I’ve included this invention in Thinking Huge Week because so much of our current technology can be traced back to this single simple idea.  No single invention has sparked more inspiration to shape the information age that we live in today than the electrical telegraph.  Everything from the internet, telephones/cellphones, television, satellite communications, and most electronic devices are direct decedents of this invention.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the electrical telegraph for this week’s theme is the fact that big thinkers pioneered and profited from the idea, while shortsighted pessimists lost out on huge opportunities.  From the earliest known expression of the idea, an anonymous letter to Scots Magazine in 1753 about an electrostatic telegraph, the idea was hindered by small thinking.  This person did not even have the confidence to put their name on the idea, they were probably not even convinced that the magazine would publish it.  It would be about 50 years before any significant adaptations emerged.  Starting around 1800 and into the 1830’s many different ideas were tried such as electrochemical, electromagnetic, and galvanometer (measures electric current), were experimented with.  I don’t want to dwell too much on the shortsighted players here, but it is worth mentioning Peter Barlow a Mathematician at London’s Royal Military Academy, who dismissed the idea of electric telegraphs as being impractical because they only had a range of 200 feet in 1824.  This was a well educated man who could have found the knowledge to overcome this hurdle.  The very next year the electromagnet was invented, and it was this invention that made long distance electric telegraphs possible.  A year before Barlow’s death in 1862 the first transatlantic telegraph system was established. 

Carl Fredric Gauss, a German Mathematician still known for his work in many fields including statistics and physics, ran with the idea of an electromagnetic telegraph.  By 1833 he had a 1000 meter telegraph wire, and was able to detect changes in current through a sensitive galvanometer.  Gauss’ work with the telegraph really became huge when it was taken up by Carl August von Steinheil, who designed telegraph networks and found funding for the entire countries of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. 

Although there were a number of different adaptations of the idea, the most important has to be the Samuel Morse/Alfred Vail electric telegraph.  Not only was their device able to transmit across long distances on poor quality wire, they developed a signaling code (Morse Code) that could be quickly and easily used to designate letters of the alphabet.  Morse really saw the big picture and potential of the telegraph, and demonstrated the system to the scientific community, and various US government organizations to gain credibility. 

Since the Morse breakthrough there have been dozens of great inventors that have contributed to advancing the idea of electric telegraphy.  Thomas Edison made the first full duplex and quadruplex telegraphs enabling simultaneous two way communication.  Nicola Tesla (an inventor that will be featured here in the very near future) pioneered wireless telegraphy.  Alexander Graham Bell adapted the telegraph to build the first working telephone.  These adaptations of the electric telegraph continue into our lives today with satellite communications, fiber optics, and the internet.  With each day we are able to transmit greater amounts information, longer distances, and faster than ever before. 

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 17th, 2008 at 7:35 pm and is filed under Historic Inventions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.