Boss Ket The Life and Work of Charles F. Kettering By Terry
GeerDecember, 4 th 2009
Slide 3
Early Life Born on August 29, 1876 The same year: Telephone
invented U.S. Centennial He grew up on a farm in Loudonville, OH.
His family was poor but he did not realize it. He liked his life
and saw it as an opportunity.
Slide 4
Born to Build He took apart and rebuilt his mothers sewing
machine when he was eight years old. When he finished rebuilding
it, it worked better than when it was new. He wanted to go to
college more than anything. He needed to know, How? and, Why? He
enjoyed taking things apart to figure out how they worked.
Slide 5
Inventors love to ask Why? He wanted to know why grass was
green. He wanted to know why certain flowers bloom earlier than the
rest. He wanted to know why we can see through glass. If you told
him, Glass is transparent, he would ask, but why is it that way?
How does it work?
Slide 6
What do you think he did after he graduated high school?
Slide 7
Teenage Teacher After graduation he began teaching at the
Bunker Hill Community Schoolhouse before going to college! He
wanted to save money to go to college. Although he was barely older
than his students, they respected him. He inspired many students to
improve their grades through his teaching.
Slide 8
Eyes on College He went to the College of Wooster in 1896. His
eyes were weak. His poor vision began to cause terrible headaches.
The headaches made it too hard to read anything. He was forced to
drop out of school to let his eyes heal. He returned to teaching
for another two years.
Slide 9
O-H-I-O!!! Charles returned to college but not the College of
Wooster. Charles went to Ohio State University instead. (Go
Buckeyes!) He decided to study electrical engineering. After a
little more than a year, the headaches returned. He had to leave
college again
Slide 10
On the line Charles took a job digging holes for telephone
poles in 1900. The phone company noticed his skills. They asked him
to make improvements to the phone lines. He fell in love with a
woman he met on the phone during a phone line repair.
Slide 11
What did Charles Do Next?
Slide 12
A.) Stay at the phone company and save money to get married?
C.) Return to the family farm to lead a simpler life. B.) Go back
to college again even though he could barely read the text books.
Charles Kettering had strong feelings about failure
Slide 13
The only time you dont want to fail is the last time you try.
-Charles Kettering
Slide 14
Third times a charm! He returned to OSU in 1901. He had
classmates read his textbooks to him to avoid straining his eyes.
He worked for the phone company every summer until he graduated in
1904. A professor convinced him to take a job in Dayton, Ohio after
he graduated.
Slide 15
National Cash Register The job he took was at National Cash
Register in Dayton, OH. His first challenge at NCR was to create
the first electric cash register. The old registers used a lever
that made peoples arms tired. Most people believed a motor any
smaller than the register itself could not do the job.
Slide 16
Charles proved them wrong. Most people believed that a small
motor would quickly overheat and wear out.
Slide 17
National Cash Register cont. Charles disagreed. The motor had
time to rest and cool since it wasnt always running. He later used
a similar idea on one of his auto inventions. He was highly
respected by most people that worked for him, just like his
students had been.
Slide 18
At NCR he was given a nickname.
Slide 19
Did you catch it at the beginning of the slideshow?
Slide 20
Correct Answer: BOSS KET
Slide 21
Wedding Bells and Automobiles. Charles married his wife Olive
on August 1, 1905. While waiting for the train to go on their
honeymoon, they saw a man having car trouble. In 1905 cars were
still a new invention. Charles fixed the car, and the man took the
newlyweds for their first car ride ever as a way to say
thank-you!
Slide 22
The Barn Gang Charles and a friend at NCR named Edward Deeds
wanted to improve automobiles. Deeds Barn They started designing a
new ignition system in Deeds barn during their spare time. As
others joined, they started calling themselves the Barn Gang.
Slide 23
Their new ignition system increased auto performance by:
Minimizing Stall-outs Increasing battery life ten fold. DELCO
(Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company) Kets original sketch of
the ignition They sold the idea to Cadillac Motor Company. Cadillac
ordered 8,000 units. They didnt even have a company name so they
named it DELCO.
Slide 24
That Stubborn Old Crank Early automobiles were started by
turning a crank. Women didnt drive because it was too difficult to
start a car. Click here to see why. Click here to see why. Many
people were being injured by backfiring cranks. Broken arms were
becoming common. One man even died from his cranking injuries!
Slide 25
Henry Leland, the president of Cadillac, knew the man who was
killed by the faulty crank. Close to Home The man had stopped to
help a stranded woman start one of Lelands Cadillacs. Leland didnt
want anyone else getting hurt by his cars, so he asked Ket to
invent a self starting engine. Henry Leland The crank broke the
mans jaw. He died from an infection caused by the injury.
Slide 26
The price of progress Ket built the first self starter in the
barn but it was bigger than the whole car! is trouble. Charles
remembered his days at NCR. If the starter were used in short
bursts it would have time to cool, like the cash register
motor!
Slide 27
THE BARN GANG DID IT! They successfully installed the first
working self starter in Kets car on Christmas Eve, 1910. There was
only one problem It fit into Kets Roadster but not the 1912 test
model sent to them four days later!
Slide 28
One step forward, two steps back The designers at Cadillac
didnt leave any space to put the starter in. They had less than two
months to start over and shrink it further. In the last five days,
the Barn Gang kept themselves awake with coffee and worked 24-hour
shifts to meet a February 17 th deadline.
Slide 29
Down to the wireliterally. Early on the last day they tested
their final product and it didnt work. Charles and his Auto
Self-Starter They were all so tired that none of them could think
clear enough to fix it. They called an old friend at NCR to take a
fresh look. He fixed some bad wiring and the car started
perfectly.
Slide 30
Charles left immediately to catch the last train to Detroit
with Cadillacs first self-starting car in tow. Click here to see
the 1912 Cadillac
Slide 31
The Effect of Ketterings Electronic Self-Starter The company
grew from 12 to 1,200 employees in only 18 months. Women were then
able to drive comfortably and safely. Starting a car became safer
and more reliable for everyone. The Self-Starter Engine also acted
as a generator while the main engine was on. Power to keep engine
running Power to use electronic bulbs instead of acetylene
lamps
Slide 32
Whos the Boss? People called him Boss, but one of his favorite
mottos was, Let the problem be the Boss. He didnt care what people
thought the rules were. He would say, We think we are further along
the path of knowledge than we actually are. He didnt care for
experts much. He said, if you show a new problem to an expert, Hell
be too educated to solve it.
Slide 33
His home, Ridgeleigh Terrace, was the first home to have air
conditioning. He invented a gas powered generator for farm families
to provide electricity in hard-to- reach places. He produced the
first lightweight diesel engine. His work with diesel helped
improve the railroad business. Other Inventions Ridgeleigh
Terrace
Slide 34
Other Achievements After selling DELCO to GM, Charles was Vice
President of General Motors Research Corp for 31 years. Van Buren
township, the site of Ridgeleigh Terrace, was renamed the Village
of Kettering in 1952. The General Motors Institute was renamed
Kettering University in 1998. Boss Kettering lost his wife, Olive,
and two sisters to Cancer. He and G.M. President Alfred Sloan
started the Sloan- Kettering Institute for Cancer Research.
Slide 35
Other Achievements cont. He developed hundreds of patents and
was granted more than three dozen honorary doctors degrees He had
one son, Eugene Kettering, who was also a skilled engineer He was
given flying instructions by The Wright brothers in 1912. He loved
to fly In 1916 Kettering, Edward Deeds and Orville Wright built the
first airfield opened within the limits of a city Later on, Ket
helped organize Dayton Wright Airplane Co. to fuel his passion for
aviation research
Slide 36
The same till the end Charles Kettering rarely worried about
the past since the future is, Where (he) had to spend the rest of
(his) life. He was still trying to find out why grass was green
when he suffered multiple Strokes and died in 1958. He didnt think
of his research as him Having a job. In the end, the job had him.
Thats just the way he liked it.
Slide 37
Review
Slide 38
How was he looked at by the people who worked with him? He was
admired and respected
Slide 39
How did Boss Ket meet his wife Olive? He spoke to her on the
phone while repairing a phone line.
Slide 40
Why was it necessary to create the automatic starter? People
were getting injured by difficult hand cranks.
Slide 41
Which group of people were given the opportunity to drive
because of his electric starter? Females! They no longer had to
worry about turning an annoying crank.
Slide 42
How many times did Charles Kettering attend college before he
actually completed it. It took him three tries.
Slide 43
With such poor eyes, what did Ket have to do to complete his
assignments at OSU? He had his friends read him the lessons
aloud.
Slide 44
Works Cited Volti, Rudi. "Electric Starter." The Facts On File
Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Society. New York: Facts
On File, Inc. 1999. Science Online. Facts On FileInc. 12, November
2009. Cho, Dan "A Good Start." Technology Review 107.8 (2004): 92.
Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 12 Nov. 2009. Hall of
Fame/Inventor Profile: Charles Franklin Kettering. National
Inventors Hall of Fame Website, 2002. Web. 13 November, 2009
Charles F. Kettering, 1876-1958. IEEE Website (Biographies), 2009.
Web. 13 November, 2009. Scharchburg, Richard P. Kettering
University Website. Kettering University, 2009. Web. 13 November,
2009 McPherson Young, Rosamond. Boss Ket: ALife of Charles F.
Kettering. New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1961. Print.
Slide 45
Works Cited cont. Lavine, Sigmund. Kettering: Master Inventor.
New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1961. Print Boyd, T.A. Prophet of
Progress. Selections from the Speeches of Charles F. Kettering. New
York: E.P. Dutton and CO. Inc., 1961. Print Bernstein, Mark. Grand
Eccentrics. Turning the Cuntury: Dayton and the Inventing of
America. Wilmington, OH: Orange Frazer Press, 1996. Print
Zehnpfenning, Gladys. Charles F. Kettering: Inventor and Idealist.
Minneapolis: Denison, 1962. Print Mieth, Hansel. Life Conference at
Ann Arbor. 1939. LIFE. Web. 13, November 2009. Clip Art. Sewing
Machine. Microsoft Office. 13, November 2009
Slide 46
Works Cited cont. Weber, Paul. Does Grass Hold Secret of Hidden
Power? Modern Mechanix. May 1935. Web. 13, Nov 2009 Clip Art.
Apple, Books, Chair. Microsoft Office. 13, November 2009 Clip Art.
Glasses. Microsoft Office. 13, November 2009 Clip Art. Phone Line.
Microsoft Office. 13, November 2009 Clip Art. Coffee. Microsoft
Office. 13, November 2009 Clip Art. Cap and Books. Microsoft
Office. 13, November 2009 Clip Art. Wedding. Microsoft Office. 13,
November 2009 Ohio State University. Flag Wallpaper. 2009. Web. 13,
November 2009 Martel, Mark. Antique Cash Register. 2009. Web. 13,
November 2009
Slide 47
Works Cited cont. Engineers Club of Dayton. Barn Gang. 1912.
Web. 13, November 2009. Kettering, Charles. Patent Sketch. January
1908. Web. 13, November 2009 Unknown Photographer. Crank Motor.
1999. Web. 13, Nov 2009 Engineers Club. Self Starter. 1914. Web.
13, November 2009 Kettering University. Solar Lab. 2009. Web,
November 2009 Ketteringoh.org. Ridgeleigh Terrace. 2009. Web. 13,
Nov 2009 Detroit News Online. Henry Leland. 2009. Web. 4, Dec 2009
Clip Art. Balloons. Microsoft Office. 4, Dec 2009 Clip Art. Train.
Microsoft Office. 4, Dec 2009
Slide 48
Works Cited cont. University of Dayton. Dayron_Map_Ohio. 1992.
Web. 13, November 2009