American physics and the origins of electrical engineering
DOI: 10.1063/1.2915317
At the same time that electricity was transforming American society in the last half of the 19th century, it was transforming the study of physics. During this period, electricity bridged the existing gap between pure science and useful applications, between thinkers and doers, scholars and tinkers, as no other technology had done before. It brought home to Americans the contributions of science to everyday life. It also quickened the pace of physics research in university classrooms and industrial laboratories.
This article is only available in PDF format
References
1. J. K. Finch, A History of the School of Engineering, Columbia University, Columbia U.P., New York (1954), page 68.
2. Background on MIT is in S. C. Prescott, When MIT was Boston Tech, Technology Press, Cambridge (1954);
K. Wildes, “Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,” unpublished manuscript, MIT Institute Archives (1971). Student enrollment figures and course descriptions are in the annual Catalogs.3. W. C. Russel to A. D. White, 8 August 1872, A. D. White Papers (Collection 1/2/2), Cornell University Archives (hereinafter ADW).
4. Anthony to Russel, 30 June 1872, ADW.
5. Anthony to White, September 1873, ADW.
6. Anthony to C. K. Adams, 11 December 1886, Executive Committee Minutes (Collection 2/5/5), Cornell University Archives (hereinafter EC).
7. Anthony to White, 5 August 1872, ADW.
8. Anthony to White, September 1873, ADW.
9. Anthony to Russel, 6 June 1880, ADW.
10. Anthony to Adams, 11 December 1886, EC.
11. Anthony to Board of Trustees, 19 June 1887, EC.
12. The Electrician and Electrical Engineer 3 (April 1884) page 93.
13. Quoted in H. Greer, Popular Science Monthly 24 (December 1883) page 254.
14. D. C. Gilman, President Gilman’s Address at the Euclid Avenue Church, Fairbanks, Cleveland, Ohio (1883) page 23.
More about the authors
Robert Rosenberg, Johns Hopkins University.
