<h2><SPAN name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></SPAN>CHAPTER I.</h2>
<h3>THE AUTHOR'S DESIGN.</h3>
<p>The writer has spent much of his time for
thirty-five years in the study of electricity
and in inventing appliances for purposes of
transmitting intelligence electrically between
distant points, and is perhaps more familiar
with the phenomena of electricity than with
those of any other branch of physics; yet he
finds it still the most difficult of all the natural
sciences to explain. To give any satisfactory
theory as to its place with and relation to
other forms of energy is a perplexing problem.</p>
<p>It is said that Lord Kelvin lately made the
statement that no advance had been made in
explaining the real nature of electricity for
fifty years. While this statement—if he really
made it—is rather broad, it must be acknowl<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></SPAN></span>edged
that all the theories so far advanced are
little better than guesses. But there is value
in guessing, for one man's guess may lead to
another that is better, and, as it is rarely the
case that each one does not give us a little
different view of the matter, it may be that
out of the multiplicity of guesses there may
some time be a suggestion given to some investigator
that will solve the problem, or at
least carry the theme farther back and establish
its true relationship to the other forms
of energy. I cannot but think that there is
yet a simple statement to be made of Energy
in its relation to Matter that will establish
a closer relationship between the different
branches of physical science. And this, most
likely, will be brought about by a better understanding
of the nature of the interstellar substance
called Ether, and its relation to all
forms and conditions of sensible matter and
energy.</p>
<p>In the talks that will follow it will be the
endeavor of the writer to give such a simple
and popular exposition of the phenomena and
applications of electricity, in a general way
only, that the popular reader may get, at least,
an elementary understanding of the subject so
far as it is known. As we have said, the
descriptions will have to be elementary, for
nothing else can be done without such
elaborate technical drawings and specifications<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></SPAN></span>
as would be impossible in our limited space,
and would not be clear to the ordinary reader
who knows nothing of the science.</p>
<p>Thousands who are employed in various
ways with enterprises, the foundations of
which are electrical, know nothing of electricity
as a science. A friend of mine, who is
a professor of physics in one of our colleges,
was traveling a few years ago, and in his
wanderings he came across some sort of a
factory where an electric motor was employed.
Being on the alert for information, he stepped
in and introduced himself to the engineer, and
began asking him questions about the electric
motor of which he had charge. The professor
could talk ohm, ampères, and volts smoothly,
and he "fired" some of these electrotechnical
names at the engineer. The engineer looked
at him blankly and said: "You can't prove it
by me. I don't know what you're talking
about. All I know is to turn on the juice and
let her buzz." How much "juice" is wasted
in this cut-and-dry world of ours and how
much could be saved if only all were even
fairly intelligent regarding the laws of nature!
A great deal of the business of this world is
run on the "let her buzz" theory, and the
public pays for the waste. It will continue
to be so until a higher order of intelligence
is more generally diffused among the people.
A fountain can rise no higher than its<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></SPAN></span>
source. A business will never exceed the intelligence
that is put into it, nor will a government
ever be greater than its people.</p>
<p>Let us begin the subject of electricity by
going somewhat into its past history. It is
always well to know the history of any subject
we are studying, for we often profit as much
by the mistakes of others as by their successes.
I shall also give the theories advanced
by different investigators, and if I should have
any thoughts of my own on the subject I
shall be free to give them, for I have just as
good a right to make a guess as any one. It
must be confessed, however, that the older I
grow the less I feel that I know about the
subject of electricity, or anything else, in comparison
with what I see there is yet to be
known. I once met a young man who had
just graduated from college, and in his conversation
he stated that he had taken a course
in electricity. I asked him how long he had
studied the subject. He said "three months."
I asked him if he understood it—and he said
that he did. I told him that he was the man
that the world was looking for; that I had
studied it for thirty years and did not understand
it yet.</p>
<p>"A little learning is a dangerous thing"—for
it puffs us up, and we feel that we know
it all and have the world in our grasp; but
after we have tried our "little learning" on<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></SPAN></span>
the world for a while and have received the
many hard knocks that are sure to come, we
are sooner or later brought up in front of the
mirror of experience, and we "see ourselves
as others see us," and are not satisfied with the
view.</p>
<p>Whatever the theories may be regarding
electricity, and however unsatisfactory they
may be, there are certain well-defined facts
and phenomena that are of the greatest importance
to the world. These we may understand:
and to this end let us especially direct
our efforts.</p>
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