Science Art: Build Your Own Lie Detector, 1955

20 July 2026 grant Featured, Science Art 0

Scientific illustration of a homemade lie detector in use: a man with a bow tie and pocket protector against a lurid green background sits at a table beside a pair of electric boxes with wires leading to electrodes taped to his fingertips.
Scientific illustration of a homemade lie detector in use: a man with a bow tie and pocket protector against a lurid green background sits at a table beside a pair of electric boxes with wires leading to electrodes taped to his fingertips.

This is the opener for an article in the May 1955 issue of Popular Electronics. You can read the article here, on archive.org — and, of course, then build your own lie detector.

As the instructions say, “INTERESTED in a gadget to take to a party? How about something for the classroom? Studying experimental psychology? Want to see what else can be done with electronics? Then here is an interesting answer. A simple circuit consisting of one tube, three batteries, four resistors, and one potentiometer that will convert a v.t.v.m. into a lie detector.”

I think a “v.t.v.m.” is a voltmeter or multimeter, but it’s never really explained in the text. If you’re reading Popular Electronics in 1955, I think it’s just something you know.

I’m also not exactly sure who that is in the bow tie with the pocket protector and electrodes taped to his fingers, but the acknowledgements say: “The original plans for the lie detector were suggested by Joseph A. Fiederer. Additional construction and photographs by Edwin T. Kephart.”

It occurs to me that this might even be the article that gave the first Scientologists the idea for the e-meter. Just replace taped electrodes with cans.