Innovation as a Social Process
Elihu Thomson and the Rise of General Electric

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

W. Bernard Carlson (Author)

9780521533126, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 February 2003

400 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm, 0.65 kg

'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, University of Pennsylvania

Elihu Thomson was a late-nineteenth-century American inventor who helped create the first electric lighting and power systems. One of the most prolific inventors in American history, Thomson was granted nearly 700 patents in a career spanning the 1880s to 1930s. His inventions included arc and incandescent lighting systems, alternating current motors and transformers, electric welding equipment, and the recording watt-meter, all of which were central in determining how electricity is used today. Thomson was educated in science, and he used a combination of scientific values and craft skills to develop his many inventions. Consequently, his career permits an investigation of how technologists employ craft knowledge to create new products. While employed by the General Electric Company, Thomson worked with other managers and entrepreneurs to link the hardware of electric lighting with business organization and marketing strategy. Thus, his story also traces the role of technology in the rise of a major American corporation.

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.

Subject Areas: History of the Americas [HBJK]