I'm completely fascinated by stories from the early days of electricity … specifically, stories of experiments that went horribly (and sometimes, comically) wrong.
For me, it's a great reminder that, no matter how much of a sure-thing a technology like electricity seems in retrospect, there was always a point in history where the future was uncertain, where mistakes were made, and where even the "experts" didn't totally know what they were doing. In general, I think it's good to remind ourselves that the real history of innovation is a lot messier than high-school level textbooks make it out to be.
In this short video, retired University of Missouri engineering professor Michael Devaney tells the tale of how a group of engineering students—armed with an early-model Edison electric generator—burned their school's main academic building to the ground. At the heart of the disaster: An attempt to see how many light bulbs the generator could light at once. To paraphrase Devaney, everything was going okay until the fire reached the ROTC's supply of cannon powder.
Read about how Thomas Edison himself set W.H. Vanderbilt's living room on fire.
Read about Thomas Edison and his staff accidentally turning a New York City intersection into a giant joy buzzer.
Read more on my thoughts about the messy history of innovation, published in last weekend's New York Times Magazine.
Thanks to Robert Solorzano and The Missourian for the tip on this story!
