Where the Light Falls by Katherine Keenum

Author:Katherine Keenum
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Medallions

Edward’s interest in ceramic glazes dated from a time in his youth when he occasionally lent a hand at the kiln to a potter in Cincinnati. They had talked of running experiments on graduated variations in pigments and the temperatures at which components were fused into glass but had never carried out the project. Early in his stay in Freiburg, when he was casting about for something to do, Edward had mentioned it to Cousin Paul, who viewed any interest in colorants as normal and provided him with laboratory space in the Murer dye factory. On the train back to Freiburg from Paris in October, something he had read in a paper on benzene isomers resurfaced in Edward’s mind as a question about the molecular structure of oxides used in glazes. As soon as he was back in the laboratory, alongside the empirical tests already under way, he set up some new, more theoretical experiments.

One day, with mounting excitement, he realized that a certain line of inquiry just might lead to new products for insulating porcelain electrical fuses and the like. He made notations. He stared at them and thought some more. While he wrote out assumptions and the relevant formulae more fully, he mentally designed ways to check his idea. He set up preliminary tests to scotch the hypothesis at the beginning if it was untenable, but the results suggested that, on the contrary, he ought to go on.

He flirted with the idea of renting a full workshop and buying equipment but was brought back to earth by the realization that he could spell out everything on paper: initial hunch, preliminary confirmation, hypothesis precisely stated, tests to be run, and possible applications. He could send it all to Theodore, who would understand every aspect and could set trained scientists at Murer Brothers to work on it. Edward hated letting go of his beautiful scheme, but it was no good playing the amateur if it had the potential he thought it did. He drew up a proposal, made a fair copy, and posted it to Cincinnati.

Two weeks later, by return mail, came a congratulatory letter from Theodore. He had already assigned men to the project and would consult with lawyers about patents. He proposed a closely held joint-stock partnership; he foresaw the Cincinnati power company as their first customer. A twinge of jealous exasperation ran through Edward’s pleasure as Theodore rolled on. He had known when he wrote that he was relinquishing control of the project but had not foreseen how totally detached from it he would feel once it was out of his hands.

He showed the letter to Carl, who looked up midway through reading it. “What exactly is this all about, Uncle Edward?”

“Here’s the proposal.”

Carl switched to the rough draft and picked his way quickly through Edward’s formulae, interlineations, and emendations. His immersion in chemistry classes at the Hochschule made the technicalities and speculations immediately comprehensible. “This is brilliant, sir,” he said, impressed back into the childhood honorific not only by the science but by his uncle’s grasp of commercial practicalities.

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