Microfilm

In the first years of the twentieth century, he worked with Paul Otlet on the creation of microfilm, then known as "microphotographs. In 1906, he and Otlet proposed what they called the "livre microphotographique," which they considered to be a cheaper, more space-saving means of storing data. In their 1906 essay "Sur une forme nouvelle du Livre: Le Livre Microphotographique," Goldschmidt and Otlet wrote that from the point of view of scientific research, books are not the best possible means of storing information, because "access to the libraries is not always easy and delays in the transmission of books often discourage the most tenacious workers, to the detriment of scientific progress....Travel by scholars, the international exchange of scientific books between libraries, the copies or extracts requested from abroad, are seriously under-resourced." Thus there is a need for "a new form of book that will help overcome these major inconveniences." They proposed that a solution to the problem lay in photography, and proceeded to explain how a single card measuring 12.5 X 7.5 cm, providing 72 square cm of space (margins excluded) could contain the contents of an entire 72-page book.^[2]

Radio

During the first decade of the twentieth century, Belgium became interested in how the new technology of radio communication (then known as "télégraphie sans fil" (T.S.F.)) could be of value to the country. Interest initially centered on the need to establish effective communication throughout its sprawling central African colony, the Belgian Congo. A second major project would be the construction of a high-powered station in Belgium, that could be used to maintain contact with the colony.

Much of the early developmental work was done under the patronage of the King Albert I, who had an early interest in the technology, including his own private laboratory.^[3] In 1909, the king made a tour of the Congo, and determined that there was a need to improve communications throughout its vast territory. There was also a need to establish reliable communication from Belgium to the colony.^[4] Goldschmidt was selected to take the leading role in the projects. His work in the radio field dated to 1907, when he had experimented with radiotelegraphy at the Brussels Palace of Justice; the experiments involved Tervuren, the citadel of Namur and to the observatory of Liege.

The central site for the radio projects was established at the Villa Lacoste, located near Brussels on the grounds of the summer Royal Palace of Laeken.^[4] A training school for operators, workshops and a research laboratory were established at this location. Raymond Braillard, a French engineer, was appointed as both the Chief Engineer of the Congo facilities, and the director of the Laeken installations.^[5] By the end of 1913 twelve radiotelegraph stations had been established to provide communication throughout the Belgian Congo.^[6][7] That same year also saw completion at Laeken of a high-powered radiotelegraph station used for transmissions to the colony.^[8] The original site included eight towers 90 to 190 meters (300 to 620 ft) tall, supporting the station's transmitting antenna. In the fall of 1913 it was reported that messages were now being successfully transmitted from Laeken to the Belgian Congo capital of Boma.^[9]

In the summer of 1914, the foundation was laid for construction of a new central antenna tower, planned to soar 333 meters (1,093 feet) high, or 33 meters (108 feet) taller than the Eiffel Tower.^[10] However, World War I broke out in late July, and the next month Germany invaded Belgium, eventually occupying 90% of the country. To keep the valuable Laeken radio facility from falling under enemy control, in August explosives and straw-fed fires were used to level the radio towers and completely destroy the equipment, a major setback to Goldschmidt's developmental work of the previous three years.^[11]

Belgian Congo work

Goldschmidt worked extensively in the Belgian Congo, where he set up a telegraph and telephone network. While in the Congo, he also devised an amphibious train and a wood-burning truck to be used in the colony.^[1]

Popular Laboratory of Electricity

In 1908 he opened a Popular Laboratory of Electricity in Brussels, a sort of museum.^[1]

Aviation

Goldschmidt developed an interest in aviation, and in 1909 constructed a dirigible balloon, La Belgique.^[1]

Microfilm library

Goldschmidt continued to be interested in microphotography throughout his life. He invented reading machines and film processes.^[1] In 1925, he and Otlet described an easily manufactured "microphotographic library." It consisted of "pocket-sized" viewing equipment and a portable cabinet that was one meter wide, one meter high, and about ten centimeters deep, and that was capable of holding, on microfilm, 18,750 volumes of 350 pages each, the equivalent of books that would fill 468 meters of conventional library shelving.^[17]