Thursday, September 12, 2019
Another micro vs macro
Another random micro-macro correspondence.
Perusing old books on telegraphs, ran across this picture of Bell's harmonic telegraph, which I hadn't seen before.
Reminds me of something:
A cochlea.
Coincidence? No. The structure and mechanical functions of the cochlea were understood quite well by 1820. The harp-like tonotopic function wasn't firmly determined until 1920, but it was one of several competing theories in Bell's time. Wouldn't be surprised if he knew which theory was right.
Bell was supposedly working on a multiplex telegraph when he 'accidentally' simplified it into the telephone. I doubt that he was interested in telegraphs. More likely he was working on a spectral-analysis telephone, and realized he could get sufficient communication with just one of the 'hair cells' and just one 'axon'.
¶ 7:04 AM 
Reminds me of something:
A cochlea.
Coincidence? No. The structure and mechanical functions of the cochlea were understood quite well by 1820. The harp-like tonotopic function wasn't firmly determined until 1920, but it was one of several competing theories in Bell's time. Wouldn't be surprised if he knew which theory was right.
Bell was supposedly working on a multiplex telegraph when he 'accidentally' simplified it into the telephone. I doubt that he was interested in telegraphs. More likely he was working on a spectral-analysis telephone, and realized he could get sufficient communication with just one of the 'hair cells' and just one 'axon'.
¶ 7:04 AM
