Frank J. Sprague and the Edison Myth PDF Download

Author: Harriet Chapman Jones Sprague
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Author: Harriet Chapman Jones Sprague
Publisher: Hassell Street Press
ISBN: 9781019362006
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Frank J Sprague and the Edison Myth is a biography of Frank Sprague, a key figure in the early development of electric power and transportation systems. The book provides a detailed account of Sprague's life and work, including his long-standing rivalry with Thomas Edison. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Author: William D. Middleton
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253023599
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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“[This] biography of the ‘Father of Electric Traction’ details the life and times of an exceptional engineer, maverick innovator, [and] entrepreneur.” —NMRA Magazine Frank Julian Sprague invented a system for distributing electricity to streetcars from overhead wires. Within a year, electric streetcars had begun to replace horsecars, sparking a revolution in urban transportation. Sprague (1857–1934) was an American naval officer turned inventor who worked briefly for Thomas Edison before striking out on his own. Sprague contributed to the development of the electric motor, electric railways, and electric elevators. His innovations would help transform the urban space of the 20th century, enabling cities to grow larger and skyscrapers taller. The Middletons’ generously illustrated biography is an engrossing study of the life and times of a maverick innovator. “The authors weave this biography through time, with technological and political details that make Sprague human, a creative soul pressing his ideas with a sports-like outcome—some wins, some losses, and some ties . . . I recommend this well-written book detailing the life of the ‘Father of Electric Traction’ to explain the development of what we so casually take for granted.” —Trains “No one has previously used Sprague’s personal papers in a published biography . . . Recommended.” —Choice “Frank Sprague . . . is a major historical figure who for decades lacked a significant biography. This void has been ably and engagingly filled in this book by the dean of electric traction authors, William D. Middleton, and his son, William III.” —Classic Trains

Author: Frederick Dalzell
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262258129
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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The technological breakthroughs and entrepreneurial adventures of Frank J. Sprague during the transformative years of the early electrical industry. Over the course of a little less than twenty years, inventor Frank J. Sprague (1857-1934) achieved an astonishing series of technological breakthroughs—from pioneering work in self-governing motors to developing the first full-scale operational electric railway system—all while commercializing his inventions and promoting them (and himself as their inventor) to financial backers and the public. In Engineering Invention, Frederick Dalzell tells Sprague's story, setting it against the backdrop of one of the most dynamic periods in the history of technology. In a burst of innovation during these years, Sprague and his contemporaries—Thomas Edison, Nicolas Tesla, Elmer Sperry, George Westinghouse, and others—transformed the technologies of electricity and reshaped modern life. After working briefly for Edison, Sprague started the Sprague Electric Railway and Motor Company; designed and built an electric railroad system for Richmond, Virginia; sold his company to Edison and went into the field of electric elevators; almost accidentally discovered a multiple-control system that could equip electric train systems for mass transit; started a third company to commercialize this; then sold this company to Edison and retired (temporarily). Throughout his career, Dalzell tells us, Sprague framed technology as invention, cast himself as hero, and staged his technologies as dramas. He toiled against the odds, scraped together resources to found companies, bet those companies on technical feats—and pulled it off, multiple times. The idea of the “heroic inventor” is not, of course, the only way to frame the history of technology. Nevertheless, as Dalzell shows, Sprague, Edison, and others crafted the role consciously and actively, using it to generate vital impetus behind the process of innovation.

Author: Thomas Commerford Martin
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 852

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This book chronicles the life and work of Thomas Alva Edison, a central figure in the invention and practical application of several groundbreaking technologies, including the telegraph, the telephone, the electric light, the phonograph, and the wireless telegraph. The book not only offers insight into the personal and professional life of this legendary inventor but also examines the impact of his inventions on the progress of human society.

Author: Frank Lewis Dyer
Publisher: The Minerva Group, Inc.
ISBN: 9780898756708
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 528

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Book Description
This is Volume one of a two volume set.At the time of original publication in 1910 the publisher said:"Here is indeed the real Edison book. No single figure of our time has influenced more intimately our daily lives. Yet the full and authoritative story of Edisons own life has never been written until now. In this book one may hear and see Edison. One of the authors is his counsel -- both practically share Edisons life. The entire manuscript has been read and revised by Edison himself. This is the personal story of Edison -- his birth in Ohio, his boyhood in Michigan, his experience as a newsboy, and his work as a telegraph operator, winning his way upward. Edisons establishment in Newark, the invention of the phonograph, and his removal to Menlo Park in 1876 lead to one of the most absorbing stories in the history of discovery -- the invention of the incandescent lamp. This is told for the first time. We see days and nights spent developing storage batteries, the phonograph industry, application of Portland cement, moving pictures, etc. Not as an abstract genius, but as a man, Edison is made known and his personal human side is set before us."Includes many portraits and illustrations.

Author: Frank Lewis Dyer
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 3387004621
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 1014

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Book Description
Reproduction of the original. The publishing house Megali specialises in reproducing historical works in large print to make reading easier for people with impaired vision.

Author: Frank Lewis Martin, Thomas Commerford Dyer
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 3734058791
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 578

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Book Description
Reproduction of the original: Edison, His Life and Inventions by Frank Lewis Dyer, Thomas Commerford Martin

Author: Forrest McDonald
Publisher: Beard Books
ISBN: 1587982439
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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This is a reprint of a previosly published work. It dewals with Samuel Insull, who was Thomas Edison's private secretary and founded the business of centralized electric supply. He organized the Edison General Electric Company.

Author: Frank Lewis Dyer
Publisher:
ISBN: 1406827029
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 508

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Book Description
American youths to-day are given, if of a mechanical turn of mind, to amateur telegraphy or telephony, but seldom, if ever, have to make any part of the system constructed. In Edison's boyish days it was quite different, and telegraphic supplies were hard to obtain. But he and his "chum" had a line between their homes, built of common stove-pipe wire. The insulators were bottles set on nails driven into trees and short poles.