Adventures in Research 43-03-30 Steel That Floats

Summary

Harold's Old Time Radio: Summary of "Adventures in Research 43-03-30 Steel That Floats"

Episode Release Date: July 10, 2025
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode Title: Adventures in Research 43-03-30 Steel That Floats

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1. Introduction

In this captivating episode of Adventures in Research, hosted by Paul Shannon, listeners are introduced to the inspiring journey of Michael Puppin, an immigrant from Serbia who rises from humble beginnings to become a renowned educator and inventor in America. The narrative delves into Michael's early life, his challenges during immigration, his pursuit of education, and his groundbreaking contributions to the field of electrical engineering.

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2. Early Life in Serbia

Michael Puppin was born into a struggling farm family in the small Serbian village of Ivor. Life was arduous, with every family member, including young Michael at the age of 12, contributing to the farm's upkeep.

• Michael's Father (02:25):

  "Cattle thieves. They hide in the corn fields at night, and whenever an ox strays there to feast on the corn, they steal the animal away in the dark."

This early lesson instills in Michael a deep understanding of mechanical vibrations and their practical applications, laying the foundation for his future innovations.

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3. Immigration to America

At fifteen, Michael made the bold decision to immigrate to America in search of better opportunities. Despite arriving with only five cents, no relatives, friends, or specific trade skills, Michael's determination became evident.

• Immigration Officer (05:40):

  "5 cents to your name. No relatives, no friends and no skills. You're a very poor risk."

However, his knowledge of American history and figures like Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln impressed the officers, leading to a rare exception in his case:

• Immigration Officer (06:36):

  "It's... Oh, well, forget it. I'll make an exception in your case."

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4. Overcoming Challenges

Michael's early years in America were marked by various odd jobs—from farming in Maryland to tending mules in Delaware, and eventually working in a cracker factory in New York. It was here that he met Mr. Jim, a boiler room engineer who became Michael's mentor.

• Mr. Jim (07:30):

  "No, no, no, my lad. You must aim higher. Much higher. That takes book learning."

Mr. Jim provided Michael with a secondhand dictionary and encouraged him to pursue education, emphasizing the importance of learning English and formal schooling.

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5. Education and Mentorship

Under Mr. Jim's guidance, Michael enrolled in classes at Cooper Union night school. He immersed himself in American history and literature, evolving his English proficiency and expanding his intellectual horizons.

• Michael Puppin (09:04):

  "These men, who are they? Names like McCormick, Morse."

• Mr. Jim (09:14):

  "Morse invented the telegraph. McCormick, the reaper. How. The sewing machine. Most of these names belong to inventors. Men of science."

Inspired by these figures, Michael aspired to become a "man of science," setting the stage for his future achievements.

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6. Scientific Achievements

Michael Puppin's dedication led him to Columbia College, where he earned the prestigious Tyndall Fellowship for advanced study at Cambridge. Furthering his education at the University of Berlin under the renowned physicist von Helmholtz, Michael returned to America in 1889 as Dr. Poupin.

At Columbia, he taught mathematical physics and conducted experimental research, leading to significant inventions:

• Selective Tuning (12:03):

  "I call my invention selective tuning."

This innovation addressed the challenge of interference in early wireless radio communications, laying the groundwork for modern radio technology.

Additionally, Michael perfected a telephone repeater or induction coil, facilitating long-distance telephony:

• Crocker (12:44):

  "Localized induction coils placed at predetermined intervals in the line will maintain the desired tone, distinctions and power of signal."

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7. Legacy and Honors

Michael Puppin's contributions to science and technology earned him numerous accolades:

• Awards:

  • Elliott Cresson Medal for distinction in physics
  • Edison Medal
  • Ebert Prize of the French Academy

• Positions:

  • Presidency of the Institute of Radio Engineers
  • Presidency of the New York Academy of Science

His innovations not only advanced electrical engineering but also had a lasting impact on wireless communication and telephony.

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8. Conclusion

Michael Puppin's story, as narrated in this episode, exemplifies the quintessential immigrant success tale. From a Serbian shepherd boy to a distinguished scientist, Michael's journey underscores the transformative power of education, mentorship, and relentless pursuit of one's dreams. His legacy continues to inspire future generations in the fields of science and engineering.

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Produced in cooperation with the Westinghouse Research Laboratories, this episode of Adventures in Research is also broadcasted to armed forces personnel overseas via the Armed Forces Radio Service. Join us next week for another enlightening transcribed story of science.

Transcript

[Sasha]

Sasha hated sand, the way it stuck to things for weeks. So when Maddie shared a surf trip on Expedia Trip Planner, he hesitated. Then he added a hotel with a cliffside pool to the plan, and they both spent the week in the water. You were made to follow your whims. We were made to help find a place on the beach with a pool and a waterfall and a soaking tub and, of course, a great shower. Expedia made to travel.

[Paul Shannon]

Adventures in Research this is Paul Shannon bringing you another transcribed story of science, produced as a public service in cooperation with the Westinghouse Research Laboratories, and today bringing you the unusual story of an immigrant boy named Michael Puppin, who came to America penniless and unlearned, but through determination and industry rose to fame as an educator and inventor in his adopted land some 80 or 85 years ago. And in a small Serbian village of Ivor, there lived a farm family by the name of Pupin. Life was hard, and everyone had to do his share of work, Even young Michael, 12 years of age.

[Michael's Father]

Michael, listen closely to what I say.

[Michael Puppin]

Yes, Father.

[Michael's Father]

I have brought you here tonight to the pasture to watch the oxen. It's very dark and no easy task for a small boy. Now, during the day, the sun and the heat force the oxen to keep cool under the shade trees, but at night, they are hungry and wish to feed. Now, do you see that cornfield over there?

[Michael Puppin]

Yes, Father.

[Michael's Father]

When the breeze from the cornfield carries the sweetness of the young corn to the oxen, they will stray into those fields unless you watch them.

[Michael Puppin]

I will watch them closely, Father, very closely.

[Michael's Father]

Watching is not enough. A greater danger hides in the cornfield.

[Michael Puppin]

Danger, Father?

[Michael's Father]

Cattle thieves. They hide in the corn fields at night, and whenever an ox strays there to feast on the corn, they steal the animal away in the dark.

[Michael Puppin]

How shall I prevent this?

[Michael's Father]

See this long night?

[Michael Puppin]

Yes, Father.

[Michael's Father]

Now I stick it deep into the earth. So now. Now lie down, Michael, and press your ear against the earth. Close. Now, are you ready?

[Michael Puppin]

Ready, Father.

[Michael's Father]

Now I will strike the wooden handle of the knife. Do you hear it, son?

[Michael Puppin]

Very clearly.

[Michael's Father]

Now press your ear against the handle of the knife. Tell me, what do you hear now?

[Michael Puppin]

I. I hear. Yes. It is the sound of the hooves of the oxen moving about in the pasture.

[Michael's Father]

That is right.

[Michael Puppin]

Why is this, Father?

[Michael's Father]

In Serbia, among the farmers, it is an old custom. We know that sound travels through the ground far better than through the air. And hard earth carries sound much better than plowed up earth. So, Michael, it is your duty to lie here at Night, with your ear pressed against the knife's handle. Should you hear the oxen stray away into the corn fields, strike the handle of your knife sharply. That will signal other boys in the pasture nearby. And they will come running to help you.

[Michael Puppin]

And the cattle thieves. Will they not hear our signal?

[Michael's Father]

Where they hide, the earth is soft. They will not hear your signal.

[Paul Shannon]

This was Michael Puppin's first acquaintanceship. With the phenomena of mechanical vibrations. A fact which stood him in good stead in later years. A few years later, the Pouppin family gave permission to Michael to leave for America. There to seek his fortune.

[Michael's Father]

My son, we are poor. And therefore cannot send you out into the world blessed with riches. But advice from a father's heart, this I can give to you. Michael, my son, if you wish to make your name in the world, provide yourself with another pair of eyes. The eyes of reading and rock writing. Learning is the light which illuminates our path through this life. And leads to a future life of everlasting glory.

[Paul Shannon]

The ship carrying young Poopin to America docked at Hoboken. And the immigrants transferred to Castle Garden to be questioned by the admittance officers. How old are you, boy? Fifteen. What country?

[Michael Puppin]

Serbia.

[Paul Shannon]

Well, the immigration law of this country requires that you have sufficient funds on your person. So that you will not become a public charge. How much money did you bring with you to America?

[Michael Puppin]

Only this much.

[Paul Shannon]

5 cents. Why, you must be joking.

[Michael Puppin]

That is all I have.

[Paul Shannon]

Do you have relatives here?

[Michael Puppin]

No relatives.

[Paul Shannon]

Any friends?

[Michael Puppin]

No friends.

[Paul Shannon]

Don't you know anyone in this country?

[Michael Puppin]

Oh, yes. Yes, in Serbia. I study in school about Benjamin Franklin and his kite. And I know Abraham Lincoln. And I know Uncle Tom's Cabin.

[Paul Shannon]

Well, you. You chose good company, boy, but not much help in getting you admitted. Do you have a trade?

[Michael Puppin]

What does this mean, trade?

[Paul Shannon]

Well, have you ever worked at anything such as farming, Carpentry, stonemason, shoemaker, a tailor?

[Michael Puppin]

No. Nothing. But I will learn. This is what brings me to America to learn.

[Paul Shannon]

5 cents to your name. No relatives, no friends and no skills. You're a very poor risk.

[Michael Puppin]

Risk? What. What is this race?

[Paul Shannon]

It's. Oh, well, forget it. I'll make an exception in your case. Okay, Go ahead. Michael Pepin was permitted to enter America to keep alive. He did farm work in Maryland, tended mules in Delaware, painted basements in Philadelphia. And finally found employment in a cracker factory in New York. In the factory, he made friends with a boiler room engineer who took an interest in the young. That's enough coal boy. Shut the door. Sit Yourself down and rest. You still want to be a fireman when you grow up, Michael?

[Michael Puppin]

Oh, yes. A boiler fireman like you, Mr. Jim.

[Paul Shannon]

No, no, no, my lad. You must aim higher. Much higher. That takes book learning. Here, I brought you a present. It's secondhand, but it's still good.

[Michael Puppin]

Oh, a book. Oh, thank you, Mr. Jim.

[Paul Shannon]

It's a dictionary. And the first thing you've got to do is learn English. Every time you come across a new word that you don't understand, you just look it up in this book.

[Michael Puppin]

I will look at RBS Next.

[Paul Shannon]

You must go to school.

[Michael Puppin]

That is my dream.

[Paul Shannon]

A cousin of mine goes to Cooper Union night school. I'll. I'll talk to him, see about getting you into classes.

[Michael Puppin]

Oh, thank you, Mr. Jimmo. I wish to learn very much.

[Paul Shannon]

That's the right idea, boy. This is a growing country. There's opportunity all over this land. Study, go to school. Prepare yourself for when your chance comes. The boiler engineer, true to his word, got young Poupin admitted to school. Every spare moment at work, he made his young pupil memorize famous personalities and documents in American history.

[Michael Puppin]

For the people shall not perish from this earth.

[Paul Shannon]

Very good, Michael. Very good.

[Michael Puppin]

I am speaking English. Better?

[Paul Shannon]

Yes, much better. Tomorrow we'll try my favorite poem, the the village blacksmith.

[Michael Puppin]

Mr. Jim.

[Paul Shannon]

Yes, Michael?

[Michael Puppin]

In the library at school is a big picture with many fine looking men. Some sit and some stand.

[Paul Shannon]

What about it?

[Michael Puppin]

These men, who are they? Names like McCormick, Morse.

[Paul Shannon]

How.

[Michael Puppin]

Whitney, Morton. Mr. Jim, what did these men do?

[Paul Shannon]

Well, let's see. Morse invented the telegraph. McCormick, the reaper. How. The sewing machine. Most of these names belong to inventors. Men of science.

[Michael Puppin]

Like Benjamin Franklin and his kite.

[Paul Shannon]

That's right. Like Franklin.

[Michael Puppin]

This is what I wish to become. A man of science. Like these men in the picture.

[Paul Shannon]

Soon, Michael Puppin was just that, a man of Science. At 21, he entered Columbia College, winning the coveted Tyndall Fellowship for advanced study at Cambridge. Abroad, he became fascinated by the Faraday Maxwell electromagnetic theory. After a year at Cambridge, he transferred to the University of Berlin to complete his doctorate under the famous German physicist von Helmholtz. On his return to America in 1889, Dr. Poupin was assigned to teach mathematical physics in the new department of electrical engineering at Columbia. With his assistant, Crocker, the two men went to examine their new quarters. Well, Crocker, what do you think of our new home? The truth?

[Crocker]

Naturally, the truth.

[Michael's Father]

It looks like a cow shed.

[Crocker]

Yes, it isn't very large. Nor is our laboratory too well equipped. One motor, one Dynamo, an alternator and some measuring instruments.

[Michael's Father]

And two green instructors.

[Crocker]

We will expand, Crocker. It's up to us to expand if we want to make any impression upon the electrical art.

[Michael's Father]

Oh, we'll expand, Professor. Be sure of that.

[Crocker]

What makes you so confident?

[Michael's Father]

You have no idea how rapidly an inexperienced teacher expands when he tries to teach a new subject to pupils who are poorly prepared.

[Paul Shannon]

The basic theoretical courses in electrical engineering were taught by Dr. Poupin in the morning. In the afternoon, he gave laboratory instruction. In the evening, working in the cowshed, he found time to carry on experimental research. And from this came Michael Popin, the inventor. All of us know today that it's a simple thing to tune a radio just by twisting a dial or pushing a button. We get music, drama, sports, like magic. But when wireless or radio first came into being, this magic was unknown. A big problem was how to send and receive messages so they would not interfere with one another. This problem was solved by Michael Puppin.

[Crocker]

In an electrical circuit having a coil and condenser. The moving electricity has a definite inertia and a definite electrical stiffness. Hence it will have a definite pitch or frequency, just like a tuning fork, or more even a vibrating knife stuck into the hard ground. It is obvious, therefore, that an electrical resonator, the pitch of which can be changed by adjusting its coil or a condenser, or both, is a perfect parallel to the acoustical resonator. I call my invention selective tuning.

[Paul Shannon]

Electrical tuning was not the only invention of the immigrant inventor. He perfected a type of telephone repeater or induction coil, which first made possible long distance telephony.

[Crocker]

The electrical vibrations in a telephone line can be likened to the simple mechanical motions in a vibrating string. Small weights placed along the string at several intervals of the wavelength will enable the desired frequencies to be transmitted much more efficiently than otherwise. So it is with the telephone line. Localized induction coils placed at predetermined intervals in the line will maintain the desired tone, distinctions and power of signal.

[Paul Shannon]

Michael Pepin was indeed a versatile man of science. He discovered secondary X ray radiation and made a long list of contributions to the wide field of telegraph, telephone and wireless communication. And honors and prizes came to the immigrant inventor. The Elliott Cresson Medal for distinction in physics. The Presidency of the Institute of Radio Engineers.

[Michael's Father]

The Edison Medal, the Ebert Prize of the French Academy.

[Paul Shannon]

The presidency of the New York Academy of Science. 18. Honorary DEGR scientist inspiring teacher, inventor. Such was the career of Michael Puppin, the one time Serbian shepherd boy who made of his opportunities in a free land and inspiring adventure in Research. And that's today's Adventures in Research. But produced in cooperation with the Westinghouse Research Laboratories, these programs are broadcast to armed forces personnel overseas through the facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service. Join us again next week for another transcribed story of science on Adventures in Research. War.