Theater of the Mind
Adventures in Research
103 episodes · 1943–1954 · Syndicated · Historical
Play Adventures in Research on Radio Days
Westinghouse's weekly science series, produced at KDKA: short dramas about inventors, discoverers and the stories behind everyday things, from the parachute and the cash register to penicillin, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Piltdown Man hoax.
Sources: RadioGOLDINdex
Episodes
Tap a year to see its episodes, then a title to play it on Radio Days.
19431 episode
- Mariah Coventry
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists this date as “Telltale Atoms and the Tales They Tell.”
19442 episodes
- History of 1st Regular Radio Broadcast
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists this date as “Eyes and Ears for the Millions-Part 1.” - Telegraphy
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists this date as “Eyes and Ears for the Millions-Part 2.”
19462 episodes
- Golden Jubilee
A short history of the gasoline automobile on its fiftieth anniversary. - Uncle Sam's Attic
The story of the Smithsonian Institution.
19503 episodes
- Road to Glory
John McAdam and his improved road surface. - The Purple Vapor
How Bernard Courtois stumbled on iodine in 1811. - Cerro Bolivar
A Venezuelan mountain of almost pure iron and the future of American steelmaking.
19547 episodes
- The Immigrant Inventor ep Repeat of
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - And Then the Night ep Repeat of
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - The Fight Against Fire ep Repeat of
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - The King of Ice ep Repeat of
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - I Scream You Scream ep Repeat
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Yesterdays Secret Weapons ep Repeat
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Victory in the Desert ep Repeat of
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
Undated88 episodes
- A Piece of Silk
How Andre Garnerin perfected the first parachute, and jumped with it. - The Fight Against Fire
A history of firefighters and their equipment. - The King of Ice
Frederick Tudor of Boston, the first man to think of shipping ice to the tropics. - And Then the Night
Roger Bacon, the medieval philosopher often credited with inventing gunpowder. - I Scream, You Scream
The story of ice cream. - Yesterday's Secret Weapons
Weapons through history, from the bow and arrow to the modern arsenal. - The Man Who Found a Continent
Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, the naval explorer credited with discovering Antarctica. - The Immigrant Inventor
Michael Pupin, the immigrant who went on to invent telephone and telegraph devices. - Dirty Hands
Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis and his fight for cleanliness in childbirth. - Victory in the Desert
How water was brought to the desert, making way for Phoenix, Arizona. - The Recluse of Fitzroy Square
William Hyde Wollaston, discoverer of palladium and rhodium and inventor of the camera lucida. - A New Kind of Movie
How a professor in Ghent built the very first moving-picture machine. - George Westinghouse
A tribute to George Westinghouse, whose company founded KDKA, the station behind this series. - Electronics in Communication
Samuel Morse's idea for the telegraph and Marconi's wireless. Only the first thirteen minutes survive. - Electronics in Transportation
Marconi's wireless saves lives on the Titanic, and radio beams guide airplanes. - The King of Clocks
How Big Ben came to be. - The Paper Invention That Worked
How Rudolf Diesel designed his famous engine on paper. - The First American Patent
The first water-powered sawmill in America and the holder of patent number one. - Typewriter History
Christopher Latham Sholes and the invention of the typewriter. - Science in Recreation
How science makes sports faster and more exciting. - The Story of Metal X
How uranium was first refined, and how it led to the atomic bomb. - The Birth of the Balloon
The Montgolfier brothers and the beginning of manned flight. - Dynamite
Alfred Nobel and the history of dynamite. - SOFAR
SOFAR, the wartime sound-ranging system for finding downed pilots and enemy submarines. - Hurricane Maker
The wind tunnel built to test the aircraft of the future. - Oil from Shale
Two shepherds find stones that burn, leading to oil from shale. - The Cash Register
How the cash register was invented and sold. - Toothpowder Mountain
A Nevada mountain made of diatomaceous earth, and its many uses. - Gustav Dalen
Gustav Dalen, the Swedish inventor of the automatic lighthouse beacon. - The Sting of Death
Major Ronald Ross's work on malaria, which won him the 1902 Nobel Prize. - Dread Scourge, Typhus
Dr. Stephen Smith, father of America's public health laws, and the cause of typhus. - Time Through the Ages
Timekeeping through the ages, and the clockmaker Seth Thomas. - Beauty in Clay
The boyhood of potter Josiah Wedgwood. - Plague Conqueror
Edward Jenner's victory over smallpox. - Man of Destiny
John A. Roebling and the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. - The Rain Wizard
How the science of climatology put the rainmakers out of business. - Stone That Gave Light
The development of fluorescent lighting. - The Perfect Clock
John Harrison and his chronometer, the perfect clock for navigators. - The Golden Mold
The miracle of penicillin. - The Lost Chemical
How DDT was discovered, forgotten, and found again. - The Modern Road
The developments that led to the smooth modern road. - The Tractor That Needs No Road
The development of the military tank. - What Happened at Peshtigo?
The Peshtigo fire, the largest and hottest ever to burn in Wisconsin. - Perkin's Mistake
William Henry Perkin's accidental discovery of the first aniline dye. - The Story of Quinine
The accidental discovery that led to the prevention of malaria. - The Inventor Who Disappeared
Augustin La France, a pioneer of motion pictures. - The McCormick Reaper
Cyrus McCormick and the reaper. - Behind the Human Eye
How science learned how the parts of the eye work. - The Man Who Discovered the Skeleton
Andreas Vesalius, the great Flemish anatomist. - The Story of the Cracked Plate
How the sound of a cracked plate gave Leopold Auenbrugger a new way to diagnose lung disease. - A Full Head of Steam
Oliver Evans, builder of the first steam dredge and many other machines. - Yankee Mariner
Nathaniel Bowditch, American navigator and mathematician. - Clang, Clang, Clang
The invention of the streetcar. - Hans' Iron Needle
Hans Christian Oersted and his experiments with electricity. - Valley of Fire
How men and machines harnessed the power of a volcano. - Treasure from the Sky
The story of meteorites. - The Slate That Didn't Break
Thomas Blanchard, inventor of the first tack-making machine. - Papin and the Pressure Cooker
Denis Papin's experiments with steam, and how they helped start the Industrial Revolution. - Mister Charles Parson's Dream Boat
Charles Parsons builds the first modern steam turbine. - Quiet, Please
The man who quieted the din of the London Underground. - Penelope and the Doctor
Dr. Thomas Addison, who first recognized the adrenal disease named after him. - Five Million Dollars Deep
Deep-sea diving, and a treasure waiting at sixty fathoms. - Wilderness Train
The railroad that opened the Midwest and beyond to settlement. - Maria Coventry
A pioneer woman who had to make do with her own two hands, without modern appliances. - Patent Number 547,860
How a weaver, a papermaker and a wasp's nest led to paper made from wood. - The Death of the Dawn Man
The Piltdown Man, the great caveman hoax. - A Cup of Sugar
The development of the Linotype machine. - The Fabulous Mineral
How diamonds are formed and mined. - The Blizzard of `88
March 12, 1888, the day New Yorkers were buried in snow. - The Hairpin in the Bottle
The incandescent lamp, from Sir Humphry Davy to Swan to Edison. - America's First Invention
America's first invention: a rifle used against the British in the Revolution. - Fence Around America
How a fence opened up the western prairies. - No Sale
The story of the cash register. - A Touch of Cologne
How a touch of cologne led to local anesthesia. - The Green and the Red
The story of the traffic light. - The Perpetual Discovery
Chemist Robert Chesebrough and his interest in oil. - The Overlooked Housefly
The discovery of DDT. - The Missing Ingredient
A shipping embargo leads a French chemist to make artificial baking soda. - Kriss Kringle's Helper
Samuel Allen, inventor of the modern sled. - The Way of an Eagle
Man's long attempts to fly. - The First Skyscraper
How Peter Cooper built the first skyscraper, six stories high in New York. - The Million Dollar Cabbage
Clarence Birdseye, the first to sell frozen vegetables successfully. - The Stamp of Approval
The invention of the postage stamp. - Michael Saves His Breath
The story of glass. - Seven and a Fifth Degrees
Eratosthenes, the ancient Greek who first measured the size of the Earth. - Throw the Oars Away
Ole Evinrude and his outboard motor. - Free as a Bird
Two men who dreamed of manned flight. - A Sprig of Mint
A man sets out to prove himself right and proves the opposite.