39. Scientific Giant

Short Stories
of Science and Invention

A Collection of Radio Talks by
Charles F. Kettering

Weekly, from September 1942 to July 1945, Charles F. Kettering gave five-minute intermission talks about Science and Invention during the radio broadcasts of the General Motors Symphony of the Air.

Kettering invented the first automobile self-starter, and for 31 years directed a research laboratory for General Motors.

These radio talks are a fascinating legacy from the mind of a prolific inventor. The obvious anachronisms now add a historical perspective of the war-time period in which they were written.

These web pages now preserve some of the most popular stories for a new generation to read The text and art come from a General Motors booklet of selected talks. (Reprint, March 1959)

39. Scientific Giant
A Radio Talk by Charles F. Kettering

Once in a while we need to look at the interrelation of such things as music, science, engineering and anatomy because new information found in anyone of these fields can greatly influence all the others.

Helmholtz

     Before our modern scientific age came into being, this tying together of different types of knowledge was done as a rule by people who were educated in one field and through choice or force of circumstances worked in another. One of the outstanding men of this class was Hermann Von Helmholtz who lived more than a century ago and brought together physiology, music and physics.

     Helmholtz was born in Potsdam, Germany in 1821. His father was an eminent teacher and his son received an excellent education in medicine and surgery.

     After practicing medicine for a while, young Helmholtz taught anatomy in Berne and then physiology in several of the best universities, including Konigsberg. What is still more important, in the latter part of his life he became professor of physics in the University of Berlin where he made great contributions to the physiological effect of sound and light.