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

By Kenneth B. Lifshitz

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1476665591
• ISBN13: 9781476665597
• Release Date: February 2017
• Publisher: McFarland & Company
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher