Inventing Invention

The two-story wooden framed building was lit by the soft glow of gas lamps—ironic, given who was in charge. The small team huddled around a cluttered workbench was focused and intense, their movements deliberate, as they toiled over their latest endeavor.

The goal of this machine was so audacious as to be almost comical, but it turned out to work. It could record sounds, then recreate them. Like Prometheus stealing fire from the gods, this machine stole sounds from nature and kept them for you to play back whenever you felt like it.

The ground floor of the building was clearly designed more for utility than aesthetics, with a wide open central room, where tinkerers and thinkers could work in a shared space. Large windows punctuated its walls, allowing natural light to flood the interior during the day, creating an environment conducive to meticulous work and study.

The workshop was cluttered, but there was an underlying method to the madness. Workbenches cluttered with prototypes, gea…