Engraving, above: The armonica is based on the idea of the singing wine glass—the ability of glass vessels to produce sound when rubbed with a wet finger along the top edge. This phenomenon was never more popular than in the mid-1700s, when Benjamin Franklin took it upon himself to make the singing wine glasses easier to play.

Using the same ingenuity and focus that brought the world electricity, bifocals and the urinary catheter, Franklin set about improving this curious instrument. First, he had glassblowers create 38 vessels of graduating sizes.  He nested them on a spindle that rotated by pressing peddles—much like those on a piano. In fact, the whole instrument, which he called the glass armonica, took the shape of a piano.  Players could sit in front of this instrument and place both hands on the rotating spindle of glasses before them. Whereas a horizontal layout of the singing wine glasses let a player make only two notes at a time, one with each hand, on the armonica, each finger could hit a separate note. The invention opened a world of possibilities and became an instant success.  Mozart and Beethoven composed for the instrument and several well-to-do families bought armonicas for home use.

The armonica’s fame was short-lived. Just 20 years after its illustrious debut, there was widespread concern that the instrument’s ethereal notes had a serious negative effect on players’ moods, causing depression and neurological disorders. See Hour 1, The Tinkerers: The Amateurs, DIYers, and Inventors Who Make America Great by Alec Foege

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Hour One

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 1, Block A: The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires (Vintage) by Tim Wu (1 of 2)

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 1, Block B: The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires (Vintage) by Tim Wu (2 of 2)

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 1, Block C: The Tinkerers: The Amateurs, DIYers, and Inventors Who Make America Great by Alec Foege (1 of 2)

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 1, Block D: The Tinkerers: The Amateurs, DIYers, and Inventors Who Make America Great by Alec Foege (2 of 2)

Hour Two

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 2, Block A: No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet by Molly Knight Raskin  (1 of 4)

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 2, Block B: No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet by Molly Knight Raskin (2 of 4)

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 2, Block C: No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet by Molly Knight Raskin (3 of 4)

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 2, Block D: No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet by Molly Knight Raskin (4 of 4)

Hour Three

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 3, Block A: Turing's Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe (Vintage) by George Dyson (1 of 4)

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 3, Block B: Turing's Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe (Vintage) by George Dyson (2 of 4)

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 3, Block C: Turing's Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe (Vintage) by George Dyson (3 of 4)

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 3, Block D: Turing's Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe (Vintage) by George Dyson (4 of 4)

Hour Four

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 4, Block A: The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt  (1 of 2)

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 4, Block B: The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt  (2 of 2)

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 4, Block C: The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires (Vintage) by Tim Wu  (1 of 2)

Sunday 24 August  2014  / Hour 4, Block D: The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires (Vintage) by Tim Wu  (2 of 2)