From Art to Life Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jules Verne

Simon Lake built his first submarine, the 14-foot Argonaut Junior, in 1894. The Argonaut 1 was his follow up effort in 1898 with a length of 36 feet and the ability to operate in the open seas. The journey from Norfolk to Sandy Hook was over 1,000 miles by the oceanic route it took. The lessons learned from that experience resulted in the 60-foot Argonaut 2 in the year 1900.

Lake lost out on his bid to build submarines for the U.S. Navy (to rival John Philip Holland) and subsequently put his skills to use for Russia, Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire for a few years. He did return to the United States and built his first submarine for the U.S. Navy in 1912.

Lake had over 200 patents towards naval design in his lifetime, and he cited Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" (1872) as his inspiration:

"Jules Verne was in a sense the director-general of my life. When I was not more than ten or eleven years old I read his Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea and my young imagination was fired. This generation may have forgotten that Verne was a great scientist as well as the writer of the most romantic fiction of his day. I began to dream of making voyages under the waters, and of the vast stores of treasure and the superb adventures that awaited subaqueous pioneers. But with the impudence which is a part of the equipment of the totally inexperienced I found fault with some features of Jules Verne's Nautilus and set about improving on them."

The development of the submarine has led to the ability to explore the greatest unknown still on our planet - the depths of the oceans. Many amazing discoveries have been made since our ability to dive deeper and deeper has been improved!

Answer: The War of the Worlds

In his biography, Robert H. Goddard credited his abiding interest in space after reading "The War of the Worlds" (1898) when he was 16 years old. This seed, combined with another experience of marveling at the night sky while climbing a cherry tree at the age of 17 led him to pursue the development of space flight.

Goddard had over 200 patents during his career, two of which were were instrumental as building blocks for the development of space flight: the liquid-fueled rocket and the multi-stage rocket. These patents were both in 1914, even though physical experimentation would come later. Goddard's first successful liquid-fueled rocket launch occurred on March 16th, 1926.

While he never saw the ultimate fruits of his labours (he passed away in 1945), his impact on the future was undeniable. His developments in rocketry has enabled mankind to escape the bonds of the planet's atmosphere, allowing for exploration of our solar system (and beyond), and for the establishment of satellites for a myriad uses.

Answer: H.G. Wells

While Leó Szilárd believed that a nuclear chain reaction was possible, his attempts to artificially create one with beryllium and indium were unsuccessful. It was Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann who took things a step further with the concept of nuclear fission, and then Frédéric Joliot-Curie, H. Von Halban and L. Kowarski who discovered the capacity for neutron multiplication in uranium.

When Szilárd first thought of how a nuclear chain reaction could be possible, he also understood its devastating potential. In his memoir, he wrote, "Knowing what it would mean - and I knew because I had read HG Wells - I did not want this patent to become public."

Even so, he was part of the team (led by Enrico Fermi) that successfully produced a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago on December 2nd, 1942.

While the world saw the worst possible use of harnessing the power of the atom with Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War, there have also been many positives that have come through its use as a source of energy. It is a 'clean' energy with the lowest impact on the environment since it does not release any gases like carbon dioxide or methane, takes up a small land footprint (compared to solar or wind power), and is cheaper and has a lower fuel cost than other sources of energy. The amount of raw material needed to produce this energy is also small - 28 grams of uranium produces the same amount of energy as 100 metric tons of coal - which allows for smaller transportation costs.

Answer: The Clipper of the Clouds

Sikorsky began his aviation career in Russia with fixed-wing aircraft before moving to France in 1917 and then to the United States in 1919. He designed his first helicopter in 1909, but then concentrated on airplanes, building his first biplane in 1910.

After establishing himself in the United States, Sikorsky taught and lectured for a time before starting his own company in 1923. His 1935 patent for a 'direct lift' eventually led to the first viable helicopter flight four years later.

Jules Verne's novel "The Clipper of the Clouds", the main character has a big, battery-powered gyrodyne (called the Albatross) with multiple rotors, capable of vertical take-off and landing.

The development of helicopters and their versatility has allowed for better access to remote areas (and the ability to transport people / things there, and to rescue people lost there), to bring injured people directly to hospitals, or to land in places without the need of a runway.

Answer: Isaac Asimov

George C. Devol submitted his patent application for 'Programmed Article Transfer' in 1954, introducing the idea of 'universal automation'. He made a portmanteau of the words with his new robot arm, calling it 'Unimate'.

In 1956, Joseph Engelberger met Devol at a cocktail party, where they discussed their love of Isaac Asimov's writings and Devol's pending patent. Engelberger and Devol would begin a partnership that would bring his invention to the world of manufacturing. When the first prototype (the Unimate #001) was built, it was quickly incorporated into the automotive industry.

Isaac Asimov's robots were a little more advanced than Devol's industrial robotic arm... well, maybe a LOT more advanced... but they provided the inspiration to Devol and to the many others that have followed in his footsteps since. Asimov's first robot novel was 1950's "I, Robot", a collection of short stories brought together in a novel format.

Robotics as a field of study and an applied science has developed exponentially since Devol's invention. From automation in industry to developments in medicine, robots have greatly increased our quality of life.

Answer: Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein published "Waldo" as a short story in "Astounding Magazine" in August of 1942, describing Waldo F. Jones 'Synchronous Reduplicating Pantograph' in great detail, including many different applications for the technology (which made his character very rich).

The earliest patented remote manipulator, called the GE Master-Slave Manipulator, was designed and built in 1948 by John Payne for use in the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory at Schenectady, NY. It isn't clear when remote manipulators first came to be known as 'waldoes' as a common term, but within 15 years of Payne's accomplishment, the term was in common use.

These devices have become more intricate and versatile over time since their inception. They allow for the safe handling of hazardous materials, but (considerably smaller ones) are also used for manipulation of things that are too small for our fingers, down to microscopic levels. Think of microchips, as an example.

Answer: Thomas A. Swift Electric Rifle

The "Tom Swift" stories were written by multiple authors (under the name Victor Appleton) with the Stratemeyer Syndicate, who were also responsible for the "Nancy Drew" and "Hardy Boys" book series. In the 10th volume, "Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle; or, Daring Adventures in Elephant Land" (1911), Tom goes on a grand adventure to deepest, darkest Africa and encounters many obstacles and villains along the way. Unlike the non-lethal TASER that Jack Cover invented, however, Tom Swift's Electric Rifle was a bit more versatile and deadly, able to shoot through walls and kill dangerous animals with it's bolts of electricity.

First introduced in 1993, the intent of Jack Cover's TASER is to incapacitate targets through the delivery of an electroshock designed to disrupt a belligerent person's control of their muscles, making them safe to approach. It is largely used in policing forces around the world as an alternative to other, potentially lethal means (guns). It has helped to make our world safer.

Answer: Dick Tracy

The 2005 documentary "How William Shatner Changed the World" would have you believe that Marty Cooper was inspired by "Star Trek" for his development of the handheld cellular mobile phone, but in a 2015 interview with Sceneworld.org, Cooper actually names his inspiration as the two-way wrist radio from the "Dick Tracy" comic strip.

It was less about the look of the device (the "Star Trek" communicator is very similar to the flip phones that were first developed, also by Motorola, in the 1990s) as it was the mobility, with every person having their own communication device. Cellular telephony had already been achieved through car phones, but Cooper (and Motorola) wanted to take it a step further.

The concept of cellular telephony (a network of overlapping cell sites that tracks users as they move and passes their calls between sites without losing the connection) was initially developed by Bell Labs in 1947, but they did not pursue its development for a number of reasons.

Can you imagine what our world would be like today without the ubiquitous cell phone? What began as a versatile means of communication has broadened its scope to include computers and cameras to put the world at everyone's fingertips!

Answer: Tim Berners-Lee

Tim Berners-Lee was working at CERN in the 1980s when he created the World Wide Web. Born out of a need to share information between scientists around the world, Berners-Lee first proposed his idea in March of 1989, then refined in 1990 and "described a 'hypertext project' called 'WorldWideWeb' in which a 'web' of 'hypertext' documents could be viewed by 'browsers'". (from the CERN website).

While Arthur C. Clarke was not Berners-Lee's only inspiration, his story "Dial F for Frankenstein" might have been one of his earliest, as he was just nine years old when he read it.

The World Wide Web has truly revolutionized life as we know it. *SIR* Tim Berners-Lee was knighted in 2004 for his accomplishment. At the ceremony, he stated, "The Web must remain a universal medium, open to all and not biasing the information it conveys. As the technology becomes ever more powerful and available, using more kinds of devices, I hope we learn how to use it as a medium for working together, and resolving misunderstandings on every scale."

Answer: Neal Stephenson

Philip Rosedale was already working on ideas for a virtual world when his wife gifted him Neal Stephenson's book, and "Snow Crash" presented a compelling vision of a 3D virtual world that he called the 'Metaverse', wherein people inhabited avatars in shared virtual spaces linked together in a larger virtual universe.

According to the Wikipedia description of the game, Rosedale's "Second Life" users can "create virtual representations of themselves, called avatars, and are able to interact with places, objects and other avatars. They can explore the world (known as the grid), meet other residents, socialize, participate in both individual and group activities, build, create, shop, and trade virtual property and services with one another."

Virtual worlds provide an opportunity for people to expand their world beyond the confines of their everyday lives, and allow for a connectivity at a level that is nigh impossible without technology. As with many of the inventors and scientists featured in this quiz, a virtual world can be a window to limitless possibilities of creativity. If you can imagine it, you can make it happen.