Makers of the Telegraph
Samuel Morse, Ezra Cornell and Joseph Henry
$39.95
In stock
About the Book
The single-wire telegraph revolutionized long distance communication but it was not the brainchild of one inventor, Samuel Morse. His colleagues and employees—specifically Ezra Cornell and Joseph Henry—made crucial contributions.
Examining the careers of the three men and the key events, this book presents Morse as primarily a businessman and consolidator of ideas who, frequently in conflict with his associates, sought to present the telegraph as a uniform system under his sole imprimatur. The battle between Morse and Cornell over the invention of the magnetic relay was central to the drama.
What emerges is a complex portrait of three ambitious and brilliant innovators and the age in which they lived.
About the Author(s)
Bibliographic Details
Kenneth B. Lifshitz
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 344
Bibliographic Info: 17 photos & illustrations, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2017
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6559-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2681-9
Imprint: McFarland
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments x
Notes on Abbreviations xi
Preface 1
Introduction 6
Section I: Knickerbocker Tales
1. The American Experiment 17
2. SPAAM (The Society for the Promotion of Agricultural Arts and Manufactures) 33
3. T. Romeyn Beck 37
4. The Albany Academy 42
5. The Big Ditch 43
6. A Tale of Two Cities 45
7. Portrait Painter 48
8. The Man Who Sneezed So Singularly 52
Section II: Henry’s Influence on Morse
9. The New, Old School 57
10. The Vision at Palmyra 61
11. Ghost Story 66
12. Wrap Artist 68
13. The American Achievement 72
14. Que Viva Mexico 75
15. Endless Debate 80
16. Quantity vs. Intensity 86
17. The Barnaby Mooer Side-Hill Plow 92
18. Catching Colt 96
19. Out of the “Fog” of Invention 103
20. The Plow in Maine 107
21. Sins of the Father 112
Section III: The Madman and the Telegrapher
22. A Federal No-Show Job 117
23. Cable Problems 123
24. Big Confab at Little Relay 129
25. The Trouble with Fisher … 133
26. On the Third Floor of the Patent Office 138
27. The Burden of Big Science 145
28. Bartlett’s Contract 149
29. Cross-Cut! 153
30. A Fight Over Pole Insulators 156
31. Out of the Frying Pan 158
Section IV: Relay Race
32. The Magnetic Telegraph Company 169
33. A Red Herring 173
34. The Mule Kicks Back 177
35. The State Fair 182
36. Raising Cash 187
37. When the Going Gets Tough … 191
38. … The Tough Go to Europe 196
39. Trompe l’œil 198
40. “The Telegraph for Dummies” 203
41. O’Reilly 210
42. Saxton Faxton’s Love-Hate Relationship 217
43. Organization Man 220
44. Crossing the Rubicon 225
Section V: Prodigal Son
45. Audubon’s Laundry 233
46. Tit for Tat 238
47. An Indispensable Plague 241
48. The New York–Offing Line 244
49. Rebirth of a Notion 248
Coda: King Edward of Kalamazoo 256
Afterword 262
Appendix A: Morse’s Deposition 267
Appendix B: Questions Prepared for Professor Henry by Morse, 1839 269
Chapter Notes 270
Bibliography 321
Index 325
Book Reviews & Awards
“The sections on Cornell are fascinating”—Carleton Mabee, Pulitzer Prize winning author and biographer of Samuel Morse; “This outstanding work, peppered with insightful details, is an extraordinary history based on fresh research about three colorful and controversial characters. An absorbing narrative to the very last page! Sure to be part of the library of every transportation and communication scholar.”—Michelle P. Figliomeni, President, Orange County Historical Society; “Lifshitz provides a delight-to-read examination of a pivotal event in the history of American technology. At many points he challenges accepted wisdom and offers new interpretations of the motivations of the actors and their actions”— Marc Rothenberg, former editor of the Joseph Henry Papers Project.
