Samuel F. B. Morse: Artist with a Message

by John Hudson Tiner

Book Overview

Artist turned inventor, he developed the telegraph and Morse Code. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0880621370
• ISBN13: 9780880621373
• Release Date: June 1976
• Publisher: Mott Media (MI)
• Length: 69 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Twelve years of rejection did not stop this man

... Given the older audience, I found this book to be well written and enjoyable for adults as well. A final chapter ends with a summary of the accomplishments of this man and what that means to our society today. It has nice illustrations, and includes an index.Mr. Tiner combines an encouraging and inspirational story with layman's explanations for the experiments Mr. Morse conducted, which is his writing style for other books he has written for this series as well. In this way one comes away not only with the kind of story that encourages one to persevere, but also with a greater understanding of how the telegraph works if one did not already know.Beginning as an extremely talented artist, Morse struggles to earn enough money to afford a house and be able to stay home with his family. He gains admiration, but very little money until he finally works on a highly profitable project. Unfortunately, his wife becomes ill and dies while he is away, and this information takes days to reach him.His sorrow over his wife's death, and having earlier seen a war begin because communication was delayed, cause him to remember what he has learned about electricity. Then only a novelty in science, he designs a way to turn it into instant communication. For 12 years he works on the design and also seeks funding for the project, only to meet with either ridicule or admiration but no funding. At one point he nearly starves to death. Finally the government agrees to fund the project, and the rest, as they say, is history. The guiding force which helped keep him through these trials was his faith in God and the encouragement he drew from the Bible.

Inspiring true story of perseverance

This is a wonderful book! I would make it, and the other biographies by John Hudson Tiner, required reading for young people -- and highly recommended for adults, too. We memorize cold facts in school like "Morse invented the telegraph" but rarely learn anything about the human drama behind the facts. Here is a famous American who nearly starved himself trying to get his idea off the ground, an idea he KNEW was revolutionary, that none of the "experts" one would support! It's a story of perseverance and courage that eventually paid off and changed the world. This book is immensely better fare for young people than the mindless drivel on TV and video games. As far as it having a Christian flavor, so what? It's true. Morse is one of many Christians who changed the world--Newton, Kepler, Pasteur, and many others. Does that aspect make the story politically incorrect? Should historians neglect the driving force behind a man's work? Get real, teachers, and tell your students more about Morse and less about Madonna. There are some excellent role models in American history and this is one of them. John Hudson Tiner makes the character come alive and captures the misery of rejection and the triumph of vindication. It is EASY reading for any student not held captive by teachers that don't teach them how to read. There's nothing like true stories of real people (good-bye, Harry Potter), to inspire, motivate and stimulate young people to become the achievers of tomorrow. Read this and all the others in the Sowers Series, as well Tiner's other excellent books. You'll not only be inspired, you will learn a great deal of amazing history the textbooks never told you.