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From Machine Shop to Industrial Laboratory: Telegraphy and the Changing Context of American Invention, 1830-1920
"Israel synthesizes a decade of editorial work on the Edison papers with the Western Union papers at the Smithsonian Institution, patent records, and key court cases... The result is an elegant book on how machine shop culture fostered inventive activities."--British Journal for the History of Science. Studies in the History of Technology, New Series. Merritt Roe Smith, Series Editor.
264 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1992
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January 14, 2018
Excerpted as "Invention and Corporate Strategies" in Gary Kornblith, ed., The Industrial Revolution in America (1998)
Invention and inventors could be a threat to the large and powerful corporations which emerged in late 19th C. Setting up its own R & D staff, Paul Israel shows how Western Union sought to control inventiveness by underwriting the work of inventors and securing patent rights. This allowed Western Union to achieve a near monopoly of the telegraph business.
At Western Union, William Orton "came to believe that the best way to improve his company's competitive position would be to increase the volume of business with a minimal additional expense." (p. 151) Initially, Orton waited for inventors to come up with improvements, then he incorporated them into the Western Union system. It was with the successful sponsorship of Joseph B. Stearns' duplexing technology, which nearly doubled the capacity of the company's wire, that Orton became convinced of the importance of sponsoring inventors to produce improvements. Most importantly, Orton went about patenting Stearns' improvement and even retained Thomas Edison to invent as many duplexing techniques as possible for the purpose of patenting them and protecting them from the competition. It was the experience of loosing out in the patent competition for rights to the quadruplex telegraph (to Jay Gould's Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph) and the telephone (to Western Electric), however, that convinced Orton to retain the services of Thomas Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory on a regular basis. Many other companies would follow in Orton's footsteps in retaining corporate inventors to improve their products and at the same time to secure patent rights to protect themselves from the competition. Invention as corporate strategy was part of the general move in the later 19th C toward large-scale bureaucratic corporations.
Invention and inventors could be a threat to the large and powerful corporations which emerged in late 19th C. Setting up its own R & D staff, Paul Israel shows how Western Union sought to control inventiveness by underwriting the work of inventors and securing patent rights. This allowed Western Union to achieve a near monopoly of the telegraph business.
At Western Union, William Orton "came to believe that the best way to improve his company's competitive position would be to increase the volume of business with a minimal additional expense." (p. 151) Initially, Orton waited for inventors to come up with improvements, then he incorporated them into the Western Union system. It was with the successful sponsorship of Joseph B. Stearns' duplexing technology, which nearly doubled the capacity of the company's wire, that Orton became convinced of the importance of sponsoring inventors to produce improvements. Most importantly, Orton went about patenting Stearns' improvement and even retained Thomas Edison to invent as many duplexing techniques as possible for the purpose of patenting them and protecting them from the competition. It was the experience of loosing out in the patent competition for rights to the quadruplex telegraph (to Jay Gould's Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph) and the telephone (to Western Electric), however, that convinced Orton to retain the services of Thomas Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory on a regular basis. Many other companies would follow in Orton's footsteps in retaining corporate inventors to improve their products and at the same time to secure patent rights to protect themselves from the competition. Invention as corporate strategy was part of the general move in the later 19th C toward large-scale bureaucratic corporations.
August 31, 2014
A. Synopsis: The main argument of this book is that telegraphy was central in the transition from the machine shop to the industrial laboratory and the rise of corporate capitalism. The transition itself begins with the independent inventor (Morse inventing the first American telegraph). After the Civil War urban telegraphy dominates led by small regional telegraph systems. Large corporations then began to take control of the telegraph industry through such devices as control of patents and inventions (Western Union). The final stage was the rise of the scientific and industrial research lab that were controlled by the large corporations.
B. Morse--the independent inventer
1. Inventing the first American telegraph. Morse was a painter but his wealth enabled him to study both science and technology. He began as the quintessential lone inventor. However, others contributed to his initial design (myth of the lone inventor destroyed). The telegraph had its first commercial introduction in 1844.
2. Introducing the new invention. Congress became interested in the machine for military application and for its usefulness as part of a federal post system. With funding from congress, Morse built the first experimental line between Baltimore and Washington. This did not prove profitable and the government did not purchase Morse’s invention. Instead development went by private enterprise (the heroic inventor inspired investors). Regional companies were licensed to construct lines between major cities.
C. Machine shop culture emerges
1. Once competing companies formed a group of experienced individuals existed and a shop culture emerged
2. This culture read the technical literature and stimulated inventive efforts. Ex. American Telegraph Magazine
3. Minor inventions were required like insulators (from the wire to the pole)
4. The operators recognized each others “touch” and a unique extended subculture emerged
D. The urban technical community and telegraph design
1. In the decade following the Civil War, telegraphy took on an urban character
2. At the beginning of the telegraph era small regional systems dominated
3. These were eventually consolidated and concentrated in large cities
4. The market was the key factor in this trend. It became impossible for the small company to compete with the national Western Union
5. The cities offered the inventor opportunities (a motivating technical community, access to machine shops)
6. The urban telegraph shop was the central institution of technical innovation in the 1870s. Examples included district box (push a button and fire, police, or a doctor would be reached), fire alarm telegraphs (placed in buildings).
E. The industrial laboratory
1. Control of patents and inventions. Corporate officials attempted to establish greater control of technology in market terms
2. The development of Western Unions Strategies
a) Inventors were funded for specific projects (as aggressive strategy by Western Union)
b) This further evolved into an ongoing research program and eventually the industrial research lab
B. Morse--the independent inventer
1. Inventing the first American telegraph. Morse was a painter but his wealth enabled him to study both science and technology. He began as the quintessential lone inventor. However, others contributed to his initial design (myth of the lone inventor destroyed). The telegraph had its first commercial introduction in 1844.
2. Introducing the new invention. Congress became interested in the machine for military application and for its usefulness as part of a federal post system. With funding from congress, Morse built the first experimental line between Baltimore and Washington. This did not prove profitable and the government did not purchase Morse’s invention. Instead development went by private enterprise (the heroic inventor inspired investors). Regional companies were licensed to construct lines between major cities.
C. Machine shop culture emerges
1. Once competing companies formed a group of experienced individuals existed and a shop culture emerged
2. This culture read the technical literature and stimulated inventive efforts. Ex. American Telegraph Magazine
3. Minor inventions were required like insulators (from the wire to the pole)
4. The operators recognized each others “touch” and a unique extended subculture emerged
D. The urban technical community and telegraph design
1. In the decade following the Civil War, telegraphy took on an urban character
2. At the beginning of the telegraph era small regional systems dominated
3. These were eventually consolidated and concentrated in large cities
4. The market was the key factor in this trend. It became impossible for the small company to compete with the national Western Union
5. The cities offered the inventor opportunities (a motivating technical community, access to machine shops)
6. The urban telegraph shop was the central institution of technical innovation in the 1870s. Examples included district box (push a button and fire, police, or a doctor would be reached), fire alarm telegraphs (placed in buildings).
E. The industrial laboratory
1. Control of patents and inventions. Corporate officials attempted to establish greater control of technology in market terms
2. The development of Western Unions Strategies
a) Inventors were funded for specific projects (as aggressive strategy by Western Union)
b) This further evolved into an ongoing research program and eventually the industrial research lab
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