1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,800 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy he Wilson. So Tracy, 4 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:19,080 Speaker 1: I think you might be like me where there are 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:21,239 Speaker 1: some subjects to the podcast that are at the top 6 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: of the list for a really long time, and in 7 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:26,480 Speaker 1: my case, I feel like I'm sort of circling them 8 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: like an animal stocking prey. I'll do a little bit 9 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: of research on him and then back away, and it's 10 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: like I want to tackle them, but I'm also a 11 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: little unsure of when to jump for a variety of reasons. 12 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: Uh And Hugo gerns Back has been one of those 13 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: for a very long time, and he's tricky for a 14 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: few different reasons. For one, he was ceaselessly interesting, and 15 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: he did a lot of things that influenced the world 16 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:51,480 Speaker 1: we live in today. And topics like that are hard 17 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:53,600 Speaker 1: because you don't want to get into the like a 18 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: big minutia party where you just list all the stuff 19 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: that they did and touched and and and how it's 20 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: you know, echoing in today's world. But you also don't 21 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: want to leave any of the important stuff out so 22 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: it could just be a little bit wilming to try 23 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: to figure those out, and for another he can be 24 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 1: a little bit polarizing. There are people who laud him 25 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:14,759 Speaker 1: as a genius, and there are others who label him 26 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,960 Speaker 1: as a crackpot opportunist, but they do usually acknowledge that 27 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: he was an insightful crackpot opportunist. Um. He is the 28 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: man who, in the words of Ray Bradbury quote made 29 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: us fall in love with the future. But he's also 30 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:30,960 Speaker 1: been berated as kind of a hack whose proclamations about 31 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: what does and does not qualify as science fiction have 32 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 1: been problematic and limiting from the start. But even people 33 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: who have very little nice to say about the man 34 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: acknowledge his influence and importance on the world of science fiction. 35 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: He was also an inventor of some wacky and marvelous 36 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: things and a writer himself. He was also a prognosticator 37 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 1: of the future with some startling lee accurate insights, and 38 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:00,040 Speaker 1: odds are very good that you have come across references 39 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 1: to him, whether you know it or not. So. Author 40 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: William Gibson, who penned one of my top three books 41 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: of all time, Neuromancer, wrote a short story called The 42 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:12,920 Speaker 1: gerns Back Continuum in eight one to reference him, and 43 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:16,360 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty five Steven Spielberg created a TV series 44 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: inspired by Gernsback's magazine Amazing Stories. There was also a 45 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: revival of Amazing Stories in and Today the Hugo Awards, 46 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,240 Speaker 1: recognizing science fiction and fantasy writers for excellence each year 47 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: are given out in his name. That was an award 48 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: that started when he was still alive, even though he 49 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: was not the one that gave it. One journalist once 50 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: described him as part scientist, part inventor, part joker, part 51 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: little boy, and I kind of feel like that might 52 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: be the best way to think of him as we're 53 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: talking through his life story, because he could be very mercurial, 54 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 1: and he would make a case or stayed an opinion 55 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 1: about something and then not very much later, say something 56 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: completely contradictory to that other statement. But he didn't seem 57 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: to see how that was a problem. Was just always 58 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: exploring ideas from a fairly conceptual place without getting two 59 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,080 Speaker 1: mired in the details, and he seemed to have no 60 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 1: problem at all jumping from one idea or project to another. 61 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: He is always described as ceaselessly energetic and following his 62 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: thoughts down whatever path they led. Some of those and 63 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,920 Speaker 1: we will talk about them very problematic. But lately I 64 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:25,520 Speaker 1: keep running into references to him, even when I am 65 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: looking at things that seemed completely unrelated. So it seems 66 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: like the universes like, girl, just do that Hugo episode, 67 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: already do it? Uh, So here we are. Hugo Gernsbach 68 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: was born Hugo Gernsbacher on August four and Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. 69 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: His family was quite comfortable. His father, more as Gernsbacher, 70 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: was a successful wine wholesaler who had moved to Luxembourg 71 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: from Germany. Hugo was the third son born to Mori 72 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: ITTs and his wife Bertha Derlocker Gernsbacher, and from a 73 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: very lie age, Hugo Gernsback was a tinkerer. When he 74 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: was six years old, he was given a battery bell 75 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: kit by the man who took care of the Gernsbaka 76 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: State of handyman named Jean Pierre Gorgan, and Gorgon taught 77 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: Hugo how to wire the bells to a battery called 78 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:19,479 Speaker 1: the le clanche. So Hugo loved this entire process and 79 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: particularly was captivated by the green sparks that were admitted 80 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: when the bell rang. He told the story over and 81 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:28,280 Speaker 1: over throughout his life, and he was soon ordering additional 82 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: supplies from Paris to create new, bigger iterations of this 83 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,479 Speaker 1: simple system. And he said to have eventually wired his 84 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: family home with intercoms and little buzzers, and soon he 85 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: was assembling similar setups for his friends and neighbors homes. 86 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: And from there he was basically constantly working on batteries 87 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:50,160 Speaker 1: and battery powered devices and became recognized in his community 88 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: as something of an expert. By the time he was 89 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: a teenager, the local Carmelite convent hired him to install 90 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: buzzers in their building. This was a bit of a 91 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:04,040 Speaker 1: sticky situation aation though, because Gernsbach had turned thirteen after 92 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: the Mother Superior of the convent had hired him, he 93 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: was suddenly considered to be a man in the eyes 94 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: of the church, and according to him, that meant he 95 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:16,039 Speaker 1: was not allowed to enter anymore. But the Mother Superior 96 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: got a special dispensation from the Pope to allow the 97 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: young Hugo to do the work, and that permission letter 98 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: from Rome became a prized possession throughout his life. I 99 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:28,919 Speaker 1: have always wondered, having heard this story many times in 100 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 1: relation to him, if he forged that letter. Yeah, I 101 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: had a question being for real, Yes, because his wife 102 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: even talked about it after he had passed, and how 103 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: she still had it and it was something you loved. 104 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: And part of me is always like, is she hanging 105 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: onto a like a fake document that she but I 106 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:51,360 Speaker 1: don't know. Uh. Hugo was educated by private tutors. As 107 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: we said, his family was very comfortable financially, and he's 108 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 1: often referred to as having received a technical education in Luxembourg. 109 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:01,599 Speaker 1: He actually did y poorly when he was enrolled in 110 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 1: an industrial school as a teenager, and his performance at 111 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:09,160 Speaker 1: college and bing in Germany was similarly underwhelming. But he 112 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: was an avid reader throughout his youth and enjoyed applying 113 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 1: his technical knowledge to speculation about the future and problem solving. 114 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: He told the story that a translated copy of Mars 115 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: as the Abode to Life by Percival Little sent him 116 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: into just the delirium when he read it at the 117 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:32,040 Speaker 1: age of nine, and that set his imagination so ablaze 118 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: that the family called a doctor to watch him while 119 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 1: he talked endlessly about the creatures and technology that could 120 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: possibly be on the Red planet. But this story and 121 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 1: many of the others about his youth are solely from 122 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:53,640 Speaker 1: Gernsbach himself, and so they're hard, if not impossible, to substantiate. Yeah, 123 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: and then you know he was a storyteller. Uh. In 124 00:06:57,200 --> 00:06:59,599 Speaker 1: nineteen o four, at the age of nineteen, Hugo moved 125 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: to the United States, shortly after his father died. His 126 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: father had never really understood his son's drive to pursue 127 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: a career in the emerging field of electrics. He kind 128 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 1: of hoped he would go into wine like he did. 129 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: But once there was no longer a disapproving patriarch in 130 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: the picture, Hugo made his move and shipped off to 131 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: New York. He changed his name to the americanized Gern's 132 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: Pocket and eventually became a naturalized US citizen. He had 133 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: always had a fascination with the US and US culture 134 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: that was driven in part by reading popular American authors 135 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: like Twain and Poe. Additionally, European patent offices hadn't granted 136 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 1: him various patents he had applied for, and he was 137 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: hoping to do better with patenting his inventions in North America. 138 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: He was very aware of personal presentation and he cultivated 139 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 1: a style for himself that was distinctive and conveyed a 140 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: sort of eccentric European aristocrat persona. He was known to 141 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,080 Speaker 1: wear a monocle that he didn't need. He always had 142 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: very formal, beautiful suits, then the occasional opera cape. He 143 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: was also very charming and witty, and that added this 144 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: other layer of a lure. Yeah, he definitely was good 145 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:13,960 Speaker 1: at putting together like the man he wanted to be. 146 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: He was also multi lingual, so people just automatically like 147 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:20,320 Speaker 1: gave him a certain degree of of like cloud. He's 148 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: just amazing European genius. He is said to have worn 149 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: a formal three piece suit even on the boat crossing 150 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: to land at hoboken Um. Hugo's intention in the States, 151 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,320 Speaker 1: in addition to those patents, was to parlay his electrical 152 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:40,600 Speaker 1: and battery knowledge into a career, and he first approached 153 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: Packard Motors and showed them a battery that he had 154 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 1: designed for use in automobiles. His original design needed to 155 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 1: be tweaked to work, but he did get a contract 156 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,199 Speaker 1: with Packard and he used that money that he yearned 157 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: on that job to go into business for himself under 158 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: the company name Electro Importing Co. Which had a storefront 159 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:01,679 Speaker 1: at sixty nine West Broadway. One of the first radio 160 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: sets offered to the general public was a design of 161 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: Hugos that he created in his early years as a businessman. 162 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: This was the Talimco Wireless. That particular invention, which guaranteed 163 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 1: that it would work up to one mile, was written 164 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:20,040 Speaker 1: up in Scientific American in nineteen o five. That article 165 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: was written by CERN's back himself under the pen name 166 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:28,240 Speaker 1: Huck after the Twain character. This tiny radio was ahead 167 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: of its time enough that it wasn't all that useful. 168 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: There weren't many radio stations in operation yet for it 169 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:39,440 Speaker 1: to actually pick up. It was also considered suspicious enough 170 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:42,320 Speaker 1: that police insisted on a demonstration of the device to 171 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: make sure that he was not making fraudulent claims. Yeah yeah, 172 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:49,320 Speaker 1: like yeah, but how do we know if it works 173 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: if there's no radio station. Hugo got married for the 174 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:56,160 Speaker 1: first time in nineteen o six to a woman named 175 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 1: Rose Harvey. They had a daughter in nineteen o nine, 176 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: but that marriage did not last. He started a magazine 177 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: called Modern Electrics. In this featured articles largely written by 178 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 1: gurn's Back himself, often under alias is that touted the 179 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 1: technology used than many of his inventions. It was an 180 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: outgrowth of his earlier electro importing catalog, which he started 181 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:23,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen o six. Over time, this expanded to include 182 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: wider coverage of radio and other tech that home enthusiasts 183 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: were eager to learn about, as well as letters to 184 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:35,559 Speaker 1: the editor from subscribers. Girls Back employed numerous freelancers to 185 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 1: work on this magazine, as well as getting his company's 186 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: staff to contribute. He worked on inventions and experiments with 187 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:46,680 Speaker 1: his brother Sydney, as well as his collaborators Louis Coxhall 188 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:50,840 Speaker 1: and Harry Winfield, and Modern Electrics included articles that tracked 189 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:54,360 Speaker 1: their progress and music experiments. In some cases, he would 190 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 1: be describing the development of a product that he would 191 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: then sell, often through the magazine, which has led to 192 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 1: some modern criticism that it was sort of a long 193 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 1: haul sales mechanism. Yeah. Yeah, He was definitely not shy 194 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:10,440 Speaker 1: about being his own hype man anyway. He was very 195 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:14,480 Speaker 1: willing to write up his work and praise himself under 196 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: other names. The growing popularity of Modern Electrics magazine led 197 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:21,760 Speaker 1: Gernsbach to delve into a new creative space as he 198 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:26,080 Speaker 1: hustled to assemble enough material for each issue. So the 199 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:29,679 Speaker 1: story goes that in April nineteen eleven, he was coming 200 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,960 Speaker 1: up short on his magazine, so to fill pages, he 201 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 1: decided to write a piece of fiction, and that was 202 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: the birth of a character that on page is Ralph 203 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 1: one to four c four one plus sign and it's 204 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:45,520 Speaker 1: meant to be read as it plays out in the 205 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:49,080 Speaker 1: pages of the book, or as the story as one 206 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:53,360 Speaker 1: to four see for another. Ralph was an astronaut living 207 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:57,320 Speaker 1: in the twenty seven century. The story begins in sixty 208 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:01,320 Speaker 1: The story was very much pulpic shin right down to 209 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: the damsel in distress trope. This was alice to one 210 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,439 Speaker 1: to be four to three, but it was also filled 211 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:12,800 Speaker 1: out with futuristic detail that was rooted in Hugo's knowledge 212 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:16,240 Speaker 1: of science and technology. The opening description of the character 213 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:20,560 Speaker 1: sets the tone for the whole work. Quote. His physical superiority, however, 214 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: was nothing compared to his gigantic mind. He was Ralph 215 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:27,040 Speaker 1: once to foresee for one plus one of the greatest 216 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 1: living scientists and one of ten men on the whole 217 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:33,480 Speaker 1: planet Earth permitted to use the plus sign after his name. 218 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 1: Ralph's adventures were fairly formulaic, but this story really captivated readers, 219 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:43,680 Speaker 1: and while Gernsbach may have initially thought he was just 220 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:46,680 Speaker 1: filling out the page count to modern electrics, it turned 221 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 1: out he had started a new feature series, and one 222 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: that was extremely popular. He had closed that initial story 223 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 1: on a suspenseful cliffhanger, so it was pretty natural to 224 00:12:55,679 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 1: keep going, which he did for eleven more installments. The 225 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: writing isn't spectacular. An amazing aspect of these stories was 226 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:07,600 Speaker 1: the way they wave science and inventive ideas into the 227 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:12,240 Speaker 1: narrative story. One installment includes a diagram and description that 228 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 1: is essentially radar, well before these systems were in use. Quote. 229 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 1: A pulsating polarized ether wave, if directed on a metal object, 230 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 1: can be reflected in the same manner as a light 231 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:27,360 Speaker 1: ray is reflected from a bright surface. By manipulating the 232 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:31,120 Speaker 1: entire apparatus like a searchlight, waves would be sent over 233 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:35,199 Speaker 1: a large area. Sooner or later these waves would strike 234 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:38,080 Speaker 1: a space flyer. A small part of these waves would 235 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 1: strike the metal body of the flyer, and these rays 236 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:43,960 Speaker 1: would be reflected back to the sending apparatus. Here they 237 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:47,400 Speaker 1: would fall on the Actina scope, which records only the 238 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 1: reflected waves, not direct ones. From the intensity and elapsed 239 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:55,439 Speaker 1: time of the reflected impulses, the distance between the Earth 240 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: and the flyer can then be accurately estimated. Another prescient 241 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:03,319 Speaker 1: description in the series pre dates video chat by decades, 242 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,200 Speaker 1: but describes exactly that he wrote quote. Stepping to the 243 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:09,440 Speaker 1: telefot on the side of the wall, he pressed a 244 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:11,640 Speaker 1: group of buttons, and in a few minutes, the face 245 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:14,960 Speaker 1: plate of the telefont became luminous, revealing the face of 246 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:18,720 Speaker 1: a clean shaven man about thirty, a pleasant but serious face. 247 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: As soon as he recognized the face of Ralph in 248 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:25,280 Speaker 1: his own telefonte, he smiled and said, Hello, Ralph. The 249 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 1: twelve part series was collected into a novel for publication, 250 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:34,360 Speaker 1: but not until that was fourteen years after their serialized release. Yeah, 251 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:36,680 Speaker 1: that's still in print today. You can get it very, 252 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 1: very easily, and you can usually get a pretty inexpensive 253 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: E reader edition if you are curious. But again, this 254 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:46,920 Speaker 1: is not where you go for great literary writing. Next up, 255 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,120 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about Girl's Box continuing work in radio, 256 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:51,960 Speaker 1: and we will do that after we pause for a 257 00:14:51,960 --> 00:15:02,920 Speaker 1: sponsor break. While Hugo Gernsbach continued to write fiction after 258 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: Ralph one to four See for one plus, most of 259 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:09,960 Speaker 1: his publishing efforts were in electric and radio journalism and 260 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: advocacy for years. As the wireless radio community grew, Gernsbach 261 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 1: formed the Wireless Association of America in nineteen o nine 262 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: and published a directory of operators called the Blue Book 263 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 1: once a year so that people could connect more easily 264 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,640 Speaker 1: to one another. He also wrote a lot about best 265 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:30,960 Speaker 1: practices that would keep them from interfering with government radio 266 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 1: stations and suggested ways that radio frequencies could be allocated 267 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: and managed. He thought government regulation was only going to 268 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: be problematic, writing that the creation of a wireless telegraph 269 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: board to regulate quote is of no practical value whatsoever 270 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 1: un American, and will keep down the progress of a 271 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:53,120 Speaker 1: young and useful art, which in time may develop into 272 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:56,120 Speaker 1: an as yet undreamed of asset of the nation's power. 273 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:01,040 Speaker 1: Wireless telegraphy and telephony in a country of vast distances 274 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:05,080 Speaker 1: as America, is a very valuable means for cheap transmission 275 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 1: of intelligence, and it is the duty of the government 276 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 1: to encourage it and not to pass a resolution to 277 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:14,000 Speaker 1: throttle it, like England and Germany have done, in which 278 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 1: two countries the art is almost unknown. On the one hand, 279 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: this sounds like discussions about internet regulation happening today. On 280 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 1: the other hand, we definitely need radio bands that emergency 281 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:34,320 Speaker 1: services can use that are not overrun with other traffic. 282 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 1: So Hugo would later claim that his writing on these 283 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 1: issues which suggested a number of common sense measures that 284 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,920 Speaker 1: could be self regulated by users, uh, which I feel 285 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:47,520 Speaker 1: like is optimistic, But that was used word for word 286 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 1: in the Wireless Act of LVE. But that's really not accurate. 287 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:54,480 Speaker 1: His concepts are all there, but the act itself is 288 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: not in his words. But the start of World War 289 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:01,800 Speaker 1: One really put an end to amateur wireless broadcast activities 290 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: so that naval operators were the sole users. This was 291 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:09,120 Speaker 1: an issue that caused just a great deal of chagrin, 292 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 1: and that all played out in the pages of Gerns 293 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 1: Box periodical. Yeah, he was left a little bit kind 294 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,439 Speaker 1: of um scrambling to figure out what he was going 295 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 1: to do, since suddenly all of the people that were 296 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: buying his magazine to build things and to to talk 297 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: about what they were working on weren't allowed to build 298 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,680 Speaker 1: or work on those things anymore. Uh Guern's box sold 299 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 1: Modern Electrics in nineteen to the publisher of Electrician and 300 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: Mechanic magazine, and it eventually became part of Popular Science 301 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:42,480 Speaker 1: Monthly after many changes and shifts, and then he started 302 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:46,119 Speaker 1: a fresh magazine called The Electrical experiment Er, and this 303 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:48,439 Speaker 1: was similar in tone to Modern Electrics, but it was 304 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,639 Speaker 1: also a lot more focused on building the community of 305 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:55,400 Speaker 1: the readership. Subscribers were encouraged to submit their own designs 306 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,399 Speaker 1: for prizes, and there were how to sections for setting 307 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:02,200 Speaker 1: up a homework area, aggregation and discussion of all the 308 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 1: latest developments in the electrical field. There was also a 309 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:09,119 Speaker 1: column for helping readers get their inventions patented, with a 310 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:11,919 Speaker 1: Q and a element where a reader could send in 311 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 1: a question along with a dollar and get advice on 312 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:19,159 Speaker 1: their invention and their application for patent. The Electrical Experimenters 313 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:23,520 Speaker 1: more carefully plotted out contents yielded a growth and readership 314 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,760 Speaker 1: to a hundred thousand subscribers. As the magazine continued to 315 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: expand through its combination of practical advice and speculative technological ideas. 316 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 1: Gernsbach also hired illustrators to help readers imagine what the 317 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,920 Speaker 1: future might look like if some of them mentioned ideas 318 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:46,119 Speaker 1: were implemented. The Electrical experiment Er eventually changed names to 319 00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:51,120 Speaker 1: Science and Invention, covering not only the at home, grassroots inventor, 320 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,879 Speaker 1: but also including stories that covered work in science and 321 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: engineering at the corporate level. Science and Invention became influential 322 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,399 Speaker 1: enough that other publications around the world started picking up 323 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:06,360 Speaker 1: their articles and stories for reprint. To maintain the connection 324 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:11,080 Speaker 1: to that independent home inventor demographic, he launched a new periodical, 325 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:15,080 Speaker 1: Radio Amateur News, which later shortened to Radio News, and 326 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 1: he would continue to launch new titles in response to 327 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:21,600 Speaker 1: the changing times to keep growing his readership and offer 328 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:26,200 Speaker 1: niche information to his long term audience. He always maintained 329 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: that the most exciting work was being done in what 330 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,200 Speaker 1: we today would call open source or even crowdsource style, 331 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:35,640 Speaker 1: with the sharing of ideas, rather than behind the doors 332 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: of research and development divisions at corporations, writing quote, everyone 333 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 1: knows that the more people who are working on an art, 334 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:45,360 Speaker 1: the more rapid the progress will be in the end. 335 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:50,400 Speaker 1: In one Gerns Black married his second wife, Dorothy Cantrowitz. 336 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:54,480 Speaker 1: Information on Dorothy is pretty sparse. This marriage was not 337 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:57,800 Speaker 1: his last, and it's not really clear how it ended. 338 00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 1: In guns By founded a radio station w r n 339 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:06,159 Speaker 1: Y under the auspices of his publishing company, experiment Or Publishing, 340 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:10,480 Speaker 1: and this was an experimental station. Hugo and his collaborators 341 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:13,399 Speaker 1: would test new media and technology on the station and 342 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:17,399 Speaker 1: then keep track of how the station's listeners reacted. The 343 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 1: station would later broadcast early television broadcasts and was one 344 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:25,320 Speaker 1: of the first broadcast entities to regularly broadcast television signals 345 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 1: on a schedule. These are very short. He published schematics 346 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:32,720 Speaker 1: for a receiver for these broadcasts in his magazine so 347 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:37,240 Speaker 1: enterprising readers could order their supplies, put them together, and 348 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: then watch these short like five minute daily programs on 349 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:44,080 Speaker 1: a screen about the size of a postage stamp. He 350 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:47,719 Speaker 1: also introduced television magazine to capitalize on interest in the 351 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:52,000 Speaker 1: new medium. In he Go launched his first magazine venture 352 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:56,879 Speaker 1: with the strictly fiction focus. On April six, the first 353 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,040 Speaker 1: issue of Amazing Stories came out, and in it in 354 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 1: Sboch laid out his aspiration for the periodical quote. At 355 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 1: first thought, it does seem impossible that there could be 356 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:11,439 Speaker 1: room for another fiction magazine in this country. The reader 357 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,680 Speaker 1: may well wonder, aren't there enough already with the several 358 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:19,080 Speaker 1: hundred now being published. True, but this is not another 359 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:23,639 Speaker 1: fiction magazine. Amazing Stories is a new kind of fiction magazine. 360 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:27,760 Speaker 1: It is entirely new, entirely different, something that has never 361 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 1: been done before in this country. There is the usual 362 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,160 Speaker 1: fiction magazine, the love story and the sex appeal type 363 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:39,080 Speaker 1: of magazine, the adventure type, and so on. But a 364 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 1: magazine of scientifiction is a pioneer in its field in America. 365 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:49,760 Speaker 1: By scientifiction, I mean the Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, 366 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 1: and Edgar Allan Poe type of story, a charming romance 367 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 1: intermingled with scientific fact and prophetic vision. And he used 368 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:01,359 Speaker 1: this new platform to both draw readers in with established 369 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 1: content like worked by Jules Vernon H. G. Wells, and 370 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:08,080 Speaker 1: to test out new stories and new writers. And because 371 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:10,639 Speaker 1: of all of this, Hugo Gernsbach is often credited with 372 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:14,720 Speaker 1: inventing the science fiction genre, and Isaac Asimov even called 373 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:17,639 Speaker 1: him the father of science fiction. But that's not because 374 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:20,439 Speaker 1: Gernsbach wrote the first works in the space, because he 375 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:25,720 Speaker 1: absolutely did not, and really he's not considered a literary genius, 376 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 1: but because he was the first person to group such 377 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,240 Speaker 1: stories together and kind of try to create a genre 378 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:34,720 Speaker 1: of them. Although it was all fiction, Amazing Stories had 379 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 1: a lot of the community crowdsourcing character of Gernsbach's nonfiction magazines. 380 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:43,639 Speaker 1: There was still a busy letter column which often was 381 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 1: home to ongoing back and forth among readers and with 382 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:51,120 Speaker 1: the publisher, and readers were invited to suggest plot ideas. 383 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:55,479 Speaker 1: Amazing Stories was very, very popular, but Gernsbach was not 384 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:58,560 Speaker 1: really great with money. He was known to have problems 385 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:00,480 Speaker 1: with his writers when it came to paying them in 386 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:03,119 Speaker 1: a timely manner or to rate that they felt was fair. 387 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:08,359 Speaker 1: He also underpaid his staff, both under his electric standard 388 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:11,879 Speaker 1: under his publishing compared to industry standards, but he did 389 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:15,639 Speaker 1: give himself and his brother very comfortable salaries, and his 390 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 1: paper supplier eventually took legal action against his company, experiment 391 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:24,520 Speaker 1: Or Publishing, for non payment. According to HP Lovecraft biographer 392 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:27,919 Speaker 1: Els breg to Camp, Lovecraft and other writers referred to 393 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:32,920 Speaker 1: Gernsback as Hugo the Rat. After Experimenter was declared bankrupt 394 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,840 Speaker 1: by the court, it went into a receivership. The staff remained, 395 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:40,199 Speaker 1: but Hugo and his brother were forced out. Amazing Stories 396 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,280 Speaker 1: has continued on over the years, passing through multiple hands 397 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 1: of ownership and sometimes switching to an online only publishing model. 398 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:50,679 Speaker 1: In response to losing his position of power and Amazing Stories, 399 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 1: Gernsbach launched two competing magazines with similar content. In they 400 00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:00,640 Speaker 1: were called Science Wonder Stories and Air Wonder Stories. We'll 401 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,960 Speaker 1: talk about the ongoing debate of what readers wanted out 402 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:13,840 Speaker 1: of these publications. After a quick pause for a sponsor break, 403 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:18,280 Speaker 1: Science Wonder Stories and Air Wonder Stories merged into one 404 00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:22,480 Speaker 1: publication under the name Just Wonder Stories. In n and 405 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:26,000 Speaker 1: not all readers were comfortable with this change. One road 406 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 1: end quote. Your aim, I take it is to make 407 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,720 Speaker 1: the title more catchy to that class of magazine addicts 408 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 1: who are already reading sappy stories, slushy romances and so 409 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:39,520 Speaker 1: on ad nauseum. I believe this is a mistake. It 410 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:41,840 Speaker 1: will attract a type of reader to whom s a 411 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: means sex appeal and not scientific adventure. Just in case 412 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 1: you thought for even a moment the fandom ire with 413 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:52,600 Speaker 1: some invention of the modern world. Uh, you can see 414 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,400 Speaker 1: that there is an element of worry that women might 415 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:58,919 Speaker 1: invade this clubhouse. In that complaint, there were some women 416 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:02,200 Speaker 1: readers that were done coumented, but not very many comparatively, 417 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:05,439 Speaker 1: And this idea that taking the science off the title 418 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:08,800 Speaker 1: might invite ladies is actually reinforced even by the supporters 419 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:11,800 Speaker 1: of the new name uh, some of whom even suggested 420 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 1: that it might be great that the name changed drew 421 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,800 Speaker 1: in more women to the material within. From the start 422 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:21,040 Speaker 1: of Amazing Stories, there were also always discussions and disagreements 423 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:24,800 Speaker 1: among Gernsbach, the various writers who contributed to the magazines, 424 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:28,800 Speaker 1: and the readers about how much fiction versus how much 425 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:35,320 Speaker 1: real science should be included in scientifiction literature. Gernsback's weigh 426 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 1: in was that quote the ideal proportion of a scientifiction 427 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 1: story should be seventy percent literature interwoven with twenty five 428 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,840 Speaker 1: percent science. He was pretty flexible on how he applied 429 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:51,040 Speaker 1: those definitions and what can be considered scientific fact or 430 00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:54,920 Speaker 1: something that should be characterized as fiction. He wrote several 431 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:58,520 Speaker 1: essays about it, sort of working through the ideas himself 432 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,760 Speaker 1: the way one might tackle an electrical problem to be solved, 433 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 1: He sort of landed at a place where in order 434 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: for something to be labeled, in his view as scientifiction, 435 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:11,960 Speaker 1: it had to have an element of prediction to it. 436 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:16,840 Speaker 1: Gernsbach also wanted stories that educated the public about science 437 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:19,960 Speaker 1: and made it appealing to people who might not want 438 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:26,840 Speaker 1: to necessarily study engineering or astronomy or another scientific field. Yeah, 439 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,480 Speaker 1: he felt like it was, you know, an ultimately an 440 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:33,879 Speaker 1: educational tool. Gersbach was also a fan of practical jokes. 441 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:37,120 Speaker 1: In three, he ran an April fools Day article about 442 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:40,520 Speaker 1: a new invention from westing Mouse. There was a tiny 443 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:45,359 Speaker 1: handheld radio. He included detailed diagrams to this fictional mouse 444 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,040 Speaker 1: sized device, but readers who did not catch the joke 445 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,680 Speaker 1: apparently harangued Westinghouse about the product, to the point that 446 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: the company got a little bit miffed at Hugo. Also 447 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:59,640 Speaker 1: in n three, Gernsbach, ever on the lookout for expansions 448 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:05,119 Speaker 1: to publishing holdings, started a magazine called sex Oology. It 449 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:08,760 Speaker 1: would eventually also be called sex Ology Together, and then 450 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:12,600 Speaker 1: sex Ology. Today, sex Oology is often cited as a 451 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:15,960 Speaker 1: precursor to magazines like Playboy and play Girl, but it 452 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:19,399 Speaker 1: was much tamer. It discussed sex in a way that 453 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,880 Speaker 1: shared a bit of DNA with Gerns box other magazines. 454 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,760 Speaker 1: In terms of taking an analytical approach, doctors are all. 455 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 1: The articles and sex and sexuality were discussed in a 456 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:34,600 Speaker 1: way that made clinical knowledge of human sexuality something accessible 457 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:38,600 Speaker 1: to the average reader. It was definitely intended to appeal 458 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:42,000 Speaker 1: to people as a way to demystify sex and improve 459 00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:47,000 Speaker 1: readers sex lives, but with a foundation based in science, 460 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:51,480 Speaker 1: though that science was of its time and largely very 461 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: outdated by today's standards, so outdated um troublingly outdated. The 462 00:27:56,720 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 1: articles and sex ology tackled a wide range of topics, 463 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:05,160 Speaker 1: sometimes really only tangentially related to sex. In one issue, 464 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:08,400 Speaker 1: for example, there's an article on the scientific possibility of 465 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 1: creating babies to the parents specifications, another on how alcoholism 466 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:17,119 Speaker 1: affects a marriage, and an examination of lesbianism as an 467 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,239 Speaker 1: identity that is woefully ignorant. If you go reading it, 468 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,680 Speaker 1: just no upfront, it will probably make you really angry. Uh. 469 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:27,240 Speaker 1: An article that was titled love Stimulants in that issue 470 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 1: may sound kind of salacious, but the opening paragraph is quote, 471 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 1: most people have exceedingly erroneous ideas about magical medicines that 472 00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:38,360 Speaker 1: will influence the other sex and give vigor, and then 473 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 1: it kind of breaks down, like the reality of what 474 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: has been sold as an aphrodisiac and how it is 475 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:46,120 Speaker 1: largely quackery. Uh. There is also a statement in the 476 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:49,480 Speaker 1: periodical that reads, quote, the policy of this magazine is 477 00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:53,080 Speaker 1: that no questionable advertising of any kind will be accepted, 478 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:57,440 Speaker 1: no quack medicine, and no contraceptive advertising will be printed. 479 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:01,520 Speaker 1: The only acceptable form of advertising is that of educational 480 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 1: sex literature. Still, even though it had a lot of 481 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,560 Speaker 1: those kind of caveats to protect itself, it was a 482 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:11,000 Speaker 1: controversial publication and at times there were even issues just 483 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:15,320 Speaker 1: getting it sent through the mail to subscribers. In ninety six, 484 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:20,000 Speaker 1: Hugo started sending an unusual alternative to Christmas cards. He 485 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:23,040 Speaker 1: started printing a mini magazine each year that he would 486 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: send out to all the scientists he knew. It would 487 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:30,280 Speaker 1: include predictions of future inventions that often stimulated the minds 488 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:33,480 Speaker 1: of its recipients and would eventually come into fruition, though 489 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 1: not for decades in many cases. For instance, he wrote 490 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 1: in one about what he called language rectified telephony, which 491 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:46,760 Speaker 1: was a communication which would translate languages between two speakers 492 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:49,080 Speaker 1: in real time. Like apps you might find out a 493 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:52,880 Speaker 1: phone today. He also predicted the future importance of computer 494 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,720 Speaker 1: driven diagnostic equipment in the medical field, and some things 495 00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:59,800 Speaker 1: we haven't seen yet, like flying cars to east traffic. 496 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:05,040 Speaker 1: Flying cars is kind of a go to many of 497 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 1: these holiday many magazines included the hopeful line quote, never 498 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:12,080 Speaker 1: forget for an instant that all man's greatest inventions are 499 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:16,240 Speaker 1: still to come. This annual publication became so popular that 500 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:19,560 Speaker 1: Gernsbach was often contacted by scientists he did not know, 501 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 1: and he knew a lot of famous scientists, but others 502 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:25,120 Speaker 1: that he had not even heard of. In some cases 503 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:27,880 Speaker 1: asked to be added to his holiday lists, and there 504 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:30,800 Speaker 1: were even pleased for back issues, but Gernsbach had to 505 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 1: keep his list limited and he had to set up 506 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 1: a no back issues policy. Through the publication of Sexology, 507 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:41,240 Speaker 1: Hugo Gernsbach met the love of his life, Mary Hanscher. 508 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: Mary was hired onto the magazine as an assistant editor, 509 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 1: and in nine fifty one h Go and Mary were 510 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:52,240 Speaker 1: married in Chicago. Notable trivia regarding their wedding they were 511 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:56,440 Speaker 1: married by a judge in Chicago. That judge Hugo Friend 512 00:30:56,520 --> 00:31:00,200 Speaker 1: had presided over the nineteen Black Socks scandal trial, which 513 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:04,560 Speaker 1: took place in According to an interview Mary gave later 514 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:08,480 Speaker 1: in life, Hugo was an adoring and romantic husband who 515 00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:13,040 Speaker 1: sent her flowers every single week. They also traveled together extensively, 516 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,000 Speaker 1: and they really lived a very privileged life. Yes, she 517 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:18,440 Speaker 1: mentioned that, like he always made sure that she had 518 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:21,160 Speaker 1: staff so she didn't have to do anything she didn't 519 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:26,040 Speaker 1: want to. Uh. He clearly really did treat her, uh 520 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,200 Speaker 1: like the most important thing on earth. Girls. Black, as 521 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: we've said, was an inventor. He came up with myriad 522 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:35,080 Speaker 1: ideas for future technologies, but while some got to the 523 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 1: finish line, most of them really didn't ever come to 524 00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:40,240 Speaker 1: fruition as products. It's sort of a funny twist of 525 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:43,040 Speaker 1: fate that he started publishing to bolster his sales of 526 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:46,040 Speaker 1: electric equipment, and it ended up being that the publishing 527 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:49,480 Speaker 1: was what actually took off. Among his ideas were a 528 00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:52,719 Speaker 1: submersible amusement device that was sort of a cross between 529 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:56,200 Speaker 1: a ferris wheel and a roller coaster, with riders and 530 00:31:56,360 --> 00:32:00,560 Speaker 1: sealed pods that could dunk underwater, and locations like boardwalk 531 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:03,400 Speaker 1: amusement parks. He also came up with a product he 532 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:06,720 Speaker 1: called an isolator. This was a giant helmet that looks 533 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:10,480 Speaker 1: almost like a sleeker diving bell with an airline and 534 00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:13,680 Speaker 1: eye windows. It was meant to isolate the wearer from 535 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:17,240 Speaker 1: noise and distractions that could concentrate and get more work done. 536 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:22,880 Speaker 1: It looks like it might make you claustrophobic and sweaty 537 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:25,560 Speaker 1: if you've seen a picture of it. It reminds me 538 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:28,720 Speaker 1: of that knitting pattern of like the sweater that would 539 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,800 Speaker 1: just extend like a turtleneck up past your head and 540 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:36,880 Speaker 1: then totally encompass your computer monitor so you could focus 541 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:40,200 Speaker 1: on that no thank you. The claustrophobe in me just 542 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:44,040 Speaker 1: gets real twitchy looking at pictures of the isolator. Um 543 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:48,080 Speaker 1: He also championed this idea of a monument to electricity 544 00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:51,479 Speaker 1: being built, a one thousand foot tall replica of a 545 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:55,880 Speaker 1: generator that would, like the Pyramids, stand quote for practically 546 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:58,520 Speaker 1: all time, and he thought it would be a great 547 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:01,760 Speaker 1: boon to everyone's happy us to devise a scientific test 548 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 1: series that would determine marriage compatibility. Then this test series 549 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:10,080 Speaker 1: involved a physical attraction test, a sympathy test, a body 550 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,840 Speaker 1: odor test, and a final test of nervous disorders and 551 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:18,240 Speaker 1: according to gernsbox uh plan for this. If science were 552 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:21,720 Speaker 1: to give the hopeful couple of failing grade, in Gernsbok's mind, 553 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:25,240 Speaker 1: they should be denied a marriage license. By the time 554 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:29,200 Speaker 1: he died, Gernsbach held eighty patents. One of those was 555 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:32,560 Speaker 1: for an asophone, which used bone to conduct sound, and 556 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:35,200 Speaker 1: that technology has been used as the basis for hearing 557 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:39,120 Speaker 1: aid designs. As he got older, journalists would often report 558 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:42,720 Speaker 1: on Hugo's predictions. Some of these got very yikes E. 559 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:46,920 Speaker 1: In a hurry, we mentioned that his magazine Sexology predicted 560 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:49,280 Speaker 1: that humans would engineer the babies they wished to have. 561 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:52,400 Speaker 1: That was a concept he continued to talk about right 562 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:55,560 Speaker 1: into the nineteen sixties. But one of the most cringe 563 00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:58,560 Speaker 1: e predictions that he made in nineteen sixty three was 564 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:02,080 Speaker 1: that Kimma Janetta Cysts would offer a method quote to 565 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:05,600 Speaker 1: control the amount of melanin produced in the body, and 566 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:08,399 Speaker 1: he suggested that by nineteen seventy two, black people would 567 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:10,640 Speaker 1: be offered the option to change their skin to a 568 00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:15,240 Speaker 1: lighter tone if they wished. Yikes, yikes, yikes on bikes. 569 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:17,600 Speaker 1: I just I was reading that was just like, this 570 00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: is so horrifying. Uh, Mixed in with that troubling couple 571 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:24,120 Speaker 1: of predictions was one that was actually spot on, and 572 00:34:24,160 --> 00:34:28,319 Speaker 1: that was the prediction of pocket computers. Gernsbach described quote 573 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:31,319 Speaker 1: a personal electronic computer so small it could be carried 574 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:33,759 Speaker 1: in your pocket and capable of it giving it to 575 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:37,280 Speaker 1: us your quote, almost instant answers to almost any complex 576 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:41,520 Speaker 1: business problem. He also described a technology he called ray 577 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:47,239 Speaker 1: FAR radio automated facsimile reproduction. He thought that a technology 578 00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:50,319 Speaker 1: to send newspapers over radio waves was not far off, 579 00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:54,520 Speaker 1: and that ray FAR would enable newspaper staffs to thrive 580 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:58,919 Speaker 1: as they expanded their reach and instantly transmitted stories. Yeah, 581 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:01,520 Speaker 1: he thought, like of everyone at home will want to 582 00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:04,439 Speaker 1: get these newspapers and print them out and then read 583 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:07,640 Speaker 1: them at home. That way close, but not quite. Yeah, 584 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:10,520 Speaker 1: we're gonna read them on our handheld pocket computers that 585 00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:15,440 Speaker 1: bring us both solutions and problems. Right. Gernsbach died on 586 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:18,760 Speaker 1: August nine, ninety seven, at the age of eighty three, 587 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:22,400 Speaker 1: and he willed his body to Cortnell University for scientific 588 00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:28,359 Speaker 1: and educational use. Do you know if he like had 589 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:33,040 Speaker 1: opinions on the awards ceremony that became named after him. 590 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:36,719 Speaker 1: I didn't find any direct ones. I saw one thing 591 00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:39,160 Speaker 1: that I couldn't substantially and I couldn't find it on 592 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:42,280 Speaker 1: the Hugo Awards site. It started when he was still 593 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:45,640 Speaker 1: alive and was named for him, but was not his project. 594 00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:49,400 Speaker 1: And there was like one line that I saw somewhere 595 00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:51,759 Speaker 1: that said that he was given an honorary Hugo in 596 00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:55,360 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty, but I didn't find corroboration on it. It 597 00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:59,839 Speaker 1: may be out there, but it huh. Well, I feel 598 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:05,240 Speaker 1: the ongoing years and years of chaos and drama involving 599 00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:09,520 Speaker 1: the Hugo Awards, like outside the scope of this episode 600 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:17,880 Speaker 1: for hundred percent. Uh. Yeah, he's um. He's a chaotic 601 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:23,520 Speaker 1: and dramatic figure on his own. Yeah. Uh. It's interesting 602 00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:26,279 Speaker 1: to see people sometimes refer to him as like this 603 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:29,480 Speaker 1: genius prophet and other like he's kind of like P. T. Barnum, 604 00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:33,279 Speaker 1: you guys, Yeah, yeah, and everything in between, and all 605 00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:38,360 Speaker 1: of it is true, um or not. But uh, that 606 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:44,880 Speaker 1: is Hugo, who I have equal parts of love and 607 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:51,719 Speaker 1: chagrin over. I have to admire anyone who dresses that snazzy, 608 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:56,040 Speaker 1: but then he says gross things on occasion. I just 609 00:36:56,080 --> 00:37:02,760 Speaker 1: had flashbacks to every fan convention I've ever been to. Right, Yeah, 610 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:07,480 Speaker 1: I have fun and delicious and also silly, which seemed 611 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:11,279 Speaker 1: like the right tone. Listener mail for this one. It 612 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:13,560 Speaker 1: is from our listener Carl, who writes a Dear Holly 613 00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:16,800 Speaker 1: and Tracy. Listening to her a pick use episode reminded 614 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:18,840 Speaker 1: me of one of my favorite memories of working in 615 00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:22,120 Speaker 1: a public library. Shortly after we bought our first house, 616 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:25,080 Speaker 1: we hosted a murder mystery party for my library colleagues. 617 00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:27,680 Speaker 1: The theme for the mystery was Ancient Rome, and I 618 00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:30,360 Speaker 1: went down a rabbit hole searching for authentic recipes. I 619 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:33,120 Speaker 1: know that I must have found Derek Coquinadia because I 620 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:35,720 Speaker 1: remember serving dates stuffed with nuts and drizzled with honey. 621 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,480 Speaker 1: But you mentioned in the episode, I remember thinking that 622 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:40,640 Speaker 1: our new neighbors must have wondered what they were getting 623 00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:44,160 Speaker 1: into when librarians and togas started showing up at our door. Uh. 624 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:45,920 Speaker 1: And they even made a T shirt for the event, 625 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:48,200 Speaker 1: which he sent us a picture of and he still has, 626 00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:53,400 Speaker 1: which I love anybody who's organized, um a party that 627 00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:55,480 Speaker 1: has T shirts that go with it? It says at 628 00:37:55,520 --> 00:38:00,759 Speaker 1: two librarious Uh, I love it. Um. I always love 629 00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:04,200 Speaker 1: a themed get together to begin with. So anytime you 630 00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:07,239 Speaker 1: can do all of the stuff and have both uh 631 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:12,720 Speaker 1: fun costumes and food that are connected to a theme, 632 00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:15,359 Speaker 1: you're doing it right. If you would like to write 633 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:19,200 Speaker 1: to us and share your theme party experiences, you can 634 00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:22,319 Speaker 1: do that in History Podcasts at iHeart radio dot com. 635 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 1: You can also find us on social media and you 636 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:27,840 Speaker 1: can subscribe to the show easy peasy. You can just 637 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:29,720 Speaker 1: do that on the I heart Radio app or wherever 638 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:37,239 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. Stuff you Missed in 639 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:40,080 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of I heart Radio. For 640 00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:42,839 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart 641 00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:46,000 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 642 00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:46,720 Speaker 1: favorite shows.