How does a painter generate the SOS signal?
Samuel Morse (1791-1872) was a painter and professor of art at New York University, renowned as a portraitist. He also founded New York's National Academy of Design, which he chaired for many years. Although he initially studied science at Yale University, it was his artistic career that interested him and made his reputation, to the extent that he was commissioned to paint the portrait of President Monroe.
It is said that he was in Washington to paint a portrait of General de La Fayette in 1825 when he received a letter telling him that his wife was in the worst of health. The horse-drawn mail had taken several days to reach him from New Haven. Unfortunately, Morse didn't reach his wife until after her death. He then set about inventing a much faster system of communication. It was on his return from a fine arts trip to Europe in 1832, on the ship that was taking him back to the U.S., that he conceived the idea of an electric telegraph.
While working on the construction of this electric telegraph, he developed a simple, effective and inexpensive system for transmitting messages. Each letter corresponds to a unique combination of short and long pulses, recorded in the form of dots and dashes. The first telegram Morse sent on the Baltimore-Washington line contained a quotation from the Bible chosen by the daughter of the governor of Connecticut: What hath God wrought.
From 1865 onwards, in Europe, the original Morse code was gradually replaced by the "International Morse Code", which remains the worldwide reference. This code was widely used until the end of the 20th century, and is still used today, particularly by amateur radio operators and in the armies of many countries.
The choice of S.O.S. as the international signal requesting immediate assistance is derived from Morse code. Before Morse code, each TSF service used its own distress signal. The three letters "S.O.S." were chosen because they are very easy to transcribe, and very easy to recognize: three dots, three dashes, three dots: ...---... . Later, we tried to give them meanings such as Save our souls or Send out succour.
The Titanic was one of the first ships to use this signal when it hit the iceberg that sank it on April 14, 1912. The signal is still used today. In fact, it's forbidden to use it except in a genuine distress situation!
The Collections of the Maison de la Science
Samuel Morse (1791-1872) was a painter and professor of art at New York University, renowned as a portraitist. He also founded New York's National Academy of Design, which he chaired for many years. Although he initially studied science at Yale University, it was his artistic career that interested him and made his reputation, to the extent that he was commissioned to paint the portrait of President Monroe.
It is said that he was in Washington to paint a portrait of General de La Fayette in 1825 when he received a letter telling him that his wife was in the worst of health. The horse-drawn mail had taken several days to reach him from New Haven. Unfortunately, Morse didn't reach his wife until after her death. He then set about inventing a much faster system of communication. It was on his return from a fine arts trip to Europe in 1832, on the ship that was taking him back to the U.S., that he conceived the idea of an electric telegraph.
While working on the construction of this electric telegraph, he developed a simple, efficient and inexpensive system for transmitting messages. Each letter corresponds to a unique combination of short and long pulses, recorded in the form of dots and dashes. The first telegram Morse sent on the Baltimore-Washington line contained a quotation from the Bible chosen by the daughter of the governor of Connecticut: What hath God wrought.
From 1865 onwards, in Europe, the original Morse code was gradually replaced by the "International Morse Code", which remains the worldwide reference. This code was widely used until the end of the 20th century, and is still used today, particularly by amateur radio operators and in the armies of many countries.
The choice of S.O.S. as the international signal requesting immediate assistance is derived from Morse code. Before Morse code, each TSF service used its own distress signal. The three letters "S.O.S." were chosen because they are very easy to transcribe, and very easy to recognize: three dots, three dashes, three dots: ...---... . Later, we tried to give them meanings such as Save our souls or Send out succour.
The Titanic was one of the first ships to use this signal when it hit the iceberg that sank it on April 14, 1912. The signal is still used today. In fact, it's forbidden to use it except in a genuine distress situation!
