The Shadow of Great Britain

273: Chapter 182: Musical Drama On and Off the Stage (4K6)_3 273: Chapter 182: Musical Drama On and Off the Stage (4K6)_3 Because this often represents a stable and large volume of purchasing, as well as assured payment delivery.

Even more so, if the project draws enough attention, it may also attract substantial scientific research funding.

Babbage’s Differential Engine, which lost over ten thousand British Pounds, is a classic case in point.

With the support of British Pounds, at this moment, in Wheatstone’s eyes, even the normally detestable Arthur suddenly became handsome and attractive.

Suppressing his joy, Wheatstone asked in a low voice, “May I have the honor of knowing…

no, may I have the honor of participating in this project?”

Seeing that he had been dazzled by money, Arthur confidently proposed the research project that LPS, which in actuality had not a penny for office expenses, wanted to initiate.

“Mr.

Wheatstone, you have quite a study in acoustics, and we have now made clear that the principle of sound production is vibration.

Next, perhaps we should consider linking this with electromagnetism.

I hear you have recently been consulting Mr.

Faraday quite frequently on electromagnetism issues, is that correct?”

Wheatstone nodded, “Mr.

Faraday has treated me quite well, and with his help, I have made my entrance into the field of electromagnetism.”

Arthur said with a smile, “That makes things easier.

Since you’ve made your entrance, you must be aware of Mr.

Faraday’s electrifying experiment on electromagnetic induction this year, right?”

“Of course.

The experiment on electromagnetic induction proved that electricity and magnetism can be converted into each other, this is indeed the most significant scientific discovery of the year.

But…”

Wheatstone scratched his head, “But what does this have to do with acoustics?”

Arthur explained, “As everyone knows, when a common sewing needle is wound with copper wire and the wire is electrified, the needle becomes a magnetized needle.

Then, what interesting changes might occur if a steel wire slowly passes through a coil with changing electric current?”

At this, Wheatstone felt the hair on his body stand on end, “If we do that, with the variations in the electric current’s strength, several small magnets of varying strength would form on this steel wire.

If we could connect these variations with the vibratory changes of sound, we could achieve sound storage.”

Arthur nodded with a smile, “Fortunately, electricity is much more sensitive than mechanical phonographs.

So, it is certainly very suitable for recording a human voice.”

Wheatstone took a deep breath, “Arthur…”

“What’s wrong?”

Wheatstone swallowed hard, “How in the world did you come up with these things?

With such a genius idea, you could easily work on your own!

If we have this, the phonograph will probably be left with no chance of competing.”

Arthur gently waved his finger, “No, Mr.

Wheatstone, I don’t have your fine craft skills, nor do I have the thinking of a proper engineer.

All I have are worthless ideas.

Moreover, most importantly, this technology must not be used for profit; it must be controlled within a certain range to exert its maximum power.

So the phonograph market won’t be impacted, you can be quite sure of that.

After all, even from a cost perspective, just the factor of not requiring electricity makes the mechanical wind-up phonograph more suited to this era than that thing I talked about.”

At this point, Arthur paused suddenly, and looking at Wheatstone with a smile, he asked, “So tell me, when do you think I can get a sample?”

Wheatstone took a deep breath; patting his chest, he promised, “Although this thing sounds quite difficult, at least the direction is clear now.

I have no obstacles in acoustics and handcrafting, and as for electromagnetism, I can just visit the Royal Society to seek Mr.

Faraday more often.

As long as the principles are figured out, producing it will take at most a month, at the least two to three weeks.”

“Two to three weeks?”

Arthur felt somewhat disappointed upon hearing this; it seemed that even if he pushed Wheatstone to work around the clock, there were limits to what he could achieve.

At least during the London conference, he couldn’t count on causing a stir with a recorder.

Wheatstone, who hadn’t noticed Arthur’s disappointment, said jubilantly, “Arthur, you go back and get that department, which can’t be named, ready with the money.

This kind of directed invention, I’ll surely figure it out sooner or later.”

Hearing this, Arthur just pursed his lips subtly and nodded, “Sure, definitely next time.”