Talk:Morgan Robertson

Untitled
Here is the text of the obituary mentioned in the sources section of the article. Since it's from 1915, it should be out of copyright.

Periscope Inventor Dead. Atlantic City, N.J., March 24. - Morgan Robertson, one of the best-known short story writers, and the inventor of the periscope, used on all submarines, was found dead in his room at the Alamac Hotel this afternoon. Physicians say he died from an overdose of protiodide. Mr. Robertson was sixty-five years old. His body will be brought to this city tomorrow. The periscope was first conceived by Mr. Robertson in his book "The Submarine Destroyer". When the story was first published in 1905 officials of the Holland Submarine Co. sent for the author and asked him if he considered the scheme practical. "Of course I do," he replied. "Here is a model of it which I have already patented." Officials of the company were so impressed that they purchased the invention for $50,000. A financial appeal on behalf of Mr. Robertson was recently made through American magazines.

JYolkowski 23:32, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)

The only patent containing the word periscope on Google Patents dated 1905
http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT998204 --Dennis Valeev 06:49, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

"Some readers have compared the searchlight's effects (blindness, intense heat, and facial burns) to those of the atomic bomb." Uncited.

Wouldn't a more apt comparison between the "ultraviolet searchlight" and a new technology be a laser? The history section says the foundation for lasers was "Zur Quantentheorie der Strahlung" which was published 3 years after Robertson's book. 74.98.196.243 (talk) 23:29, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

"You can help the genius who write these stories come into his own"
I added an advertisement that ran in the June 1915 issue of Photoplay, which illustrates the campaign undertaken by McClure’s and Metropolitan on behalf of Robertson—although, as you can see, it was also a clever way to sell magazine subscriptions. It also includes the opinions of a number of famous writers on Robertson’s work, although we just have to take the ad’s word for it that those writers actually wrote those words. The ad was probably placed months in advance; by the time it ran, Robertson was already dead.Cbaile19 (talk) 14:23, 22 August 2014 (UTC)

Death
Both causes of death listed are inaccurate. Unless the heart disease was caused by a drug overdose, in which case, just the drug referenced is wrong, as the obituary above shows. I'd edit, but I think I'm better off calling a grown up. 86.144.97.50 (talk) 09:14, 6 February 2015 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.144.97.50 (talk) 09:03, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

Conspiracy theories?
The similarities between the two has lent credibility to conspiracy theories regarding the Titanic.
 * Not clear why any of the conspiracy theories are supported by this work of fiction. Valetude (talk) 12:30, 9 November 2016 (UTC)