Table of Contents

List of figures and tables; Editors' preface; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations used in footnotes; Introduction; 1. The cultivation of a scientific man; 2. Learning the craft of invention; 3. The Philadelphia partnership, 1879–80; 4. Frustration in New Britain, 1880–3; 5. Success in Lynn: the Thomson-Houston electric company, 1883–92; 6. Maintaining the organization: product development at General Electric, 1892–1900; Epilogue and conclusion; Index.

Promotional Information

Elihu Thomson was a late-nineteenth-century American inventor who helped create the first electric lighting and power systems.

Reviews

'At a time when the country is searching for clues to understanding invention and innovation, Bernard Carlson's detailed and thoughtful study of Elihu Thomson provides information and insights of immense value. He moves the art of writing the biography of inventors a quantum leap beyond sentimental heroic-inventor stories and the dry skepticism of macro-economic monographs.' Thomas P. Hughes, Mellon Professor, University of Pennsylvania