Seems there was! I'm just wondering, since thermionic valves and semiconductors were yet to be invented, just what the hell they were generating curves of? Anyone care to hazard a guess?
An 1897 Curve Tracer??
Apr 13, 2025
Last reply: 1 year ago
6 Replies
Forgot the damn link!
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There was a lot of work early on on the conductivity of electricity through gases - Paschen published on the subject in 1889
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When I had to start a high pressure xenon arc lamp in 1973, I found a text book on the subject in the university book shop which was a reprint of something written in the 1920's by J.S.Townsend. It told me all that I needed to know. It wasn't exactly helpful on generating the high voltage required - about 20kV - but more modern texts covered that.
The Hospitalier Ondograph was a graphing sampling osciloscope ca 1902.
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Must have been some interest in non-linear resistances. There were electrolytic rectifiers around about that timeframe too, I recall a 1908 book describing them for battery charging.
Transformers, alternators, and so forth. Power factor, dissipation, saturation, coercivity,….
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
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