Random Research

"Being Honest With Oneself"

Michael Round

December 10, 2009

I've been interested in railroads for some time, buying every book and DVD I can find. 

One book I found was titled "Ralph of the Roundhouse", by Allen Chapman.  I bought it instantly, of course, and a couple others written by Chapman: "The Radio Boys: Trailing a Voice", and "The Radio Boys at Ocean Point".

The other day, I looked at these on my shelf and wondered:  Who was Allen Chapman?  These books were written nearly 100 years ago!

There is no Allen Chapman.

There is the Stratemeyer Syndicate, who using hundreds of authors, had collective pseudonyms to write these books.

And many others, including:

Hardy Boys

Nancy Drew.

Written and published by the Stratemeyer Syndicate.

Who was Stratemeyer, and why did he do this?

"Edward Stratemeyer's business acumen was in realizing that there was a huge, untapped market for children's books. At a time when most children's books were aimed at moral instruction, the Stratemeyer Syndicate specialized in producing books that were meant primarily to be entertaining. In Stratemeyer's view, it was not the promise of sex or violence that made such reading attractive to children; it was the thrill of feeling grown-up and the desire for a series of stories.

This desire for a series of stories could, Stratemeyer believed, be harnessed for profit. In founding the Stratemeyer Syndicate, Edward Stratemeyer aimed to produce books in an efficient, assembly-line fashion and to write them in such a way as to maximize their popularity."

(wikipedia)

Amazing.

I didn't know any of this.

Paging through the opening of the book, I noted the preface was written by a guy named Jack Binns.

I noted it because he signed the book I had.

Who is this guy, I thought?

And here is another remarkable story.

The Steamship Republic was sailing for Liverpool from New York.  It was January 23, 1909.  One-hundred years ago this year.  In heavy fog, it was broad-sided by the Florida, returning from Italy with survivors from an earthquake.  50 miles outside Nantucket.

The Republic was sinking.

Fortunately, the Marconi wireless was onboard.  The operator:

Jack Binns.

CQD!  CQD!  "SOS" the . . .  - - -  . . ." was not yet established universally as the distress signal, so "CQD" went out.  "CQ" had, for some time, been the common means of making a common call.  "CQ" was the English pronunciation of the French word "sécurité", the "D" added for "PAY ATTENTION:  DISTRESS".

It was the first wireless transmission rescue in history.  And it's a heroic story.  Of Binns.  Of the crew, transporting passengers to first the Florida, and then everybody from the Florida to the arriving Baltic.

A phenomenal write-up of the story is here:

http://earlyradiohistory.us/CQD.htm

Where am I going with all this?  Here are some thoughts:

Marconi / wireless radio transmission

How did wireless work then - and now?

Patent disputes between Marconi / Tesla

How does the patent system work?

The finding of the Republic

World monetary stability and the gold on the Republic

CQ / CQD / SOS

Morse code

The earthquake in Italy

Standardization of communication

The telegraph

Biographies

Geographies

Histories

Sciences

Maths

You get the idea ... from looking at a single book on my shelf and asking "Who is Allen Chapman?", a series of research projects opened up I did not imagine - could not have imagined.

And each one of these topics can go in literally an infinite number of ways - and once one embarks down one path, it itself branches. 

It can be over-whelming.  It can be scary.

But once one starts down a path, and actually attempts to learn about that path, it's exciting!

Random research.  Leading to many specific facts.  Ultimately many generalizations.

If one so chooses.

And herein lies the rub.

"Who is Allen Chapman?" is a simple question.  One answer might be:  "The collective pseudonym for a series of books written in the 20th century."

Big deal.

There's so much more - if one is honest with oneself about caring.

You gotta care.

Your Next Step

The next thing you read, find a word you can look up.  It might be "Argentina", "rifle", "Constitution", "newspaper", "x-ray machine", "playing bridge".  Whatever it is, do a google search on it.  Play with it.  See where this single idea takes you.

My Next Step

This is "part 1" of a 5-part series in this project, tentatively titled "Random Research", that goes into many types of "random research", that ultimately will address a couple important questions.

Part 2 will start with a different type of question and move forward from a much different perspective.

We'll look at these as they arise.