Catalogue of Books and Papers Relating to Electricity, Magnetism, the Electric Telegraph, etc
Including the Ronalds Library

First published in 1880, this is a catalogue of over 13,000 titles kept by the Society of Telegraph Engineers.

Francis Ronalds (Author), Alfred J. Frost (Edited by)

9781108052542, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 18 April 2013

598 pages
21.6 x 14 x 3.4 cm, 0.75 kg

In 1816, Sir Francis Ronalds (1788–1873) became the first physicist to demonstrate the possibility of an electric telegraph. Previously, the only telegraphs were semaphores - cumbersome signal towers capable of sending only two or three words per minute. However, his idea was dismissed by the Admiralty, where senior officials deemed any new telegraphs 'unnecessary'. Although his designs were soon to be superseded by those of the more successful Samuel Morse, Ronalds' devotion to telegraphy never waned; he spent much of his life collecting books on the subject. Upon his death, his collection was left to the Society of Telegraph Engineers, where it would become available to those most in need of it. Covering more than 13,000 titles, and including a short memoir of Ronalds, this book, first published in 1880, is a catalogue of that collection and other relevant works. It remains an invaluable resource for students in the history of science.

Preface
Biographical memoir of Sir Francis Ronalds, FRS
The Ronalds catalogue.

Subject Areas: History of science [PDX]