Makers of the Telegraph: Samuel Morse, Ezra Cornell and Joseph Henry

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.

Author: Kenneth B. Lifshitz
Publisher: McFarland and Company, Inc.
Published: 01/20/2017
Pages: 344
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.60d
ISBN13: 9781476665597
ISBN10: 1476665591
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Science & Technology
- History | United States | 19th Century
- Technology & Engineering | History

About the Author
Kenneth B. Lifshitz has lectured widely on such topics as the great chain across the Hudson and The Franklin Marble. Also a bass player, he has performed with local and regional symphony orchestras. He lives in the Catskill region of New York.