Connections 1 – Countdown

The Technological Journey:

Cannons and Castle Fortifications:

  1. Invention of the Cannon:
    • Cannons revolutionized warfare by making traditional castle walls vulnerable.
  2. Changes in Castle Design:
    • To counteract this, fortifications were redesigned, eliminating blind spots and creating angled bastions to deflect cannon fire.
  3. Need for Strategic Mapping:
    • Precision in offensive cannon fire required accurate maps, spurring innovations in surveying and long-distance observation.
  1. Long-Distance Observation and Limelight:
  1. Mountain Surveys:
    • Observing and mapping terrain from afar required strong light sources.
  2. The Limelight:
    • Invented as a bright and focused light source, limelight was used in lighthouses and theatrical stage lighting.
  3. Incandescent Light:
    • The evolution of lighting culminated in the incandescent bulb, which became a key component for the movie projector.
  1. 3. The Development of Film:
  1. Celluloid:
    • The second ingredient for film was celluloid, derived from guncotton, originally developed as a substitute for ivory in billiard balls.
    • Its flexibility, transparency, and durability made it ideal for photographic film.
  2. Zoopraxiscope:
    • Invented by Eadweard Muybridge to settle a bet about a horse’s gallop, the zoopraxiscope demonstrated frame-by-frame motion.
    • It used perforations on the film’s edges to advance each frame mechanically—a core principle for movie projectors.
  1. Sound for Movies:
  1. Railway Communication:
    • Morse’s telegraph enabled communication over long distances, influencing sound-recording technology.
  2. Edison’s Record Player:
    • Thomas Edison developed a way to record sound by speaking into a microphone, creating grooves on a disc (the phonograph).
    • This innovation eventually enabled synchronization of sound with motion pictures, adding the final component for movies with sound.

The Four Major Innovations Behind the Movie Projector:

  1. Incandescent Light:
    • A stable, bright light source crucial for projecting images.
  2. Celluloid Film:
    • A durable, transparent medium for capturing and displaying images.
  3. The Projector Mechanism:
    • Frame-by-frame advancement of film, inspired by Muybridge’s zoopraxiscope.
  4. Recorded Sound:
    • Edison’s phonograph provided the ability to synchronize sound with moving images.

Themes and Connections:

  1. Warfare and Innovation:
    • Military needs (cannons and fortifications) catalysed innovations in mapping, which indirectly contributed to technologies like limelight and incandescent bulbs.
  2. Scientific Curiosity to Entertainment:
    • Muybridge’s horse experiment, driven by curiosity, laid the foundation for modern film technology.
  3. Interdisciplinary Progress:
    • The journey from military engineering to cinematic storytelling highlights the interconnectedness of advancements in optics, chemistry, mechanics, and sound.

From Cannons to Cinema:

Burke’s thesis is that innovations, even those designed for destruction or utility, often have unforeseen and transformative effects on culture and society. From the strategic use of cannons to the artistic use of projectors, this chain of events underscores the remarkable interconnectivity of human progress.