From Machine Shop to Industrial Laboratory: Telegraphy and the Changing Context of American Invention, 1830-1920 (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology) [Hardcover]

Professor Paul B. Israel (Author)

Book Description

Series: Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology | Publication Date: September 1, 1992

"Israel synthesizes a decade of editorial work on the Edison papers with the Western Union papers at the Smithsonian Institution, patent records, and key court cases... The result is an elegant book on how machine shop culture fostered inventive activities."--British Journal for the History of Science.

Studies in the History of Technology, New Series.

Merritt Roe Smith, Series Editor.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Recent efforts to rethink how American products proceed from concept to marketplace make this book relevant not only for historians of science and technology but also for readers interested in how business encourages and incorporates technological innovation. Although the telegraph generally has received less attention than the telephone and electricity, it provided Americans with their first communications revolution . It was not developed in the industrial laboratories that came to dominate technological development by the turn of the 20th century but in small workshops where cooperative group effort fostered innovation. However, as Israel (assistant editor, The Thomas A. Edison Papers ) makes clear, the workshop did not survive changes in corporate industrial structure. Invention ultimately fell into the domain of the scientific laboratory, forever separating the user from the inventor. In a helpful afterword, Israel discusses the implications of his study for the current discussion of the role of research and development in American business. Recommended for informed readers.
- Charles Piehl, Mankato State Univ., Minn.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"An elegant book on how machine shop culture fostered inventive activities." -- British Journal for the History of Science

Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (September 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801843790
• ISBN-13: 978-0801843792
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,161,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.