Download or read book Frank Julian Sprague written by William D. Middleton and published by Railroads Past and Present. This book was released on 2009-09-25 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive biography of "The Father of Electric Traction"
Download or read book Frank Julian Sprague written by William D. Middleton and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2009-09-25 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[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
Download or read book Engineering Invention written by Frederick Dalzell and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2009-09-25 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents written by United States. Patent Office and published by . This book was released on 1908 with total page 1218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prior to 1862, when the Department of Agriculture was established, the report on agriculture was prepared and published by the Commissioner of Patents, and forms volume or part of volume, of his annual reports, the first being that of 1840. Cf. Checklist of public documents ... Washington, 1895, p. 148.
Download or read book Annual Report written by USA Patent Office and published by . This book was released on 1890 with total page 806 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book United States Courts of Appeals Reports written by United States. Courts of Appeals and published by . This book was released on 1897 with total page 870 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book United States Courts of Appeals Reports written by and published by . This book was released on 1899 with total page 970 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Connecticut Inventors and Innovators written by Peter Hubbard and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2022-11-07 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout its history, Connecticut frequently led all states in the average number of U. S. patents awarded per person. The list of products invented there is stunning--from the lollipop, cupcake and Frisbee, to the dirigible, helicopter and submarine. The workplace improved with tape measures, portable typewriters, postage meters and elevators. American consumers benefited from sewing machines, diapers, ironing boards, vacuum cleaners, can openers, lawn mowers, and flat-bottomed paper bags. Pioneering surgeon William Beaumont and Nobel Prize winner Dr. Barbara McClintock both hail from the Nutmeg State. Join local author Peter Hubbard as he reveals Connecticut's role in the invention of the Hubble Space Telescope, vaccines, the Internet, and much more.
Download or read book The Electrical Journal written by and published by . This book was released on 1898 with total page 1200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Electric Railway Journal written by and published by . This book was released on 1916 with total page 1690 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Electrician Electrical Trades Directory and Handbook written by and published by . This book was released on 1889 with total page 652 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Electrical World written by and published by . This book was released on 1915 with total page 812 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book American Independent Inventors in an Era of Corporate R D written by Eric S. Hintz and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2021-08-17 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How America's individual inventors persisted alongside corporate R&D labs as an important source of inventions. During the nineteenth century, heroic individual inventors such as Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell created entirely new industries while achieving widespread fame. However, by 1927, a New York Times editorial suggested that teams of corporate scientists at General Electric, AT&T, and DuPont had replaced the solitary "garret inventor" as the wellspring of invention. But these inventors never disappeared. In this book, Eric Hintz argues that lesser-known inventors such as Chester Carlson (Xerox photocopier), Samuel Ruben (Duracell batteries), and Earl Tupper (Tupperware) continued to develop important technologies throughout the twentieth century. Moreover, Hintz explains how independent inventors gradually fell from public view as corporate brands increasingly became associated with high-tech innovation. Focusing on the years from 1890 to 1950, Hintz documents how American independent inventors competed (and sometimes partnered) with their corporate rivals, adopted a variety of flexible commercialization strategies, established a series of short-lived professional groups, lobbied for fairer patent laws, and mobilized for two world wars. After 1950, the experiences of independent inventors generally mirrored the patterns of their predecessors, and they continued to be overshadowed during corporate R&D's postwar golden age. The independents enjoyed a resurgence, however, at the turn of the twenty-first century, as Apple's Steve Jobs and Shark Tank's Lori Greiner heralded a new generation of heroic inventor-entrepreneurs. By recovering the stories of a group once considered extinct, Hintz shows that independent inventors have long been—and remain—an important source of new technologies.
Download or read book The Making of America written by Robert Marion La Follette and published by . This book was released on 1905 with total page 614 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Electrical Review written by and published by . This book was released on 1888 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book New York Review of the Telegraph and Telephone and Electrical Journal written by and published by . This book was released on 1888 with total page 1374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Senate documents written by and published by . This book was released on 1893 with total page 800 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
