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Mary Lincoln Extra Credit Questions
03-28-2016, 04:05 PM (This post was last modified: 03-28-2016 04:08 PM by Eva Elisabeth.)
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RE: Mary Lincoln Extra Credit Questions
My favorite patent dispute story is that about the gyrocompass - gives me goosebumps.

When around 1900 Dr. Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe tried to realize his plan and dream to reach the North Pole with a submarine, the navigational difficulties had to solve led him to invent the first gyro compass. In the United States however, Elmer Ambrose Sperry invented a similar gyrocompass, leading to a patent dispute in 1915. Called upon by the court, Albert Einstein provided the expert opinion in the dispute, Anschütz won. The "meeting" due to Anschütz' never-ending attempts to improve the construction developed into an intensive, fruitful cooperation - together Anschütz and Einstein improved the system and when they were granted a patent for the ball compass in 1922, Anschütz withdrew the first patent, leaving it to Sparry (and the United States Navy used it in both world wars). Despite, Anschütz and Einstein became friends, and Einstein, a passionate sailor, came over for a sailing vacation every summer for over a decade until the Nazis chimed in. Except in the US and UK, the Anschütz/Einstein compass became most successful and standard system worldwide. Anschütz however never made it to the North Pole by submarine.
   
Sorry for all this off course romantic sailor's yarn - as an intro to the question - has Abraham Lincoln's shallow water boat device ever been built "life-size" (i.e. not as a model), and tested?
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RE: Mary Lincoln Extra Credit Questions - Eva Elisabeth - 03-28-2016 04:05 PM

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