The Telegraph (2): Erasing Time, Compressing Space Presentation by Mindy McAdams Week 8.2 / MMC 2265

Electricity and Magnetism Ampère: electromagnetism (1775 – 1836) Faraday: electromagnetism (1791 – 1867) Oersted: electromagnetism (1777 – 1851) Volta: electric battery (1745 – 1827) Ohm: voltage, current and resistance (1789 – 1854)

Ampère: electromagnetism (1775 – 1836)

Faraday: electromagnetism (1791 – 1867)

Oersted: electromagnetism (1777 – 1851)

Volta: electric battery (1745 – 1827)

Ohm: voltage, current and resistance (1789 – 1854)

Britain’s Electrical Telegraph Charles Wheatstone (1802 – 1875), originally a musical instrument maker William Fothergill Cooke (1806 – 1879), originally a maker of anatomical models Demonstrated their electrical telegraph to the public in July 1837

Charles Wheatstone (1802 – 1875), originally a musical instrument maker

William Fothergill Cooke (1806 – 1879), originally a maker of anatomical models

Demonstrated their electrical telegraph to the public in July 1837

Britain’s Electrical Telegraph (2) Wheatstone : A scholar in the science of electricity Cooke : An entrepreneur seeking a fortune Their first model Used six wires Five galvanometer needles in a row A grid of 20 letters of the alphabet Transmitted 25 characters per minute Later models: Fewer wires, fewer needles

Wheatstone : A scholar in the science of electricity

Cooke : An entrepreneur seeking a fortune

Their first model

Used six wires

Five galvanometer needles in a row

A grid of 20 letters of the alphabet

Transmitted 25 characters per minute

Later models: Fewer wires, fewer needles

The First Telegraph The Wheatstone-Cooke system was simple to use: A child could do it The first experimental line ( 1837 ): Two stations of the Great Western Railway Company (England) were connected Distance: 1.5 miles A physical wire had to run from one station to another

The Wheatstone-Cooke system was simple to use: A child could do it

The first experimental line ( 1837 ): Two stations of the Great Western Railway Company (England) were connected

Distance: 1.5 miles

A physical wire had to run from one station to another

First U.S. Telegraph Line Between Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. Operated by the U.S. Postal Service 1845 – 1847 (started 8 years after Wheatstone and Cooke) Length: 40 miles By 1852 , there were 23,000 miles of telegraph wires in the U.S.

Between Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

Operated by the U.S. Postal Service

1845 – 1847 (started 8 years after Wheatstone and Cooke)

Length: 40 miles

By 1852 , there were 23,000 miles of telegraph wires in the U.S.

Pony Express Young men on horseback carried messages and mail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California (1,800 miles) Trip duration: About 10 days Rider relay: A new rider took over every 75 to 100 miles Horse relay: A rider got a fresh horse every 10 to 15 miles Service provided only from April 1860 to October 1861 ( hmm, what happened?)

Young men on horseback carried messages and mail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California (1,800 miles)

Trip duration: About 10 days

Rider relay: A new rider took over every 75 to 100 miles

Horse relay: A rider got a fresh horse every 10 to 15 miles

Service provided only from April 1860 to October 1861 ( hmm, what happened?)

A demand to link the U.S. coasts Business interests wanted a telegraph line to cross the empty western plains Many people believed it would be impossible On June 16, 1860, Congress passed the Pacific Telegraph Act of 1860 Bids were requested; three companies made bids, but two dropped out The only bidder left then won the contract -- Western Union Telegraph Company

Business interests wanted a telegraph line to cross the empty western plains

Many people believed it would be impossible

On June 16, 1860, Congress passed the Pacific Telegraph Act of 1860

Bids were requested; three companies made bids, but two dropped out

The only bidder left then won the contract -- Western Union Telegraph Company

1861: Transcontinental railroad completed

Let’s roll back to 1832, before Wheatstone and Cooke and their little experiment in England …

Samuel F. B. Morse Born 1791 in Massachusetts Attended Yale Became a portrait painter In 1832 , on a ship returning to the U.S. from Europe, he overheard a conversation about the electromagnet (which had been invented in 1825) He hatched an idea for an electric telegraph

Born 1791 in Massachusetts

Attended Yale

Became a portrait painter

In 1832 , on a ship returning to the U.S. from Europe, he overheard a conversation about the electromagnet (which had been invented in 1825)

He hatched an idea for an electric telegraph

Morse’s Hardware 1835: He built a working model in a building at New York University, where he taught art classes 1837: He acquired two partners to help him, a scientist and a mechanic 1837 : Morse applied for a patent 1838: Morse demonstrates his telegraph in New York, transmitting 10 words per minute

1835: He built a working model in a building at New York University, where he taught art classes

1837: He acquired two partners to help him, a scientist and a mechanic

1837 : Morse applied for a patent

1838: Morse demonstrates his telegraph in New York, transmitting 10 words per minute

Morse Code Morse’s patent application included a description of a system of dots and dashes Simplicity: Total of four signals Dot, dash, short space, long space Combinations of dots and dashes represent individual letters of the alphabet Can be memorized (no codebook needed)

Morse’s patent application included a description of a system of dots and dashes

Simplicity: Total of four signals

Dot, dash, short space, long space

Combinations of dots and dashes represent individual letters of the alphabet

Can be memorized (no codebook needed)

Morse code Chappe’s code

Flashback to ancient Sumer and cuneiform: How efficient is the Latin alphabet? How has it helped the western world to advance?

After Years of Rejection 1843: Morse finally receives funding from Congress to construct the first telegraph line in the U. S. (Baltimore to Washington) Afterward, private companies fund the expanding telegraph network Morse becomes a wealthy man by 1847, (when he buys a house with 100 acres of land) Dies in 1872, age 80

1843: Morse finally receives funding from Congress to construct the first telegraph line in the U. S. (Baltimore to Washington)

Afterward, private companies fund the expanding telegraph network

Morse becomes a wealthy man by 1847, (when he buys a house with 100 acres of land)

Dies in 1872, age 80

Commodities and Futures “Transportation” and “communication” used to be synonymous The telegraph decoupled the two Information that is detached from the goods it represents can both simulate the goods and control them Buy low, sell high Instantaneous communication eliminates boundaries to commerce

“Transportation” and “communication” used to be synonymous

The telegraph decoupled the two

Information that is detached from the goods it represents can both simulate the goods and control them

Buy low, sell high

Instantaneous communication eliminates boundaries to commerce

Commodities and Futures (2) Wholesale prices used to be radically different in different U.S. cities Information is power “The telegraph put everyone in the same place for purposes of trade” As soon as you know the crop conditions, you can sell your receipts (high or low) The abstraction of commerce

Wholesale prices used to be radically different in different U.S. cities

Information is power

“The telegraph put everyone in the same place for purposes of trade”

As soon as you know the crop conditions, you can sell your receipts (high or low)

The abstraction of commerce

Linking the Old World and the New World

Transatlantic Cable Shortest distance: 2,200 miles Cables: Made of strands of copper wire, insulated with gutta percha (similar to rubber) and tarred hemp Outside wound with 300,000 miles of iron wire for protection on the sea floor No single ship was big enough to carry all of the cable required The cable had to be spliced in the middle of the Atlantic

Shortest distance: 2,200 miles

Cables: Made of strands of copper wire, insulated with gutta percha (similar to rubber) and tarred hemp

Outside wound with 300,000 miles of iron wire for protection on the sea floor

No single ship was big enough to carry all of the cable required

The cable had to be spliced in the middle of the Atlantic

Laying undersea cable in the 1800s

Transatlantic Cable (2) Between Ireland and Newfoundland 1857 : The first attempt Halfway across the Atlantic, during a storm, the cable broke 1858 : Another storm, another failure Later that year: Success! (Aug. 16) But the cable quit working in September What happened?

Between Ireland and Newfoundland

1857 : The first attempt

Halfway across the Atlantic, during a storm, the cable broke

1858 : Another storm, another failure

Later that year: Success! (Aug. 16)

But the cable quit working in September

What happened?

2,700 miles of cable from Ireland to Newfoundland

Transatlantic Cable (3) Edward Whitehouse, the electrical engineer behind the first phase, did not fully understand the properties of electricity Cyrus Field, a businessman who raised the money to lay the cable (three times), had hired Whitehouse U.S. Civil War, 1861 – 1865 There was no money for another attempt

Edward Whitehouse, the electrical engineer behind the first phase, did not fully understand the properties of electricity

Cyrus Field, a businessman who raised the money to lay the cable (three times), had hired Whitehouse

U.S. Civil War, 1861 – 1865

There was no money for another attempt

Transatlantic Cable (4) A new 2,700-mile cable was completed soon after the end of the U.S. Civil War Cyrus Field still involved; Whitehouse gone Cable snaps again, only 600 miles from the end; new cable must be made 1866 : At last! A cable that connects two continents and keeps on working!

A new 2,700-mile cable was completed soon after the end of the U.S. Civil War

Cyrus Field still involved; Whitehouse gone

Cable snaps again, only 600 miles from the end; new cable must be made

1866 : At last! A cable that connects two continents and keeps on working!

Writer Arthur C. Clarke described the laying of the transatlantic cable as the Victorian equivalent of putting a man on the moon

The Telegraph (2): Erasing Time, Compressing Space Presentation by Mindy McAdams University of Florida