Adventures in Research – Retro Radio Podcast

One of the best kept secrets of chemistry was discovered by a reclusive scientist, William Wooleston He started as a medical doctor, but took up the study of applied science.…

The story of fire, and the men who fought it through the ages. Early Indian tribes just packed up their homes and moved to avoid fire. Early white men had…

Before the atomic age, the most powerful compponent known was dynamite,, but eeven it is a fairly new invention. It came about after years of using black powder. Alfred Nobel…

The aircraft industry has made great strides, and continues to advance. We take a look at some of its early beginnings, and the first hot air balloons. Observing the clouds,…

Rolling back the clock to just after the end of the first world war, we join a team of scientists. They’re working on a curious new metal, uranium. It’s a…

Science is everywhere, even in the world of sports. Advancements in new materials and technology during the war made its way into just about every facet of life. Baseball saw…

What would modern business do without the common typewriter? It all started with a machine designed to quickly print numbers. Christopher Latham Sholls added mor keys and linkage to include…

Rolling the clock back to 1646, in the early colonial days of America, we learn the circumstances of the first patent issued in America. An ironworker had already been inventing…

Shouts of, “Get a horse!” often fell on the ears of early motorists as their mechanical marvels broke down to become the butt of jokes. In days when horses, and…

In the early days of automobiles, Rudolph Diesel came up with a new kind of engine to power the machines that would be more efficient than steam. We learn that…

Enjoy the story of Big Ben, and how the famous clock came to be, and got its name. Though it seems to have been there for centuries, it was finished…

The story of man’s friend, the electron, and how they have been harnessed to carry his message around the world. From native drumbeats, and the ever expanding distances people have…

Phoenix Arizona has come a long way since it’s hot, dry beginnings. Water was scarce, but adequate, until droubt struck in the late 1890’s. Armed men were posted to guard…

Surgical theaters were once far from clean places, and considered a torture chamber by some. Death rates in hospitals were high, as much as 15% or so. What is it…

Michael Popien was a Cerbian shepherd boy some 80 years prior to this recording. His early experience taught him how to use the hardened ground to communicate with sound waves.…

In 1823 an expedition to the center of the earth was proposed. The idea was that the earth was hollow, and that people could be liing in it’s interior region.…

A womans life has been made one of comparative ease. Time was the only kitchen utensils were her own two hands. No refridgerator, no gas stove, no washing machine. Listen…

The most commonplace tool of a man in uniform was once yesterday’s secret weapon. Learn how a German inventor used black powder to propel arrows through space. With it, many…

One of the most popular people on the Summertime streets is the ice cream man. Todays story tells the story behind ice cream. Dispelling a popular myth about it’s origin…

Modern conveniences were unheard of in times before the 19th century. For instance, ice was only a seasonal feature, and an unimaginable luxury in the tropics, until the Ice King.…

The story of a man who fell over 8000 feet through space to prove his idea about parachutes would work. The idiotic idea of drifting through the air, supported by…

The early days of railroad cars saw accidents due to faulty brakes. Progress expanded at the development of that new and reliable invention known as the air brake, the transcontental…

Dr Philip Thomas is back after his help in the recreation of the historic first radio broadcast. He shares how Samuel Morse used his knowledge of the new discovery of…

Speaking to an engineer who was there, Dr Thomas offers a behind the scenes look at the beginnings of radio and wireless communication. His story of modern broadcasting goes back…