Long-distance telephony

Preece, W.H.

doi:10.1049/jste-3.1886.0014

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…This view received strong support from William Preece, a high‐ranking electrician who had served as president of the Society of Telegraph Engineers and Electricians and in 1881 was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. During the years 1892‐1899 he worked as the chief engineer of the British Post Office (Baker, 1976; Preece, 1886). Although Preece’s view was not uncontested, it was widely accepted as a practical guideline for the design of telephone lines.…”

Section: The Empirical Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Styles of Science and Engineering: The Case of Early Long-Distance Telephony

Kragh¹

2009

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In the historiography of the relationship between technology and theoretical science, electrical communication plays an important role. It was by means of mathematical reasoning based on the new theory of electromagnetism that it was first understood how to extend the range of telephony by inserting self‐inductance in the line. This paper surveys developments from around 1880 to 1910, at a time when ‘pupinization’ had become a reality and mathematical physics an accepted part of the research strategy of a few advanced companies in the electrical industry. It presents the confrontation of two different styles of engineering science, on the one hand there was the empirical approach and on the other an approach more mathematical in nature. This paper offers some reflections on the nature of ‘counterintuitive technologies’ and the general relationship between science, engineering and technology.

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Section: The Empirical Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%