The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another

by Ainissa Ramirez

The notion that materials and humans are being molded by each other catalyzed me to explore how materials in history shaped us.

Land would eventually learn that scientists cannot separate their research from the application of their research and that the social sciences and the sciences, in general, work best in tandem, like one hand washing the other.

During an ordinary midnight dinner, when the activity in the beehive of Edison’s laboratory momentarily paused, the Wizard of Menlo Park, his shaggy hair pointing in all directions, was still working on his quivering materials. Thinking out loud, he stated an idea to his chief assistant, Charles Batchelor, with his legendary overconfidence. “If we put a point on the centre of that diaphragm and talked to it whilst we pulled the wax paper underneath,” he said, “it would give us back talking when we pulled the paper through the second time.” His idea hit everyone in the laboratory like a thunderclap. Capturing the human voice and then listening to it was a thrilling proposition because no such thing existed. On hearing Edison’s words, the rapid scouring for parts to make a talking machine began, as if within earshot of a start gun. Instruments resting on the wooden tables from some of Edison’s earlier projects were immediately pilfered and repurposed. One person cut off the sharp tip of a needle and soldered it to a circular diaphragm. Another person fastened the diaphragm and mouthpiece to a wooden stand. Yet another cut a strip of wax-coated paper and placed it under the diaphragm’s needle. In less than an hour, an apparatus appeared before the wizard. The room quieted as Edison sat down, leaned his portly frame forward, and nested his lips onto the mouthpiece. He then yelled “Halloo,” as his assistant Batchelor pulled the strip of waxed paper underneath slowly and evenly,...