Leonardo Torres Quevedo | |
|---|---|
 Autochrome byAuguste Léon, 1921 | |
| Born | Leonardo Torres Quevedo (1852-12-28)28 December 1852 Molledo, Spain |
| Died | 18 December 1936(1936-12-18) (aged 83) Madrid, Spain |
| Burial place | Saint Isidore Cemetery |
| Education | Official School of the Road Engineers' Corps (Technical University of Madrid) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1876–1930 |
| Known for | See list
|
| Spouse | |
| Children | 8, including Gonzalo Torres Polanco |
| Awards | See list
|
| SeatN of theReal Academia Española | |
| In office 31 October 1920 – 18 December 1936 | |
| Preceded by | Benito Pérez Galdós |
| Succeeded by | Manuel Machado |
| 18th President of theSpanish Royal Physics Society | |
| In office 1920 | |
| Preceded by | Domingo de Orueta |
| Succeeded by | Ricardo Aranaz e Izaguirre |
| 3rd President of theRoyal Spanish Mathematical Society | |
| In office 1920–1924 | |
| Preceded by | Zoel García de Galdeano |
| Succeeded by | Luis Octavio de Toledo y Zulueta |
| 7th President of theSpanish Royal Academy of Sciences | |
| In office 1928–1934 | |
| Preceded by | José Rodríguez Carracido |
| Succeeded by | Blas Cabrera |
| Signature |  |
Leonardo Torres Quevedo (Spanish:[leoˈnaɾðoˈtoreskeˈβeðo]; 28 December 1852 – 18 December 1936) was a Spanish civil engineer, mathematician and inventor, known for his numerous engineering innovations, includingaerial trams,airships,catamarans, andremote control. He was also a pioneer in the field ofcomputing androbotics. Torres was a member of several scientific and cultural institutions and held such important positions as the seatN of theReal Academia Española (1920–1936) and the presidency of theSpanish Royal Academy of Sciences (1928–1934). In 1927 he became a foreign associate of theFrench Academy of Sciences.[4]
His first groundbreaking invention was a cable car system patented in 1887 for the safe transportation of people, an activity that culminated in 1916 when theWhirlpool Aero Car was opened inNiagara Falls.[5] In the 1890s, Torres focused his efforts onanalog computation. He publishedSur les machines algébriques (1895) andMachines à calculer (1901), technical studies that gave him recognition in France for his construction of machines to solve real and complex roots ofpolynomials.[6] He made significant aeronautical contributions at the beginning of the 20th century, becoming the inventor of thenon-rigidAstra-Torres airships, a trilobed structure that helped the British and French armies counter Germany'ssubmarine warfare duringWorld War I.[7] These tasks in dirigible engineering led him to be a key figure in the development ofradio control systems in 1901–05 with theTelekine, which he laid down modern wireless remote-control operation principles.[8]
From his Laboratory of Automation created in 1907, Torres invented one of his greatest technological achievements,El Ajedrecista (The Chess Player) of 1912,[9] an electromagnetic device capable of playing a limited form of chess that demonstrated the capability of machines to be programmed to follow specified rules (heuristics) and marked the beginnings of research into the development ofartificial intelligence.[10] He advanced beyond the work ofCharles Babbage in his 1914 paperEssays on Automatics,[11] where he speculated about thinking machines and included the design of a special-purpose electromechanical calculator, introducing concepts still relevant likefloating-point arithmetic. British historianBrian Randell called it "a fascinating work which well repays reading even today".[12] Subsequently, Torres demonstrated the feasibility of an electromechanicalanalytical engine by successfully producing a typewriter-controlled calculating machine in 1920.[13]
He conceived other original designs before his retirement in 1930, some of the most notable were innaval architecture projects, such as theBuque campamento (Camp-Vessel, 1913), aballoon carrier for transporting airships attached to amooring mast of his creation,[14] and theBinave (Twin Ship, 1916), amultihull steel vessel driven by twopropellers powered bymarine engines.[15] In addition to his interests in engineering, Torres also stood out in the field of letters and was a prominent speaker and supporter ofEsperanto.[16]
Torres was born on 28 December 1852, on theFeast of the Holy Innocents, inSanta Cruz de Iguña, Cantabria, Spain. His father, Luis Torres Vildósola y Urquijo (1818–1891), was a civil engineer inBilbao, where he worked as arailway engineer. His mother was Valentina Quevedo de la Maza (1825–1891). He had two siblings, Joaquina (b. 1851) and Luis (b. 1855). The family resided for the most part in Bilbao, although they also spent long periods in his mother's family home in Cantabria's mountain region. During his childhood, he spent long periods of time separated from his parents due to work trips. As a result, he was cared by relatives of his father, the Barrenechea sisters, who declared him heir to their property, which facilitated his future independence.[17]
He studied high school in Bilbao and later went to Paris, to the college of theChristian Brothers, to complete studies for two years (1868 and 1869),[18] where he met French culture, customs, and language and that in later years it would help him in his scientific-technical relationships with personalities, and scientific institutions. In 1870, his father was transferred, bringing his family toMadrid. The following year, Torres began his higher studies in theOfficial School of the Road Engineers' Corps [es]. He temporarily suspended his studies in 1873 to volunteer along with his brother Luis for the defense of Bilbao, which had been surrounded byCarlist troops during theThird Carlist War. Once the siege of Bilbao was lifted in 1874, he returned to Madrid and completed his studies in 1876, graduating fourth in his class.[17]
Torres began to work as a civil engineer for a few months on railway projects as his father did, but his curiosity and desire to learn led him to give up joining the Corps to dedicate himself in "thinking about my things".[19] As a young entrepreneur who had inherited a considerable family fortune, he immediately set out on a long trip through Europe in 1877, visiting Italy, France and Switzerland, to know the scientific and technical advances of the day, especially in the incipient area of electricity.[20][17] Returning to Spain, he settled inSantander, where he continued his self-supported research activities.
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Torres' experimentation in the field of cableways andcable cars began very early during his residence in the town of his birth,Molledo. There, in 1885, he constructed the first cableway to span a depression of some 40 metres (130 ft). The cableway was about 200 metres (660 ft) across and transported a single person who was sitting in a chair hanging from a cable and had another traction cable. The engine used to move the human load was a pair of cows. Later, in 1887, he would build a cableway over the Río León inValle de Iguña [es], much bigger and motorized, but which was intended only for transporting materials.[21][17]
These experiments were the basis for his first patent application on 17 September 1887, in Spain, "Un sistema de camino funicular aéreo de alambres múltiples" ("A multi-wire suspended aerial system"),[22] for a cable car with which he obtained a level of safety suitable for the transport of people, not only cargo. The patent was extended to other countries: United States,Austria, Germany, France, United Kingdom, and Italy.[23] His cable car used a novel multi-cable support system, in which one end of a cable is anchored to fixedcounterweights and the other (through a system ofpulleys) to mobile counterweights. With this system the axial force of the cables via is constant and equal to the weight of the counterweight, regardless of the load in the shuttle. What will vary with this load is the deflection of the via cables, which will increase by raising the counterweight. Thus, the safety coefficient of these cables is perfectly known, and is independent of the shuttle load. The resulting design is very strong and remains safe in case of a support cable failure.[24][25]
In April 1889 Torres presented his cableway in Switzerland,[26] a place very interested in this means of transport due to its geography, between Pilatus-Kulm and Pilatus-Klimsenhorn (Mount Pilatus).[27] It was an aerial funicular with a length of 2 km and a gradient of 300 m. In 1890 he traveled to that country to convince different authorities of its construction. He failed to convince the Swiss, who did not grant any reliability to the work of a Spanish engineer, and even the newspapersNebelspalter andEulm Spiegel published articles and satirical drawings about the project. This disappointment, known as the "Swiss failure", led him to focus on other fields for several years.[21] On 30 September 1907, Torres put into operation a pioneer cableway suitable for public transportation, theMount Ulia aerial ropeway [es] inSan Sebastián.[28] The journey was 280 meters, with a drop of 28 meters, lasted for just over three minutes, and the gondola had the capacity to board up to 18 people on each trip.[29] The execution of the project was the responsibility of theSociety of Engineering Studies and Works of Bilbao, which was established in 1906 by Valentín Gorbeña Ayarragaray, one of his closest friends, with the sole purpose of developing or marketing Torres' patents.[30] The Ulia cable car transported passengers until its closure in 1917.[31]
The successful result of this type of cable car gave him the opportunity to design theSpanish Aerocar based onJ. Enoch Thompson's idea atNiagara Falls in Canada.[32] The cableway of 550 meters in length is an aerial cable car that spans thewhirlpool in theNiagara Gorge on the Canadian side. It travels at about 7.2 kilometres per hour (4.5 mph). The load per cable via is 9 tonnes (9.9 short tons), with asafety coefficient for the cables of 4.6.[33] and carries 35 standing passengers over a one-kilometre trip.[34] It was constructed between 1914 and 1916. For its construction and assembly, theNiagara Spanish Aerocar Company Limited was set up from the Society of Engineering Studies and Works, with a capital of $110,000 (roughly $3.5 million in 2024),[35] and a planned concession of 20 years. The construction was directed by Torres' son,Gonzalo Torres Polanco.[36] It completed its first tests on 15 February in 1916 and was officially inaugurated on 8 August, opening to the public the following day. The cableway, with small modifications, runs to this day with no accidents worthy of mention, constituting a popular tourist and cinematic attraction.[37]
The Aero Car is believed to be the sole remaining example of Torres' design for an aerial ferry. Although constructed and operated in Canada, it was a Spanish project from beginning to end: designed by a Spaniard and constructed by a Spanish company with Spanish capital. In 1991, theNiagara Parks Commission received theLeonardo Torres Quevedo Award [es] on the 75th anniversary of the Aero Car, in recognition of its commitment to preserving Torres' design. A plaque, mounted on a boulder in front of Aero Car Gift Shop recalls this fact:International Historic Civil Engineering Site. The Niagara Spanish Aerocar. A tribute to the distinguished Spanish Engineer who designed the Niagara Spanish Aerocar. This was only one of his many outstanding contributions to the engineering profession. Engineer Leonardo Torres Quevedo (1852–1936). Constructed 1914–1916. CSCE. The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering. 2010. Asociación de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos de España. Spanish aerial ferry of the Niagara.[38]
Since the middle of the 19th century, several mechanical devices were known, includingintegrators, multipliers, etc. The work of Torres in this matter is framed within this tradition, which began in 1893 with the presentation of the "Memória sobre las máquinas algébricas" ("Memory about algebraic machines") at theSpanish Royal Academy of Sciences in Madrid.[39] This paper was commented in a report byEduardo Saavedra in 1894 and published in theRevista de Obras Públicas [es].[40] Saavedra, who considered Torres' calculating machine as "an extraordinary event in the course of Spanish scientific production",[41] recommended that the final project of the device be financed.[17]
In 1895 Torres presented "Sur les machines algébriques", accompanied by a demonstration model, at theBordeaux Congress of theAssociation pour l'Avancement des Sciences, and in Paris in theComptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences.[42] Later on, in 1900, he presented a more detailed work, "Machines à calculer" ("Calculating machines") at the ParisAcademy of Sciences.[43] The commission formed byMarcel Deprez,Henri Poincaré andPaul Appell, asked the academy for its publication,[17] where they reported favorably: "InMécanique analytique,Joseph-Louis Lagrange considers material systems whose connections are expressed by relationships between the coordinates or parameters used to define the position of the system. We can, and this is what Mr. Torres does, take the opposite point of view." Concluding: "In short, Mr. Torres has given a theoretical, general and complete solution to the problem of the construction of algebraic and transcendental relations by means of machines; moreover, he has effectively constructed machines that are easy to use for the solution of certains types of algebraic equations that are frequently encountered in applications."[44][45]
These works examined mathematical and physical analogies that underlay analogue calculation or continuous quantities, and how to establish mechanically the relationships between them, expressed in mathematical formulae. The study includedcomplex variables and used thelogarithmic scale. From a practical standpoint, it showed that mechanisms such as turning disks could be used endlessly with precision, so that changes in variables were unlimited in both directions.[46][47][48] Torres developed a whole series of analogue mechanical calculating machines that used certain elements known asarithmophores, which consisted of a moving part and an index that made it possible to read the quantity according to the position shown thereon.[49] The aforesaid moving part was a graduated disk or a drum turning on an axis. The angular movements were proportional to thelogarithms of the magnitudes to be represented. Between 1910 and 1920, using a number of such elements, Torres built a machine that was able to compute the roots of arbitrarypolynomials of order eight, including the complex ones, with a precision down to thousandths. This machine could calculated the equation: whereX is the variable andA1 ...A8 is the coefficient of each term. Considering the case of α = 1, it becomes the following formula, and the root of the algebraic equation can be obtained:
By calculated each term on a logarithmic scale, they can be calculated only by sums and products likeA1 +a × log(X), which can handle a very wide range of values, and the relative error during calculation is constant regardless of the size of the value. However, to calculate the sum of each term, it is necessary to accurately obtain log(u + v) from the calculated values log(u) and log(v) on a logarithmic scale. For this calculation, Torres invented a unique mechanism called the "endless spindle" ("fusee sans fin"), a complex differentialgear using ahelical gear shaped like a wine bottle, which allowed the mechanical expression of the relation. Putting log(u) – log(v) = log(u/v) = V, then u/v = 10 V, and the following formula is used to calculate log(u + v):,[50] the same technique which is the basis of the modern electroniclogarithmic number system.
Torres devised another machine around 1900 with a small computing using gears andlinkages to obtain the complex number solution of thequadratic equation X2 – pX + q = 0.[51] Nowadays, all these machines are kept in the Torres Quevedo Museum at the School of Civil Engineering of theTechnical University of Madrid.[52]
In 1902, Torres started the project of a new type ofdirigible that would solve the serious problem of suspending thegondola,. He applied for a patent in France[53][54] wrote "Note sur le calcul d'un ballon dirigeable a quille et suspentes interieures" ("Note on the calculus of a dirigible balloon with interior suspension and keel"), and presented both to Madrid and Paris' Academies of Science.[55][56][57][58] By the end of that year the report at Paris's Academy of Science was included in the French journalL'Aérophile,[59] and an English-language summary was published in the BritishThe Aeronautical Journal.[60]
In 1904, Torres was appointed director of the Centre for Aeronautical Research in Madrid, a civil institution created by thegovernment of Spain "for the technical and experimental study of the air navigation problem and the management of remote engine maneuvers."[61] From March 1905, with Army Engineer CaptainAlfredo Kindelán as Technical Assistant, he supervised the construction of the first Spanish dirigible in the Army Military Aerostatics Service, located inGuadalajara, which was completed in June 1908. The new airship, namedTorres Quevedo in his honour, made successful test flights with passengers in the gondola. Despite this, in 1907 and 1909 he had requested an improved patent for his airship in France.[62][63] He moved all the material to a rentedhangar inSartrouville (Paris), beginning a collaboration with theSociété Astra, a new Aeronautical Society integrated in the conglomerate of French petroleum businessmanHenri Deutsch de la Meurthe and directed byÉdouard Surcouf, who had been familiar with Torres' work since 1901. The Astra company managed to buy the patent with a cession of rights extended to all countries except Spain, making the use of said system free in the country. In 1911, the construction of dirigibles known as theAstra-Torres airships was begun and Torres would receiveroyalties of 3 francs for every m3 of each airship sold.[58]
In 1910, Torres also drew up designs for a 'docking station' to find a solution to the slew of problems faced by airship engineers in docking dirigibles. He proposed the idea of attaching an airship's nose to amooring mast and allowing the airship to weathervane with changes of wind direction. The use of a metal column erected on the ground, the top of which the bow or stem would be directly attached to (by a cable) would allow a dirigible to be moored at any time, in the open, regardless of wind speeds. Torres' design also called for the improvement and accessibility of temporary landing sites, where airships were to be moored for the purpose of disembarkation of passengers. The patent was presented in February 1911 in Belgium, and later to France and the United Kingdom in 1912, which he named "Improvements in Mooring Arrengements for Airships". Mooring mast structure following his design became widely used as it allowed an unprecedented accessibility to dirigibles, eliminating the manhandling required when placing an airship in its hangar.[64][65][66]
InIssy-les-Moulineaux (south-west of Paris) in February 1911, the trials of 'Astra-Torres no.1' were successful, with a volume of 1590m³ and a speed of up to 53 km/h.[67] Other Astra-Torres dirigibles followed, including the Astra-Torres XIV (HMA.No 3 to theRoyal Naval Air Service), which broke the then world speed record for airships in September 1913 by reaching 83.2 km/h,[68] and thePilâtre de Rozier (Astra-Torres XV) named after the aerostierJean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, which at 24,300 m3 was the same size of the German 'Zeppelins' and could reach speeds of around 85 km/h.[69] The distinctive trilobed design was also employed in the United Kingdom in theCoastal,C Star, andNorth Sea airships.[70] TheEntente powers used these dirigibles during theFirst World War (1914–1918)[71] for diverse tasks, principally to the escort of convoys, the continuous surveillance of coasts and the search, from bases inMarseille, Tunisia and Algeria, for German submarines in theBay of Biscay, theEnglish Channel and the Mediterranean Sea.[72]
In 1919, Torres designed, based on a proposal from engineerEmilio Herrera Linares, a transatlantic dirigible, which was namedHispania,[73] aiming to claim the honour of the firsttransatlantic flight for Spain. Owing to financial problems, the project was finally not carried out.[74] The success of the trilobed blimps during the war even drew the attention of theImperial Japanese Navy in 1922, who acquired theNieuport AT-2 with almost 263 ft long, maximum diameter 54 ft and with a hydrogen capacity of 363,950 ft 3.[75] This type of non-rigid airship continued to be manufactured in various countries during the post war era, especially those by the FrenchZodiac Company which influenced the design of most later dirigibles.[76]
Torres was a pioneer inremote control technology. He began to develop aradio control system around 1901 or 1902, as a way of testing his airships without risking human lives. Between 1902 and 1903, he applied for patents in France,[77] Spain,[78] and Great Britain,[79] under the name "Systéme dit Télékine pour commander à distance un mouvement mécanique" ("Means or method for directing mechanical movements at or from a distance").
On 3 August 1903, he presented theTelekino at theFrench Academy of Sciences, together with a detailed memory,[80] and making a practical demonstration to its members.[81] For the construction of this first model, Torres received help fromGabriel Koenigs, director of the Mechanics Laboratory of theSorbonne, andOctave Rochefort, who collaborated by providingwireless telegraphy devices.[82]
In 1904 Torres chose to conduct initialTelekino testings in theBeti Jai fronton of Madrid, which became the temporary headquarters of the Centre for Aeronautical Research,[83] first in an electricthree-wheeled land vehicle[84] with an effective range of just 20 to 30 meters, which has been considered the first known example of a radio-controlledunmanned ground vehicle (UGV).[81] In 1905, Torres tested a second model of theTelekino remotely controlling the maneuvers of an electric boat in the pond of theCasa de Campo in Madrid, achieving distances of up to about 250 m,[85] and later testing a dinghy on theBilbao Abra from the terrace of theClub Marítimo in the presence of the president of the Provincial Council and other authorities.[86][87] Witness to the success of these tests,José Echegaray highlighted how "no one moves" the Telekino, "it moves automatically." It was an automaton of "a certain intelligence, not conscious, but disciplined"; "a material device, without intelligence, interpreting, as if it were intelligent, the instructions communicated to it in a succession ofHertzian waves."[88] These feats were also echoed in the international press.[89]
On 25 September 1906, in the presence of the kingAlfonso XIII and before a great crowd, Torres successfully demonstrated the invention in theport of Bilbao, guiding the boatVizcaya from the shore with people on board, demonstrating a standoff range of 2 km.[90][91] By applying theTelekino to electrically powered vessels, he was able to select different positions for thesteering engine and different velocities for thepropelling engine independently. He was also able to act over other mechanisms such alight, for switching on or off, and aflag, for raising or dropping it, at the same time. Specifically, Torres was able to do up to 19 different actions with his prototypes. The positive results of those experiences encouraged Torres to apply the Spanish government for the financial aid required to use hisTelekino to steer submarinetorpedoes, a technological field which was just starting out. His application was denied, which caused him to abandon the improvement of theTelekino.[92]
On 15 March 2007, the prestigiousInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) dedicated a Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing[93] to theTelekino, based on the research work developed at Technical University of Madrid by Prof.Antonio Pérez Yuste, who was the driving force behind the Milestone nomination.
In 1907, Torres introduced aformal language for the description of mechanical drawings, and thus for mechanical devices, inVienna. He previously published "Sobre un sistema de notaciones y símbolos destinados a facilitar la descripción de las máquinas" ("System of notations and symbols intended to facilitate the description of the machines") in theRevista de Obras Públicas.[94] According to the Austrian computer scientistHeinz Zemanek, this was equivalent to aprogramming language for the numerical control of machine tools.[95] He defined a table of symbols, a collection of rules and, as usual in his works, applied them to an example. This symbolic language reveals Torres' main capacities, both his ability to detect a problem, in this case a social problem of origin and its technical consequences, as well as his capacity for creation – invention – to give a rational, properly technical response. In the words of Torres: "Charles Babbage andFranz Reuleaux – and I suppose others as well, although I don't have news of them – have tried, without any success, to put remedy to this inconvenience; but although these eminent authors have failed, should not be a sufficient reason to abandon such an important effort". Babbage, Reuleaux and Torres failed. The world of machines continues without any other symbolic language thandescriptive geometry.[96]
As a member of the steering committee of theJunta para Ampliación de Estudios [es] (JAE) established in 1907 in Madrid to promote research and scientific education in Spain,[97] Torres played a leading role in the creation of three key state agencies that were the models for the JAE's support to research, regardless of the discipline: the Laboratory of Automation (1907) – of which he was named director,[98] the construction of instruments – the Laboratories Association (1910) – the union of state laboratories and workshops – and the Institute of Science Materials (1911) – the budget allocation.
The Laboratory of Automation produced the most varied instruments; it not only built its own inventions, but also provided services and support to universities and researchers of the JAE. Torres, the physicistBlas Cabrera, and Juan Costa, the head of the workshop, jointly designed several scientific instruments (Weiss-type electromagnet, anX-rayspectrometer, a mechanism to handle through remote control a Bunge scale, a reservoir of variable height withmicrometer movements for magnetic-chemical measurements, and some on).Ángel del Campo [es], head of theSpectroscopy Section of the Laboratory of Physical Research andMiguel A. Catalán's teacher, ordered Torres's workshop aspectrographic equipment;Manuel Martínez Risco [es] requested aninterferometer for a variable distance, Michelson- type;Juan Negrín requested astalagmometer, andSantiago Ramón y Cajal commissioned amicrotome and panmicrotome, and a projector for film screenings.[99][100]
The development of the Laboratory of Automation reached its peak with the reform of thePalace of the Arts and Industry [es], to house the School of Industrial Engineers and the JAE, and theNational Museum of Natural Sciences, also expanding the own Laboratory.[17] In 1939 the Laboratory of Automation gave rise to the Torres Quevedo Institute of theSpanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas,CSIC).[101]
By the beginning of 1910 Torres commenced his work to make a chess-playing automaton, which he dubbedEl Ajedrecista (The Chess Player). As opposed toThe Turk andAjeeb,El Ajedrecista was anelectromechanical machine with true integrated automation that could automatically play a king and rook endgame against the king from any position, without any human intervention.[102]
The pieces had a metallic mesh at their base, which closed an electric circuit that encoded their position in theboard. When the black king was moved by hand, analgorithm calculated and performed the next best move for the white player.[103] If anillegal move was made by the opposite player, the automaton would signal it by turning on a light. If the opposing player made three illegal moves, the automaton would stop playing.[104] The automaton does not delivercheckmate in the minimum number of moves, nor always within the 50 moves allotted by thefifty-move rule, because of the simple algorithm that calculates the moves. It did, however, checkmate the opponent every time.[105]Claude Shannon noted in his workProgramming a Computer for Playing Chess (1950) that Torres' machine was quite advanced for that period.[106] The device has been considered the first computer game in history.[107]
This example recorded inportable game notation shows how White checkmates the black King, following Torres' algorithm:
[FEN "8/8/1k6/8/R7/8/5K2/8 w - - 0 1"]1. Rh4 Kc5 2. Kf3 Kd5 3. Ke3 Kd6 4. Rh5 Kc6 5. Ke4 Kd6 6. Rg5 Kc6 7. Kd4 Kd6 8. Rg6+ Kd7 9. Kd5 Ke7 10. Rh6 Kf7 11. Ra6 Ke7 12. Rb6 Kf7 13. Ke5 Ke7 14. Rb7+ Kd8 15. Ke6 Kc8 16. Rh7 Kb8 17. Rg7 Ka8 18. Kd6 Kb8 19. Kc6 Ka8 20. Kb6 Kb8 21. Rg8#
It created great excitement when it made its public debut at theUniversity of Paris in 1914.[108] Its internal construction was published byHenri Vigneron in the French magazineLa Nature.[109][110] On 6 November 1915Scientific American magazine in their Supplement 2079 pp. 296–298 published an illustrated article entitled "Torres and His Remarkable Automatic Devices. He Would Substitute Machinery for the Human Mind". It was summarized as follows:[111][112]
"The inventor claims that the limits within which thought is really necessary need to be better defined, and that the automaton can do many things that are popularly classed with thought".[112]
In November 1922, about to turn 70, Torres finished the construction designs of the second chess player, in which, under his direction, his son Gonzalo had introduced various improvements. The mechanical arms to move pieces were replaced forelectromagnets located under the board, sliding the pieces from one square to another. This version included agramophone, with a voice recording announcing checkmate when the computer won the game.[113][114] Torres initially presented it in 1923 in Paris. His son later exposed the advanced machine at several international meetings, introducing it to a wider audience at the 1951 Paris conference on computers and human thinking.[115][116]Norbert Wiener played on 12 or 13 January.[117][118]El Ajedrecista defeatedSavielly Tartakower at the conference,[119] being the firstGrandmaster to lose against a machine.[120] It was also demonstrated at the1958 Brussels World's Fair, Heinz Zemanek, who played against that device, described it as "a historical witness of automaton artistry that was far ahead of its time. Torres created a prefect algorithm with 6 subrules which he realized with the technological means of that time, essentially withlevers, gearwheels, andrelays."[121]
It has been commonly assumed (see Metropolis and Worlton 1980) that Charles Babbage's work on a mechanical digital program-controlled computer, which he started in 1835 and pursued off and on until his death in 1871, had been completely forgotten and was only belatedly recognized as a forerunner to the modern digital computer. Ludgate, Torres y Quevedo, and Bush give the lie to this belief, and all made fascinating contributions that deserve to be better known.
— Brian Randell, presentation at MIT (1980), printed inAnnals of the History of Computing, IEEE (October 1982)[112]
On 19 November 1914, Torres published "Ensayos sobre Automática. Su definición. Extensión teórica de sus aplicaciones" (Essays on Automatics. Its Definition – Theoretical Extent of Its Applications) in theRevista de Obras Públicas. It was translated into French with the title "Essais sur l'Automatique" in theRevue Générale des Sciences Pures et Appliquées, 1915, vol. 2, pp. 601–611.[122]
This paper is Torres' major written work on the subject he calledAutomatics, "another type of automaton of great interest: those that imitate, not the simple gestures, but the thoughtful actions of a man, and which can sometimes replace him". He drew a distinction between the simpler sort of automaton, which has invariable mechanical relationships and the more complicated, interesting kind, whose relationships between operating parts alter "suddenly when necessary circumstances arise". Such an automaton must have sense organs, that is, "thermometers,magneticcompasses,dynamometers,manometers", and limbs, as Torres called them, mechanisms capable of executing the instructions that would come from the sense organs. The automaton postulated by Torres would be able to make decisions so long as "the rules the automaton must follow are known precisely".[123][124]
The paper provides the main link between Torres and Babbage. He gives a brief history of Babbage's efforts at constructing a mechanicalDifference engine andAnalytical engine. He described the Analytical Engine as exemplifying his theories as to the potential power of machines, and takes the problem of designing such an engine as a challenge to his skills as an inventor of electromechanical devices. Contains a complete design (albeit one that Torres regarded as theoretical rather than practical) for a machine capable of calculating completely automatically the value of the formula, for a sequence of sets of values of the variables involved. It demonstrates cunning electromechanical gadgets for storing decimal digits, for performing arithmetic operations using built-in function tables, and for comparing the values of two quantities. The whole machine was to be controlled from aread-only program (complete with provisions forconditional branching), represented by a pattern of conducting areas mounted around the surface of a rotating cylinder. It also introduced the idea offloating-point arithmetic, which historian Randell says was described "almost casually",[112] apparently without recognizing the significance of the discovery. Torres proposed a format that showed he understood the need for a fixed-sizesignificand as is presently used for floating-point data.[125] He did it in the following way:
"Very large numbers are as embarrassing in mechanical calculations as in usual calculations (Babbage planned 50 wheels to represent each variable, and even then they would not be sufficient if one does not have recourse to the means that I will indicate later, or to another analogue). In these, they are usually avoided by representing each quantity by a small number of significant figures (six to eight at the most, except in exceptional cases) and by indicating by a comma or zeros, if necessary, the order of magnitude of the units represented by eachdigit.
Sometimes also, so as not to have to write a lot of zeros, we write the quantities in the formn x 10.
We could greatly simplify this writing by arbitrarily establishing these three simple rules:
1.n will always have the same number of digits (six for example).
2. The first digit of n will be of order of tenths, the second of hundredths, etc.
3. One will write each quantity in the form:n;m.
Thus, instead of 2435.27 and 0.00000341682, they will be respectively, 243527; 4 and 341862; −5.
I have not indicated a limit for the value of the exponent, but it is obvious that, in all the usual calculations, it will be less than one hundred, so that, in this system, one will write all the quantities which intervene in calculations with eight or ten digits only."[126]
The paper ends with a comparison of the advantages of electromechanical devices that were all that were available to Babbage. It establishes that Torres would have been quite capable of building a general-purpose electromechanical computer more than 20 years ahead of its time, had the practical need, motivation, and financing been present.[127]
"The achievements ofGeorge Stibitz,Howard Aiken andIBM, andKonrad Zuse crown the transitory but capital period of relays and theoreticians. This stage of the march towards automatic calculation was built on a summary and proven technology, that of electromagnetic relays. The very modesty of this technological level contributes to giving a brilliant relief to the quality of the intellectual contributions of Torres y Quevedo,Alan Turing, and Claude Shannon."
— Robert Ligonnière,Préhistoire et Histoire des ordinateurs (1987)[128]
Torres went ahead to prove his theories with a series of working prototypes. He demonstrated twice, in 1914 and in 1920, that all of the cogwheel mechanisms of a calculating machine like that of Babbage could be implemented using electromechanical parts. His 1914 analytical machine used a small memory built with electromagnets, capable of evaluating p × q – b.[112]
In 1920, during a conference in Paris, commemorating the centenary of the invention of the mechanicalarithmometer, Torres surprised attendees with the demonstration of the "Arithmomètre Electroméchanique" (Electromechanical Arithmometer). It consisted of an arithmetic unit connected to a (possibly remote)typewriter, on which commands could be typed and the results printed automatically[112] (e.g. "532 × 257" and "= " from the typewriter). This calculator was not programmable, but was able to print the numerical value of the answer.[129] From theuser interface point of view, this machine can be regarded as the predecessor of current computers that use akeyboard as aninput interface.[130] In terms of usage, it was also assumed that calculations could be performed remotely by extendingelectric wires,[129] and is considered to be a rudimentary version of today's online systems that use communication lines. Torres had no thought of making such a machine commercially, viewing it instead as a means of demonstrating his ideas and techniques.[131] Furthermore, in his paper about this device,[132] he pointed out the need for various automatic machines to represent continuous numerical values as finite, discrete values for processing and evaluation,[129] which corresponds to currentdigital data.
From 26 April to 23 September 1990, an exposition calledDe la Machine à Calculer de Pascal à l'Ordinateur. 350 annes d'Informatique was held at theMusée des Arts et Métiers in Paris,[133] where Torres' invention would be recognized as one of the first digital calculation systems: "In 1920, the Spaniard Leonardo Torres Quevedo built a fully automatic electromagnetic arithmometer. To do this, he used relay technology, developed for the needs of the telephone."[134][135]
In those days when the outbreak of theGreat War was anticipated, Torres designed a transport ship intended to accompany fleets. On 30 July 1913, he patented the "Buque campamento" ("Camp-Vessel"),[136] anairship carrier with amooring mast and a hold large enough to house up to two inflated units, andhydrogen cylinders. He had thought of the possibility of combining aeronautics with the navy in this way, offering his patent toVickers Limited, although the conglomerate did not show interest in the project. Negotiations continued, and Torres reached AdmiralReginald Bacon, who, on 17 March 1914, wrote from theCoventry Ordnance Works that "the experience of the Navy has invariably been that any auxiliary craft carried on board ship are of very little real service". A few years later, in 1922, theSpanish Navy would construct a real airship carrier, theDédalo, to be used in thewar against Morocco.[137]
In 1916 Torres patented in Spain a new kind of ship, a multihull steel vessel which received the name of "Binave" ("Twin Ship").[138] He applied for the patent of the Binave in the United Kingdom with the name "Improvements in Ships" in 1917,[139] and it was built by theEuskalduna company in Bilbao in 1918, with several test departures such as the successful round trip toSantoña on 28 September. The tests would be resumed in 1919, obtaining the certificate of implementation of the patent on 12 November of that year. The design introduces new features, including two 30 HPHispano-Suiza marine engines, and the ability to modify its configuration when sailing, positioning tworudders at the stern of eachfloat, and placing the propellersaft too. As a result of the experience acquired in the tests, to improve stability in 1920 it was considered appropriate to add a lowerkeel to each of the floats proposed in the patent, making it similar to moderncatamarans, whose development would become widespread from the 1990s onwards.[140][141]
Apart from the aforementioned inventions, Torres patented the "Indicadores coordinados" ("Coordinate Indicator", 1901), a guidance system for vehicles and pedestrians using markers installed onstreetlights throughout an entire city, which he proposed for Madrid and Paris under the name of "Guide Torres",[142][143] the "Dianemologo" (1907), an apparatus for copying a speech as it is delivery without the need forshorthand,[144] "Globos fusiformes deformables" ("Deformable Fusiform Balloons", 1914), afusiform envelope with a variable section depending on the volume of the hydrogen contained,[145] and "Enclavamientos T.Q." ("Interlocks T.Q.", 1918), arailwayinterlock of his own design to protect the movement of trains within a certain area.[146][147]
In the last years of his life, Torres turned his attention to the field ofeducational disciplines, to investigate those elements or machines that could help educators in their task. His last patents related to subjects such as typewriters and their improvement (1922–23),[148] the marginalpagination of books (1926),[149] and, especially, the "Puntero Proyectable" (Projectable Pointer, 1930),[150] and the "Proyector Didáctico" (Didactic Projector, 1930).[151] The Projectable Pointer was based on theshadow produced on a plate or screen by an opaque body in motion. The presenter had the option to move the pointer on any place on the plate (today aslide) at operate with an articulated system.[152] The Didactic Projector improved the way slides were placed on glass plates for projection.[153]
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In the early 1900s, Torres learned the international languageEsperanto, and was an advocate of the language throughout his life. From 1922 to 1926 he participated in the work of theInternational Committee on Intellectual Cooperation of theLeague of Nations, where such figures asAlbert Einstein,Marie Curie,Gilbert Murray andHenri Bergson, its first president, attended.[154] Torres proposed to the Committee that it study the role of an artistic auxiliary language to facilitate the scientific ones relations between the peoples. Although almost half of the Committee members were in favor of Esperanto, his motion was strongly opposed by President Bergson, receiving a clear notice from French diplomats to put the influence of French culture first, which included the French ambassador inBern, who considered Torres a "farouchement espérantiste" ("fierce Esperantist"). In 1925 he participated as the official representative of theSpanish government in the "Conference on the Use of Esperanto in Pure and Applied Sciences" held in Paris, together withVicente Inglada Ors [es] andEmilio Herrera Linares. That same year, he joined to the Honorary Committee of theSpanish Association of Esperanto [es] (HEA) founded byJulio Mangada, and continued defending the language in other forums until his death in 1936.[155][156]
In 1910 Torres traveled toArgentina with the InfantaIsabel[157] to assist at the International Scientific Congress held inBuenos Aires, one of the events organized to mark the centenary of theindependence of Argentina. At the congress, he proposed, along with the Argentinean engineerSantiago Barabino, the constitution of a Spanish-American board of scientific technology, which would eventually become the "Unión Internacional Hispano–Americana de Bibliografía y Terminología Científicas".[158] The first task was the publication of a technological dictionary of the Spanish language to tackle the problems caused by the increasing use of scientific and technological neologisms, as well as the adaptation of words from other languages, confronted with the avalanche of foreign terms. As a result of the work of this board, theDiccionario Tecnológico Hispanoamericano (Hispanic American Technological Dictionary) began to be published infascicles between 1926 and 1930, although it did not see a complete edition until 1983, with a second expanded edition in 1990.[159][160]
Over the years, Torres received an increasing number of decorations, prizes, and societal memberships, both Spanish and from other countries. In 1901, he entered theSpanish Royal Academy of Sciences in Madrid for his work carried out in these years about algebraic machines,[161] an entity of which he was its president between 1928 and 1934.[162][163] In 1916 KingAlfonso XIII of Spain bestowed theEchegaray Medal upon him;[164] and in 1918, he declined the offer of the position ofMinister of Development. In 1920, he was admitted to theReal Academia Española, to fill the seatN vacated by the death ofBenito Pérez Galdós. In his acceptance speech he said in a humble and funny way:
"You were wrong in choosing me as I do not have that minimum culture required of an academic. I will always be a stranger in your wise and learned society. I come from very remote lands. I have not cultivated literature, nor art, nor philosophy, nor even science, at least in its higher degrees… My work is much more modest. I spend my busy life solving practical mechanics problems. My laboratory is a locksmith shop, more complete, better assembled than those usually known by that name; but destined, like all, to project and build mechanisms…"[165][166]
That same year Torres was elected President of theSpanish Royal Physics Society and theRoyal Spanish Mathematical Society,[167][168] the latter position he held until 1924, and became a member of the Mechanics Section of the Paris Academy.[169] In 1921 he was appointed President of the International Spanish-American Union of Scientific Bibliography and Technology. From 1921 to 1928 he assumed the presidency of the Spanish section of theInternational Committee for Weights and Measures, where due to his experience in development of instruments, contributed to the improvement of measurements made in the laboratories of theInternational Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM).[170] In 1923 he became an Honorary Academician of theGeneva Society of Physics and Natural History [fr].[171] In 1925 he was promoted to Corresponding Member of theHispanic Society of America. In 1926 he became Honorary Inspector General of theCorps of Civil Engineers. On 27 June 1927 he was named one of the twelve foreign associate academicians of theFrench Academy of Sciences[172] with 34 votes in favor for his entry, surpassingErnest Rutherford (4 votes) andSantiago Ramón y Cajal (2 votes).[173]
His accolades also include:[174]
On 16 April 1885 Torres marriedLuz Polanco y Navarro (1856–1954) in Portolín (Molledo). The marriage lasted 51 years and had eight children (3 sons and 5 daughters: Leonardo (born 1887, died 2 years old in 1889), Gonzalo (born 1893, died in 1965, who also became an engineer, and used to work as an assistant of his father), Luz, Valentina, Luisa, Julia (also died young), Joaquina, and Fernando).[175] After the death of his first son, in 1889, Torres moved with his family toMadrid with the firm intention of putting into practice the projects he had devised in previous years. During this time he attended theAthenæum in the Spanish capital[176] and the literary gatherings at theCafé Suizo [es], but generally without participating in debates and discussions of a political nature. He lived for many years inCalle de Válgame Dios [es] nº 3.[177][17]
Torres was a devoutCatholic who usually read thecatechism and takecommunion everyFirst Friday of the month.[178] He read the catechism as if intimately preparing himself for the next peaceful end that awaited him. His daughter Valentina told him on one occasion: "Dad, maybe you don't fully understand the mysteries that faith offers us, just as I don't understand your inventions either" and he responded affectionately: "Oh daughter, it's just that from God to me there is an infinite distance!". Once theSpanish Civil War began, his daughter Luz was arrested by the militia, and the family had to resort to the fact that Torres was a Commander of theLegion of Honour to save her life, with the intervention of the French Embassy included. In his last moments, his family managed to have thesacraments administered to him despite the difficulties due to religious persecution. At the moment of receiving the extreme unction, he pronounced his last words: "Memento homnia, quia pulvis eris et in pulverem reverteris" ("Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return").[179] On 18 December 1936, after a progressive illness, Torres died at his son Gonzalo's home in Madrid, in the middle of the Civil War, ten days before his eighty-fourth birthday.[180] He was initially buried in theCementerio de la Almudena, and later removed in 1957 to the monumentalSaint Isidore Cemetery.[181][182]
"The learned Spanish engineer Torres Quevedo – today a foreign associate of ourAcademy of Sciences – who is perhaps the most prodigious inventor of our time, at least in terms of mechanisms, has not been afraid to address Babbage's problem in turn..."
"What perspectives do not open such marvels about the possibilities of the future regarding the reduction to a purely mechanical process of any operation that obeys mathematical rules! In this area, the way was opened, almost three centuries ago, by the genius of Pascal; in recent times, the genius of Torres Quevedo has managed to make it penetrate into regions where we would never have dared to thinka priori that it could have access."
— Philbert Maurice d'Ocagne,Hommes et choses de science, 1930[183]
The distressing circumstances that Spain was going through during itsCivil War meant that Torres' death in 1936 went somewhat unnoticed. However, newspapers such asThe New York Times and the French mathematicianMaurice d'Ocagne reported on his demise by publishing obituaries and articles in 1937–38, with d'Ocagne giving some lectures about his research work in Paris andBrussels.[184][185][186][17]
In the years following his death, Torres was not forgotten. Created theSpanish National Research Council (CSIC) in 1939, the architectRicardo Fernández Vallespín [es] was commissioned with the project and construction of a large building in Madrid to house the new Institute «Leonardo Torres Quevedo» of Applied Physics, which was completed in 1943.[187][188] Its dedicated to "designing and manufacturing instruments and investigating mechanical, electrical and electronic problems", and was the germ of the currentInstitute of Physical and Information Technologies "Leonardo Torres Quevedo" (ITEFI).[17]
In 1940 his name was among those selected by American philanthropistArcher Milton Huntington to inscribe on the building of theHispanic Society of America.[189]
In 1953, the commemorative events for the centenary of his birth began,[190] which took place at theSpanish Royal Academy of Sciences with the participation of high academic, scientific and university figures from the country and abroad, among themLouis Couffignal,Charles Lambert Manneback, andAldo Ghizzetti [it].[17][191]
Two postage stamps were issued in Spain to honoured him in 1955 and 1983,[192] the last one next to the image of theNiagara cable car, regarded as a work of genius.[193]
In 1965, theCity Council of Madrid dedicated acommemorative plaque to him in his residence building at Válgame Dios, 3, informing the people of Madrid that "the scientist who brought so much glory to Spain lived in that place."[194][195]
In 1978 his work was honoured in Madrid at thePalacio de Cristal del Retiro, an exposition that was organized by the College of Civil Engineers led byJosé Antonio Fernández Ordóñez [es].[196][197]
TheLeonardo Torres Quevedo National Research Award [es] was established in 1982 in Spain by theMinistry of Science in recognition of the merits of Spanish scientists or researchers in the field of engineering.[198][199] The same year theLeonardo Torres Quevedo Foundation [es] (FLTQ) was created under his name as a non-profit organization to promote scientific research within the framework of theUniversity of Cantabria and to training professionals in this area. The Foundation had its headquarters at theUniversity of Cantabria School of Civil Engineering.[200]
Abronze statue on a stone pedestal was erected in 1986 on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his death. The work was commissioned to the sculptorRamón Muriedas [es] and its located inSanta Cruz de Iguña, Torres' birth town.[201][202]
Between the end of the 1980s and the mid-1990s, threesymposiums were held in Spain on his figure titledLeonardo Torres Quevedo, su vida, su tiempo, su obra inMolledo (1987),Camargo (1991) andPozuelo de Alarcón (1995).[17]
On 19 July 2008,Spain's National Lottery [es] commemorated the centenary of the Torres Quevedo airship built in Guadalajara, which was the beginnings of theSpanish Air Force.[203] In November, theLeonardo Torres Quevedo Centre was established in Santa Cruz, Molledo, dedicated to his life and work.[204]
On 28 December 2012, Google celebrated his 160th birthday with aGoogle Doodle.[205] The company had also commemorated the 100th anniversary ofEl Ajedrecista, highlighting that it was a marvel of its time and could be considered the "grandfather" of current video games. A conference was organized on 7 November in cooperation with the School of Telecommunication Engineering of theTechnical University of Madrid to exhibit Torres' devices.[206][207]
Since 2015, an image of hisMount Ulia aerial ropeway [es], a pioneering cable car built in San Sebastián in 1907 to transport people, can be seen on the 'visas' page of theSpanish passports.[208]
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On 8 August 2016, the 100th Anniversary of theWhirlpool Aero Car was celebrated for its uninterrupted operation, without having had any accidents. The ceremony also included members of the Torres Quevedo family, who made a special trip from Spain to attend the anniversary celebrations andCarlos Gómez-Múgica [es], the Spanish Ambassador to Canada. According toNiagara Parks Commission Chair,Janice Thomson, "this morning's celebrations have allowed us to properly mark an important milestone in the history of the Niagara Parks Commission, all while recognizing the accomplishments and paying tribute to Leonardo Torres Quevedo, who through his work made a lasting impression on both the engineering profession and the tourism industry here in Niagara."[209]
In February 2022 was presented inSantander the newturbosail ofLa Fura dels Baus,La Naumon, a large white structure at the base of which stands out the figure of Leonardo Torres Quevedo, with whose name it was baptized the device.[210][211] A museum calledEl Valle de los Inventos was opened inLa Serna de Iguña, which offers a permanent exhibition about him and his inventions where guided tours, scientific workshops and anescape room are organized.[212] On 4 July, the flag carrierIberia received the fifth of the sixAirbus A320neo planned for that year. This A320neo with registration EC-NTQ bears the name "Leonardo Torres Quevedo" in his honour.[213]
On 5 May 2023, theInstituto Cervantes opens theCaja de las Letras to house the "in memoriam" legacy of Leonardo Torres Quevedo. Among the deposited objects, letters and manuscripts; a dozen publications, with books, monographs or catalogues; postcards and a schedule of the Niagara Falls cable car designed by him, and the Milestone awarded by theInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers that recognizes the engineer's scoop in the development of remote-control in 1901 with theTelekino. Torres' granddaughterMercedes Torres Quevedo expressed her gratitude to the institution on behalf of all her descendants for welcoming her grandfather's legacy and the "pride" of all of them for the scientific and humanistic work he carried out throughout of his life. His legacy has been deposited in box number 1275 and the keys in the hands of his descendants and the institution itself.[214][215]
Leonardo Torres Quevedo is a main character of the novelLos horrores del escalpelo (The Horrors of the Scalpel, 2011), written byDaniel Mares. The plot tells how the Spanish engineer travels to London in 1888 to findMaelzel's Chess Player, a mechanical automaton that was believed to have been lost for decades. Together with Raimundo Aguirre, a thief and murderer, who claims to have the clue to the lost automaton, he begins the search through the London underworld and Victorian high society. The search is interrupted due to the streets of theWhitechapel neighborhood dawn with corpses of prostitutes, which causes Torres and his partner Aguirre to become involved in the hunt forJack the Ripper.[216]
On 25 September 1906, Vizcaya was again controlled from the balcony of the Yacht Club at the Abra de Bilbao in a demonstration for King Alfonso XIII, but further institutional support never materialized (Pérez-Yuste, 2008).
In 1912 Leonardo Torres Quevedo ... devised the first computer game ... The machine played a KRK chess endgame, playing rook and king against a person playing a lone king.
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