricity propels our trains, lights our houses and streets, earres our messages, makes our clothes, cares our ills, warms us, cooks for us and performs an in- fnumerable mumber of other tasks at the turning of a litle ‘witch, A mee Hist i impossible. "Almost every boy experiments at one time or another with lectricty and electrical apparatus. Tt is my purpose in writing this book to open this wonderland of science and present it in f manner which can be readily understood, and wherein a boy can “do something.” “The apparatus and experiments that I have described have teen constructed and carried out by boys, ‘Their problems and their questions have been studied and remedied, T have tried to present practical matter considered wholly from a boy's standpoint, and to show the young experimenter just what he ‘ean do with the tools and materials in his possession or not hard to obtain. ‘To the boy interested in science, a wide fet is open. ‘There is no better education for any boy than to begin atthe bottom of the ladder and climb the rungs of scientific knowledge, step by step. Tt equips him with information which may prove of inestimable worth. ‘New developments in science will never cease. Invention will follow invention, The unexpected is often a valuable elu ‘The Edicons and Teslas have not discovered everything. Th- spiration is but the starting-point. Success means wotk—days, rights, wecks, and years of it—but more than that it means an Cverwhelming eurosity and indefatigable persistance. ‘There cam be no boy who will follow exactly any directions given to him, or do exactly ashe is told, of his own free will. He will “bot” at the fst opportunity. If forced or obliged ‘PREFACE a todo as bee dinetd hs acton wil be acompanied bya of "whys" Therefore in presenting the flowing chapter | fave not oly told how to mabe the various mors elgrph, tepone, tre, ete, but have alo explained he pbc of elatiy upon which thy depend for tee operation, sad how the same things acompled nthe everyday wolf giving direions or in making cuton, T have wal given thereon for so ding in th ope ta this nfomation ay hea stimulant tthe imagination of the young experiment and useful guide in cobling him to proved log some of the strange radon whch bel surly go ‘Aureen P, Moncay ‘Upper Montclair, N. J. ‘March 15, 1947.CONTENTS Cuapmen 1 MAGNETS AND MAGNETISM. No One Knows, Whit Bectcy Ie—The Discovery of Magnetism —The First ie Compass—Modern pases—Experiments with “Magnetisa Arial: Magnets Toy Magnets—Magnetic Force—Magnetic Poles—How to ‘Make Magnetic Compasses—Magnetic Substances—Attrac, tion Through Bodies Magnetic Induction “The Laws of Maguetic Attraction—A Magnetic Boat Floating Needles — ‘Lines of Magnetic Force—Magnetic Phantome—The S td Magnes The Magnetic Creat _Tie Ea a Great Magnet—Magnetic Dip—An Experimental Dippi Neeile—Preserving Magnet, ee a Cuapren 11 STATICELECTRICTY. say ‘The Fit Obervaton of Elctricty Renji Fran's Fanous te “Lighing and Bled Te Case of Lightning What fs Stale Elect ‘Kinds of Eee Lesa en ip ih Sa iciy rico EleclyElecroseapeg Tull Fetroscope Dole Eechoseoer Poste 21 Nee ative Electric The GollcbeatBltroscope The ice trophorat An Electric Brg. Pond (Crater IIT STATIC ELECTRIC MACHINES. . . . . 4g A Cylinder Electric Machine—Selecting the Rottle—Mount- ‘ng the Bottlo—The Base—The “Rubber"-—The Prine Com 56 CONTENTS: ductor —Using the Machine —The Wimshurst Machine—The Plates The Sectors ~The Bosses-—The Frame—The Up- Fighte-—The Drving-Wheele—The Collectors and Quadrant ‘Rods —The NeutralizersExperiments with a State. M chine The Leyden JarTpnitng Powder Brush Discharge cathe Electric Whirligig—The Electric Umbrella —A Li ning. Wn Electrical Dapee—Positive and Negative Distharges-—Lichtenberg’s Figures (Cuarex IV VOLTAIC CELLS AND BATTERIES i Means of Generating an Electrie Current—Build your own Batteries fist-—The Voltaic Cell—Hlow Electricity is, Made ‘with Chemicals How to Make a Voltaic Cell—Leclanche Cell Polarization Home-made Batteries—The Poggendort CelHandling Adid—Plunge Batteries—A Tomato-Car [Battery—About Dry Cells—Recharging Dry Cells—Connest- ing Cells Making a Dry Cell—Storage or Secondary Cells— ‘Ad. Experimental Storage Cell—A Six-Volt Battery-—How fo Make a Storage CellThe Plates—Forming the Plate— Gharging «Storage Battery—Ampere Hours. Caatee V ELECTRO-MAGNETISM AND MAGNETIC INDUC- Ocrste's Experiment—The Magnetic Field about a Wire Garry Current Magoetic Field of ForceEfect of the Iron Gore the, Principle of an Elesto-Magoet—Hlecto-Mag- Seu—The Solenoid—-Magnetic Induction, Cuarres VI ELECTRICAL UNITS». 7 + + + ‘The Units of Electrical Measure—Measuring the Current _—The Ampere—The Volt —Electromotive Foree—The Ohm [Ohm's Law —The Meaning of Mill and Kilo—The Watt— The Hlectrical Horsepowers-The Kilowatt—The Coulomb Ampere Hours a 106 CONTENTS: ; Curren VIE WIRES AND ACCESSORIES. . = Kinds of, Wirey—Wire Tabes—tonators—Resinanes ‘Wires—Binding Posts—Home-Made _Bindit en Switches and Cuteut—Homemade Switkel—Foote— Lightning-Arrestors, (Cuarrex VII ELECTRICAL MEASURING INSTRUMENTS Galranosopes and Galranometers—A Galvano Astatic Galvanoscope—An Astatic Galrsseesrier ion Mate « Wheatstone Bdge Resistance Cale Flow to Use the Whentsine. Bridge for Mesuring Resatance Vole fo Ammeter"Porble Volieter and Anmces Cue ‘ing the Meters. aia - 26 Cuarren 1X bord asia ALE AND ANNUNCIA- How to Build an Electric Bell—How to Connect a Bal PasktntonsBateRingingTrastormers ok But sar Alam—An Electr Alam An Ammunctor m7 Cuayren X TELEGRAPHY. . = Ties saith Miaka ti ahd! os yi anal fe ala el pee Roar eae re Sede comple Mae 3 Sige Telegraph Set—He il ie ow to ula Téepragh Rey Connect es Rey How to Learnt Hike Alpoabec8 CONTENTS (Cuarten XI MICROPHONES AND TELEPHONES . Microphones—Flow to Hear a Fly's Fotstep-Teephones Te Bittpte of the Telephone—The Telephone Trans fritter The ‘Telephone Receiver—How to Build a Tele- Thone—TelephoneReceivers—A Homemade Telephone Neccver-A Home-made Telephone ‘Transmitter—A Com. plete Telephone Instrument—A. Deskestand Type of Heraene-nA Teepe inaction Cll—Conmeing the ‘Telephones. Cuarres XI INDUCTION COILS ‘i ‘ a ‘Building a Medical Coil—Spark Coils—Building a Spark- Coll “Experiments with a Spark Coil—Electrical Hands— Geissler wot Light-Puncturing Paper—A Prac- ea Jole An Eleric Gartagecan—Photoraing, #2 Elele DichargeJacols Laer XKaye Mang” 2 Fluoroseope-—Malking an X-Ray Photograph. (Cuarren XII ROS oo meats al Bano, Une ieee ar icine ge Bre, Capote, Mer fr Feng Dee Maret oe lao Ui ed tore Heres eT eo eee : (Cuarren XIV HOW TO BUILD A RADIO RECEIVER WITH A HOU DECOR “The Basie Principle of Wireless Telegraphy —The Waves _—The Action of a Wireless Telegraph Receiving Station— Fiow vo Build a Radio Receiver with a Crystal Detetor— Bae Armenna and. Ground—The Pars forthe Revevel— Fee St Gendenser The Crywal Detector Assembling Bee escer Ts Operate the Reiver—Tekephone Ree Surerr The Contnenal Code 473 195 CONTENTS (Cuarrer XV ‘THE RADIO TURE ERATIVE RECEIVER)” T° BUILD A REGEN. Hw Bll 4 One Te Repent Re sgn cee" nl ete Vn a arth Veer Dat-ite Vasey fie’ Fac Concrete” Chie“ Coslete— Bian Pot or Crna at Bo Cao) eb Rates st Sag the Reeser H's Br itr sow wo Sake You Sow Fag sire A smn, nae eros eet se ate reat en ie Seance ee omeee Cuaeren XVI ELECTRIC MOTORS The First American Patentee and Buil sto er ce a Dae of nee ce ie Plea is of we Siig eens Wares os Sent see Ate te a Meee Eng Re cineca Meas Caner "h erie Aaa its a sel hue TS aa ae sa tee ad es he Gee ‘tire The Brace at Fvhed Assn hc Bags, © + got