Science Secrets

by Alberto A. Martinez

  18. Darwin, Darwin's Beagle Diary, 16 September 1835, 351–52.

  19. Darwin, Darwin's Beagle Diary, 354, 353, 359; Darwin, Journal of Researches, 388

  20. Darwin, Narrative, vol.3; Darwin, Journal and Remarks, 1832–1835, 468. See also Stauffer, Charles Darwin's Natural Selection; being the Second Part of his Big Species Book Written from 1836 to 1858 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975), 496: “What a contrast with all amphibious animals in Europe, which, when disturbed by the more dangerous animal, man, instinctively & instantly take to the water.”

  21. Darwin, Origin, 398.

  22. Frank J. Sulloway, “Darwin's Conversion: The Beagle Voyage and Its Aftermath,” Journal of the History of Biology 15, no. 3 (1982): 338–45.

  23. Charles Darwin, “Ornithological Notes” [June/July 1836], quoted in Sulloway, “Darwin's Conversion,” 327–28.

  24. Charles Darwin to Otto Zacharias, 24 Febrary 1877, “When I was on board the ‘Beagle,’ I believed in the permanence of species, but, as far as I can remember, vague doubts occasionally flitted across my mind.” Reprinted in Francis Darwin, ed., Charles Darwin: His Life Told in an Autobiographical Chapter, and in Selected Series of His Published Letters (London: John Murray, 1892), 166.

  25. J. Herschel to Charles Lyell, 20 February 1836, in Charles Babbage, The Ninth Bridgewater Treatise. A Fragment, 2nd ed. (London: John Murray, 1838), 226.

  26. John Gould, “Observations on the Raptorial Birds in Mr. Darwin's Collection, with Characters of the New Species,” Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 5 (1837): 9

  27. Charles Darwin to Otto Zacharias, 1877: “On my return home in the autumn of 1836 I immediately began to prepare my journal for publication, and then saw how many facts indicated the common descent of species, so that in July, 1837, I opened a notebook to record any facts which might bear on the question. But I did not become convinced that species were mutable until I think two or three years had elapsed.” Darwin's notebook of 1837, however, seems to give direct evidence that he was pretty convinced of evolution by that year; yet his letter of 1877 claims that it took a while longer.

  28. Darwin, Origin, 398.

  29. Darwin, Journal and Remarks, 472. J.B.G.M. [Jean Baptiste Geneviève Marcellin] Bory de St.-Vincent, Voyage dans les Quatre Principales îles des Mers d'Afrique: fait par ordre du Gouvernement, pendant les années neuf et dix de la République (1801 et 1802), avec l'Histoire de la Traversée du Capitaine Baudin jusqu'au Port-Louis de l'île Maurice, vol. 3 (Paris: F. Buisson, 1804). See also Darwin, Origin, 393.

  30. Darwin, Journal and Remarks (1839), 472; see also Darwin, Journal of Researches (1845), 381.

  31. Darwin found no frogs at St. Jago, Cape Verde, St. Helena, and so forth. As evidence for the Sandwich Islands, Darwin referred to “Tyerman and Bennett's Journal, Vol. 1, p. 434.” See also Daniel Tyerman and George Bennet, Journal of Voyages and Travels, to Visit Their Various Stations in the South Sea Islands, China, India, &c. between the years 1821 and 1829, compiled by James Montgomery, vol. 2 (Boston: Crocker and Brewster, 1832), 57, where they briefly note the absence of frogs and toads. Regarding the island of Mauritius, Darwin alluded to Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Voyage à l'Isle de France, à l'Isle de Bourbon, au Cap de Bonne-Espérance, &c, Avec des Observations nouvelles sur la nature & sur les Hommes, par un Officier du Roi (Amsterdam, 1773), pt. 1, p. 170, where the author noted that they tried to import frogs to Mauritius (l'Isle de France) but they died. By Darwin's time, frogs imported by settlers into Mauritius, Madeira, and the Azores had proliferated so abundantly that Darwin described them as a nuisance (Origin, 393). As for the Canary Islands, Darwin cited Philip Barker Webb and Sabin Berthollet, Histoire Naturelle des iles Canaries (Paris: Béthune et Plon, 1840).

  32. Darwin, Journal of Researches (1845), 382. These words were slightly edited from his Journal and Remarks (1839), 472.

  33. Darwin, Journal of Researches, 378. Darwin referred to Herschel as the source of the phrase “mystery of mysteries,” in Darwin, “Notebook E” (Transmutation of species [1838–1839]), 2 December 1832, p. 59, Cambridge University Library, also quoted in DeBeer, “Darwin's Notebooks,” 165.

  34. Darwin, Origin, 392.

  35. Likewise, only mammal quadrupeds small enough to be carried by rafts of vegetation could possibly reach the Galápagos, and consequently evolve there—and indeed a few species of mice and rats have been found that are endemic to these islands.

  36. Anonymous [Benjamin Franklin], “Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind” [1751], in Observations On the Late and Present Conduct of the French, with Regard to their Encroachments upon the British Colonies in North America…To which is Added, Wrote by another Hand; Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, &c. [ed. William Clarke] (Boston: S. Kneeland, 1755). Reprinted in Franklin, Experiments and Observations on Electricity, 4th ed. (London: David Henry, 1769), 205. At the time, Franklin estimated “One Million English Souls in North-America (tho' ‘tis thought scarce 80,000 have been brought over Sea).” He argued that in Europe there was about one marriage per year for every one hundred people, whereas in America there were two per year, and since American marriages occurred at earlier ages, most couples gave birth to an average of eight children, of whom half lived to adulthood and married at around the age of twenty. Such estimates entail that by 1800, there would be 4 million Americans and by 1900 there would be 64 million, and in fact the population then became 5.2 million and 76.6 million respectively. Afterward, world wars and other factors have kept the actual population from doubling every twenty-five years.

  37. Benjamin Franklin, The Interest of Great Britain Considered, with Regard to her Colonies, and the Acquisitions of Canada and Guadaloupe. To which are Added, Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, &c. (London: T. Becket, 1760).

  38. Anonymous [Thomas Robert Malthus], An Essay on the Principle of Population (London: Johnson, 1798). Malthus's various editions of his book vary greatly, e.g., the second (1803) was greatly enlarged, so it is significant to note which edition Darwin read in 1838. Darwin's notebook on “Books to Read” (dated 1 June 1838) lists the “Last Edit[ion] of Malthus 1826,” marks it as “read,” and a copy of that edition is in the Darwin Library at Cambridge University Library. But since Darwin listed that (sixth) edition of 1826 on a page following various publications of 1839, it might seem that the edition he read in October of 1838 was a prior edition. However, in his Notebook E (Transmutation of Species), page 3 (which is undated, but the following page is dated 4 October 1838), Darwin quotes a passage by Malthus, the wording of which matches only the fifth (1817) and sixth (1826) editions of Malthus's book, and since Darwin also noted the page number (which varied among editions), it shows that in late 1838 he did read the edition of 1826.

  39. In his original work of 1798, Malthus's “harshest” conclusion was that poverty and misery among the lower classes could not be remedied, but by 1803 he noted that he had “softened” his views by realizing that knowledge of the principle of population could help to discourage the natural inclinations that lead to expansion, and thus prevent some vice and misery. See, e.g., Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population (London: John Murray, 1826), viii, 12–17. Note also that Malthus's work of 1798 was independent of Franklin's, but in his preface of 1803, Malthus acknowledged the contribution of “Dr. Franklin.”

  40. Malthus, Essay (1826), 95.

  41. Darwin, 28 September 1938, in de Beer et al. eds, “Darwin's Notebooks on Transmutation of Species, Part VI: Pages excised by Darwin,” Bulletin of the British Museum (1967): 162.

  42. Darwin, Origin, 64; see also Stauffer, Charles Darwin's Natural Selection, 177.

  43. Darwin, Origin, 151.

  44. Anonymous [Robert Chambers], Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation (London: John Churchill, 1844).

  CHAPTER 6. BEN FRANKLIN'S ELECTRIC KITE

  1. Abbott L. Rotch, “Did Franklin Fly His Kite b
efore He Invented the Lightning Rod?” American Antiquarian Society, Proceedings 18 (1907): 115–23; Alexander McAdie, “The Date of Franklin's Kite Experiment,” American Antiquarian Society, Proceedings 34 (1925): 374–76; Tom Tucker, Bolt of Fate: Benjamin Franklin and His Electric Kite Hoax (New York: Public Affairs, 2003). An article that argues that Franklin did fly the kite is: I. Bernard Cohen, “The Two Hundredth Anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's Two Lightning Experiments and the Introduction of the Lightning Rod,” American Philosophical Society, Proceedings 96, no. 3 (June 1952): 331–66.

  2. Pennsylvania Gazette, 17 June 1731; 10 July 1732.

  3. Pennsylvania Gazette, 12 August 1736.

  4. In 1786, a member of the French Academy of Sciences seriously reported that Franklin several times told him the anecdote: [Jean-Baptiste] Leroy, “Extrait des Registres de l'Académie Royale des Sciences: Du 5 Août 1786,” Observations sur la Physique, sur l'Histoire Naturelle et sur les Arts 29, pt. 2 (October 1786): 294.

  5. Pennsylvania Gazette, 29 April 1742.

  6. Ovid, Metamorphoses [ca. 8 CE], ed. Brookes More (Boston: Cornhill Pub. Co., 1922), bk. 15.

  7. Hesiod, Theogony [8th century BCE], ed. and trans. Glenn W. Hart (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2006), p. 49, lines 558–65.

  8. M. Dalibard, report to the Académie Royale des Sciences, 13 May 1752; see also, “Analogie de l'Electricité avec le Tonnerre. Découverte nouvelle,” Journal Œeconomique (Paris: Boudet, June 1752): 71–87. The iron bar was insulated at the bottom so that the electricity would not ground.

  9. Franklin to M. Dalibard, 31 January 1768, in The Works of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 6 (Boston: Hilliard, Gray, and Company, 1838), 277; Jacques de Romas to the Académie de Bordeaux, letter of 13 July 1752, in Romas, Mémoire sur les Moyens de se Garantir de la Foudre dans les Maisons (Bordeaux: Bergeret, 1776), 105–6. This letter was apparently read at the meeting of the Academy of 17 July 1752. Later, de Romas specified that he referred to a kite. In a work published in 1755, de Romas stated that upon communicating his letter of July 1752, he only described his projected experiment to Mr. le “Chevalier de Vivens [a member of the Academy of Sciences of Bordeaux], and other persons who did me the honor of wishing me well.” de Romas, “Mémoire, Où après avoir donné un moyen aisé pour élever fort haut, & à peu frais, un corps Électrisable isolé, on rapporte des observations frappantes, qui prouvent que plus le corps isolé est élevé au dessus de la terre, plus le feu de l'Électricité est abondant,” Mémoires de Mathématique et de Physique, présentés à l'Académie Royale des Sciences, par divers Savans, & lûs dans ses Assemblées, vol. 2 (Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1755), 394.

  10. “Extract of a Letter from Paris,” Pennsylvania Gazette, 27 August 1752; from a letter printed previously in Gentleman's Magazine (May 1752), and in London Magazine (May 1752).

  11. The length of the string is an important factor; if the string is too short, no effect will be detected; as noted in, for example, Dimitri Prince de Gallitzin to Benjamin Franklin, 28 January 1777, in Benjamin Franklin, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 23, ed. William B. Willcox (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983), 250.

  12. Benjamin Franklin, “The Kite Experiment,” Pennsylvania Gazette, 19 October 1752; published also as “A Letter of Benjamin Franklin, Esq; to Mr. Peter Collinson, F. R. S., concerning an electrical Kite,” Philosophical Transactions, Royal Society 47 (1752): 565–67.

  13. Franklin, “Request for Information on Lightning,” Pennsylvania Gazette, 21 June 1753.

  14. Cadwallader Colden to Franklin, 24 October 1752, draft: New York Historical Society. Franklin did not publish a more detailed account.

  15. M. R. P., “Lettre au P. R. J. sur une Expérience Electrique,” 18 October 1753, in Memoires pour l'Histoire des Sciences et des Beaux Arts (Paris: Briasson, 1753), 2969–76; M. de Romas, “Mémoire,” 393–407. De Romas noted that the larger the kite, the more it can rise because it can thus support the weight of more string. The higher it rises, the more electricity it can collect.

  16. Abbé Nollet, Lettres sur l'Electricité, Second Part (Paris: H. Guerin, 1760), 17th letter: 228–32; summarized in Suite de la Clef, ou Journal Historique sur les Matieres du Tems 88 (Paris: Ganeau, Dec. 1760), 417. Nollet stated his knowledge that in August of 1752 de Romas had made efforts with Mr. Duthil to obtain a suitable kite, and had told Mr. le Chevalier de Vivens a good acquaintance of Nollet, that de Romas planned to use a kite to collect electricity from the sky. Initially, Nollet had appended an account of Franklin's experiment onto de Romas's account when it was published, but Nollet vowed in 1760 to impartially clarify the question of priority.

  17. Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, “Lettre sur le Progrès des Sciences,” Œuvres de Mr. de Maupertuis, vol. 2, new ed. (Lyon: Jean-Marie Bruyset, 1756), 392, trans. Martínez.

  18. De Romas cordially wrote to Franklin on 19 October 1753, sending him two memoirs on electricity; Franklin replied months later, briefly expressing gratitude and only adding that “A more particular answer I must defer till the next Opportunity,” but de Romas later complained that Franklin never sent any fuller reply. Franklin to Jacques de Romas, 29 July 1754, in Abbot Lawrence Rotch, “Did Benjamin Franklin Fly his Electrical Kite before He Invented the Lightning Rod?” Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, New Series, vol. 18 (Oct. 1906), 118–23; see pp. 119–20.

  19. Joseph Priestley, The History and Present State of Electricity, with Original Experiments (London: J. Dodsley, 1767), 180: “dreading the ridicule which too commonly attends unsuccessful attempts in science, he communicated his intended experiment to no body but his son, who assisted him in raising the kite.” There seems to be no evidence that his son, William, confirmed or denied the account in Priestley's book.

  20. Anonymous [Benjamin Franklin], “The Speech of Miss Polly Baker,” General Advertiser, 15 April 1747 (London); it was also issued in Gentleman's Magazine, the Boston Weekly Post-Boy, the New York Gazette, and Maryland Gazette.

  21. “But his Scholar, the Greater PYTHAGORAS, prov'd the Author of the 47th Proposition of Euclid's first Book, which if duly observ'd, is the Foundation of all Masonry, sacred, civil, and Military.” James Anderson, The Constitutions of the FreeMasons. Containing the History, Charges, Regulations, &c. of that Most Ancient and Worshipful Fraternity. For the Use of the Lodges (London, 1723; reprinted: Philadelphia: Benjamin Franklin, 1734), 22.

  22. Tucker, Bolt of Fate, 253.

  23. I. Bernard Cohen, “The Two Hundredth Anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's Two Lightning Experiments and the Introduction of the Lightning Rod,” American Philosophical Society, Proceedings 96, no. 3 (June 1952): 366.

  24. “Franklin's Kite,” MythBusters, episode 48, Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel, aired 8 March 2006.

  25. “Kite flier electrocuted; used wire instead of string,” News 5 (Belize), 20 March 2006, http://www.channel5belize.com/archive_news_cast.php?news_date=2006–03–20#a2.

  CHAPTER 7. COULOMB'S IMPOSSIBLE EXPERIMENT?

  1. Jean-Noël Hallé and Jean-Baptiste Biot, “Rapport appouvé par la Classe des Sciences Physique et Mathématiques de l'Institut National,” 21 vendémiaire, an 11 (Gregorian calendar date: 13 October 1802); quoted in Jean Aldini, Essai Théorique et Expérimental sur le Galvanisme, avec une série d'expériences faites en présence des Commissaires de l'Institut National de France, et en divers Amphithéatres Anatomiques de Londres, vol. 1 (Paris: Fournier Fils, 1804), 115, trans. Martínez.

  2. Andrew Knapp and William Baldwin, “George Foster, Executed for the Murder of His Wife and Child,” The Newgate Calendar [also known as The Malefactor's Bloody Register], vol. 3 (London: J. Robins and Co., 1825), 314–18. Abridged versions were later published, including: “George Foster: Executed at Newgate, 18th of January, 1803, for the Murder of his Wife and Child, by drowning them in the Paddington Canal; with a Curious Account of Galvanic Experiments on his Body,” The Complete Newgate Calendar, vol. 4 (London: Navarre Society, 1926),
257–59.

  3. Giovanni Aldini, General Views on the Application of Galvanism to Medical Purposes: principally in Cases of Suspended Animation (London, 1819), 80.

  4. Knapp and Baldwin, “George Foster” (1825), 318; ibid. (1926), 259.

  5. Diogenes claimed that Aristotle and Hippias reported that Thales of Miletus “attributed souls also to lifeless things, forming his conjecture from the nature of the magnet, and of amber.” Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, trans. C. D. Yonge (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1853), bk. 1, sec. 3.

  6. Prior to Coulomb, a few other physicists surmised an inverse square law for electricity, including Joseph Priestley, The History and Present State of Electricity, with Original Experiments, vol. 2 [1676]; 3rd edition (London: C. Bathurst et. al, 1775), e.g., 374. Priestley inferred the inverse square relation on the basis of the claim that a body inside a spherical shell would not be attracted in one or another direction, but his actual experiment did not involve a sphere but a metal cup, and it did not involve movable particles to test variations of force at various distances, etc.

  7. Samuel Devons, “The Art of Experiment: Coulomb, Volta, Faraday,” presentation, 29 June 1984, videotape, Bakken Library Museum for Electricity in Life, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

  8. Lacking a lightweight synthetic material such as foam, past experimenters used dehydrated pith. Pith is the lightweight spongy tissue inside the stems of vascular plants; it was often extracted from elderberry shrubs of the Sambucus genus, or from chèvrefeuilles.

  9. Charles Augustin Coulomb, “Premier Mémoire sur l'Électricité et le Magnétisme. Construction & usage d'une Balance électrique, fondée sur la propriété qu'ont les Fils de métal, d'avoir une force de réaction de Torsion proportionnelle à l'angle de Torsion (1785),” Mémoires de l'Académie Royale des Sciences, Paris (1788), 572, trans. Martínez.