TWO CENTURIES IN RETROSPECT
J. D. Ryder, James E. Brittain · 1976
This special review of the history of two centuries of electrical engineering in the United States includes 23 papers. Four papers review the first century, discussing the contributions of Benjamin Franklin and Joseph Henry, Charles G. Page's patent of the induction coil, and the technical adjustments carried out at the terminal stations of the Atlantic cable in the 1870's. The papers on the second century (roughly 1870-date) consider the developments in telecommunication and electronics, electric power generation, electric lighting and electric railroads, and the social, professional & educational aspects of electrical engineering development. Included in this group are the contributions to telephony and telegraphy of Bell and Gray, the development of the electronics industry on the Pacific coast, the contributions of the two National Television System Committees (NTSCs) in promoting high-quality monochrome and color television, the development of the Niagara Falls and TVA hydroelectric complexes, the choice between ac and dc, railroad electrification, the conflict between the concept of a national power grid and the individual utilities, the evolution of the electrical engineering societies, the AIEE and the IRE, a brief history of electrical engineering education, early impacts of communications on military doctrine, creative engineering in a corporate setting as exemplified by C. P. Steinmetz and E. F. W. Alexanderson, and a consideration of the need for enhanced systems engineering to select priorities and goals to meet the challenges of the future.