Widowed at the age of 21, Martha Coston met the challenge of providing for her four children by inventing a system of maritime signal flares. She found the idea in her dead husband's notebooks, but his system did not work.
Coston thought she could do better; and she was right.
Coston thought she could do better; and she was right.
Over several months, she worked diligently to make the idea a reality. In her memoirs she wrote:
"(...) The men I employed and dismissed, the experiments I made myself, the frauds that were practiced upon me, almost disheartened me; but...
"(...) The men I employed and dismissed, the experiments I made myself, the frauds that were practiced upon me, almost disheartened me; but...
... I treasured up each little step that was made in the right direction, the hints of naval officers, and the opinions of the different boards that gave the signals a trial. I had finally succeeded in getting a pure white and a vivid red light."
The flares had to be simple enough to use in coded color combinations. They also had to be bright, durable, and long-lasting so that they were effective tools for ship-to-ship and ship-to-land communications.
Coston hit on the idea of using fireworks technology as the basis of her design. Using fireworks technology, she developed the original plan into an elaborate system of flares called Night Signals.
The system of bright, long-lasting signal flares revolutionized naval communication and continues to be in use and has saved thousands of lives.
Read more: engineergirl.org/125236/Martha-…
Read more: engineergirl.org/125236/Martha-…
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
