by David Hochfelder (Author)
A complete history of how the telegraph revolutionized technological practice and life in America.
Telegraphy in the nineteenth century approximated the internet in our own day. Historian and electrical engineer David Hochfelder offers readers a comprehensive history of this groundbreaking technology, which employs breaks in an electrical current to send code along miles of wire. The Telegraph in America, 1832-1920 examines the correlation between technological innovation and social change and shows how this transformative relationship helps us to understand and perhaps define modernity.
The telegraph revolutionized the spread of information--speeding personal messages, news of public events, and details of stock fluctuations. During the Civil War, telegraphed intelligence and high-level directives gave the Union war effort a critical advantage. Afterward, the telegraph helped build and break fortunes and, along with the railroad, altered the way Americans thought about time and space. With this book, Hochfelder supplies us with an introduction to the early stirrings of the information age.
Front Jacket
Telegraphy in the nineteenth century approximated the internet in our own day. Historian and electrical engineer David Hochfelder offers readers a comprehensive history of this groundbreaking technology, which employs breaks in an electrical current to send code along miles of wire. The Telegraph in America, 1832-1920 examines the correlation between technological innovation and social change and shows how this transformative relationship helps us to understand and perhaps define modernity.
The telegraph revolutionized the spread of information--speeding personal messages, news of public events, and details of stock fluctuations. During the Civil War, telegraphed intelligence and high-level directives gave the Union war effort a critical advantage. Afterward, the telegraph helped build and break fortunes and, along with the railroad, altered the way Americans thought about time and space. With this book, Hochfelder supplies us with an introduction to the early stirrings of the information age.
In The Telegraph in America, 1832-1920, David Hochfelder provides a taut and consistently intelligent history of the telegraph in American life. The book is notable for both its topical breadth--encompassing war, politics, business, journalism, and everyday life--as well as its focused, argument-driven chapters.--New Books in Communications
The author . . . develops nuanced analyses to the impact of telegraphy upon American life.--EH.Net
Hochfelder's work is exemplary in its caution about mediator technology-specific claims to exceptionalism or determinism. This authoritative and persuasive book will remain an essential reference for scholars.--American Historical Review
For a quick assessment of telegraphy's development and impact, this insightful book is hard to beat.--Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
David Hochfelder is an associate professor of history at University at Albany, SUNY.
--Richard R. John, Columbia University "Metascience"Back Jacket
Telegraphy in the nineteenth century approximated the internet in our own day. Historian and electrical engineer David Hochfelder offers readers a comprehensive history of this groundbreaking technology, which employs breaks in an electrical current to send code along miles of wire. The Telegraph in America, 1832-1920 examines the correlation between technological innovation and social change and shows how this transformative relationship helps us to understand and perhaps define modernity.
The telegraph revolutionized the spread of information--speeding personal messages, news of public events, and details of stock fluctuations. During the Civil War, telegraphed intelligence and high-level directives gave the Union war effort a critical advantage. Afterward, the telegraph helped build and break fortunes and, along with the railroad, altered the way Americans thought about time and space. With this book, Hochfelder supplies us with an introduction to the early stirrings of the information age.
"In The Telegraph in America, 1832-1920, David Hochfelder provides a taut and consistently intelligent history of the telegraph in American life. The book is notable for both its topical breadth--encompassing war, politics, business, journalism, and everyday life--as well as its focused, argument-driven chapters."--New Books in Communications
"The author . . . develops nuanced analyses to the impact of telegraphy upon American life."--EH.Net
"Hochfelder's work is exemplary in its caution about mediator technology-specific claims to exceptionalism or determinism. This authoritative and persuasive book will remain an essential reference for scholars."--American Historical Review
"For a quick assessment of telegraphy's development and impact, this insightful book is hard to beat."--Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
David Hochfelder is an associate professor of history at University at Albany, SUNY.
Author Biography
David Hochfelder is an associate professor of history at University at Albany, SUNY.