Rating:  - Writing Far Away
The invention of the electric telegraph during Queen Victoria's reign allowed communication to quickly cover long distances. The railroads allowed people and freight to quickly cover long distances. Both made the modern world what it is today. The telegraph existed decades earlier as a semaphore (with lights) that could send messages to a distant viewer. Sending a signal by light goes back over a thousand years. "One if by land, two if by sea."
Oersted discovered that an electric current creates a magnetic field that affects a compass needle (p.23). Samuel Morse invented a "bi-signal" scheme that became the dots and dashes of the Morse Code. Others invented their version of the electric telegraph (Chapter 2). Morse could see the benefits of rapid communication (p.40). Chapter 3 tells of the skepticism towards this newer invention. The telegraph was used to capture a pickpocket and a murderer (p.50). Chapter 4 tells of the explosive growth of the telegraph network. International agreements allowed interconnections (p.69). Underseas telegraphy was invented (p.72). Chapter 5 explains how lines were laid across the ocean connecting Newfoundland to Ireland in 1858. Would communication result in World Peace (p.83)? The success of the telegraph created traffic jams of delayed messages, most of which were time-sensitive. A pneumatic tube system could be used for short distances (Chapter 6). Chapter 7 tells how telegraph messages were used to cheat by sending horse race results before betting was closed. Changing a lower price attracted more customers and led to more profit. Page 115 shows how nine words of code replaced over 62 words. But the meaning of a code word would change if one letter was changed in error (p.116).
Chapter 8 tells of romance over the wires. Ordinarily they could distinguish a woman by how she "worked their wire" (p.134). People were married by telegraph. Telegraphers were rated on their ability alone, which meant women and teenagers were hireable. One effect of telegraphy was the speed in reporting news from around the world (Chapter 9). Newspapers formed groups to gather and send the news (p.150). Rapid news now required press censorship (p.155). Too much knowledge created an overload (Chapter 10). Rapid communications made possible "large, hierarchical companies" (p.173). The stock ticker tape was invented to present continuous news (p.175).
But a new technology appeared and sent telegraphy into a decline. Others refused to pay Samuel Morse for his patent and legal battles followed. The Supreme Court upheld Morse's patent in 1853 (p.183). The growing use of automatic telegraphs reduced the need for skilled operators (p.188). Wheatstone patented an automatic sender that was ten times faster (p.190). A duplex sent twice as much traffic. Baudot used rotating distributors to multiply the number of lines (p.192). Others tested the "harmonic" telegraph to use tones to send separate messages on one circuit (p.195). Alexander Graham Bell built a "speaking telegraph" that transmitted speech (p.197). "Distant speaking" on a telephone was "an instant success" (p.199). A new age had dawned (p.200). Chapter 12 gives the legacy of the telegraph, which went into a decline as telephone usage increased. The teleprinter was invented (p.205). The days of a telegrapher as a highly paid, highly skilled information worker were gone (p.205). Standage compares the similarities between the telegraph network and today's Internet (pp.206-210). The `Epilogue' notes that today's Internet echoes the 19th century telegraphic network. The `Sources' list the books and journals used for reference.
Rating: - can't get it back...
I bought this one, and my 15 year old son took it. He reads it constantly and I can't get it back. What a surprise...
Rating:  - Interesting parallels between the telegraph and the Internet
This is an interesting, well-written account of the history of the telegraph, with parallels drawn between that story and the modern-day history of the development of the Internet. Not a scientific account, but includes enough information to tell general readers how the key technologies work. Also includes entertaining anecdotes about the social changes that the new invention caused or contributed to.
Rating: - Short book on a fantastic breakthrough
Standage largely succeeds in supporting his claim that Victorians returning to 21st century Earth through a time-travel machine would not be overly impressed with our Internet, because "they had one of their own." His short book - easily read in one sitting or a cross-country airline trip - covers the birth of the optical telegraph (a French invention that used the waving wooden arms atop a tower) through its electrification, the invention of Morse code, and to its decline with the invention of the telephone. He shows that the telegraph, like the Internet, spawned codes, hackers, criminal gangs, romance, and information overload. And the telegraph was greeted with the same overheated claims as the Internet that faster and easier communication among peoples would usher in World Peace.
Unfortunately, Standage's book ends abruptly in the 1880s, when the telephone began to replace the telegraph. "Telegrams" still flourished in the 20th century, and Morse Code is still used today by amateur radio operators. A few pages at the end of Standage's tale about the remaining echo from that wonderous 19th century device would have made a more complete book.
Even so, if you want to learn about how an amateur inventor - Samuel Morse - became inspired to invent this simple device, and how was resisted initially and then changed the world, then this is a good place to start.
Rating: - The Best Kind of History
The comparison of a modem sending tens of thousand of bits a second with the focused effort of a practiced telegrapher sold me on this book. We all know what happened to the telegrapher; the implicit question being asked is what of our modern professions is destined for the same fate?
This book highlights the various analogies between Victorian technology and the technology of the present. While they appear so obvious upon reading, the honest reader will admit that Mr. Standage has unearthed many lessons lost over the years--not the least of which is the value of thinking big--thinking well beyond the capability of current technology. Overall this book is an excellent primer in the oft-forgotten fact that history repeats itself and that the educated among us should seek a better understanding of the past before making decisions about our future.
Mr. Standage's admiration for the feats of those who dared to think big enough to complete a transatlantic cable comes through strongly. He strikes a wistful tone--like many others, he demonstrates that our present-day technology can achieve far more than we sometimes dare to think.
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