[D8704ADJ], Letter from John Alfred Brashear to Thomas Alva Edison, October 9th, 1887
https://edisondigital.rutgers.edu/document/D8704ADJ
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- Title
- [D8704ADJ], Letter from John Alfred Brashear to Thomas Alva Edison, October 9th, 1887
- Editor's Notes
- Have had TAE's letter with generous offer for "some days" but have delayed responding because don't know how to reply; from the nature of the case, the construction of high-class physical apparatus can never be remunerative; have furnished the world's leading scientists with apparatus but my wife and I still have trouble making ends meet; scientific men have limited means; most are "cooped up in universitites" with limited endowment; observatories are the same; a second problem is training men to do the work to a high standard of accuracy; often this requires suffering loss or making the instrument over twice; inferior work is not allowed to leave my shop; this has bought reputation "at the expense of the pocketbook", but thinks it unjust to pass cost of mistakes on to customer###Langley usually adds 20 to 100 percent to the bills I send him.###Our optical work pays and has kept me afloat; to give an idea of the work demanded, I copy an order from Prof. Michelson, "whom you remember having measured the velocity of Light with more accuracy than any living physicist"; his two goals were to measure the earth's motion relative to luminiferous ether and to find the absolute value of a wavelength of sodium light as a standard of measurement; [a list of the instruments and surfaces Michelson required follows]; prefers that Michelson inform TAE directly of his satisfaction with the instruments; wonders whether he [Brashear] is "not enough of a businessman"; trustees of Alleghany Chemistry induced him to come and set up shop with $8,000-$10,000 worth of equipment; the availability of natural gas heat is a plus in making optical surfaces due to the absence of dust, and shop is far enough from railroad not to be affected by jarring; will send a photograph of the great Lick Spectroscope when finished; am building one for Mexican lab, and parts of others for Ecole Polytechnique Paris, University of Vienna, and Royal University of Florence, Italy. [see D8704ACY]###P.S. "I spent three delightfull days with Dr. Mayer at South Orange a year ago. You have a grand country to live in."
- Author
- Brashear, John Alfred
- Recipient
- Edison, Thomas Alva
- Date
- 1887-10-09
- Type
- Letter
- Folder ID
- D8704-F
- Microfilm ID
- 119:243
- Document ID
- D8704ADJ
- Publisher
- Thomas A. Edison Papers, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University
- License
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Has Version
- Archive.org Viewer, Microfilm Series Reel 119