Dawn of the Electronic Age (eBook)

FREDERIK NEBEKER, PHD, is currently Senior Research Historian at the IEEE History Center, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

Introduction.

1. The Great War and Wireless Communications.

1.1 Land-Bound Communications.

1.2 Communication Through the Ether.

1.4 The Art and Science of Radio.

2. Electrical Technologies in Total War.

2.1 Remote and Automatic Control.

2.2 Military Research and Development.

2.3 Mobilization for Total War.

3. Electrifi cation in the Interwar Period.

3.1 Lenin's Program of Development Through ElectricPower.

3.2 Generators, Power Lines, and Motors.

3.3 Power Engineering.

3.4 Technology Transfer to the Soviet Union.

3.5 Worldwide Dissemination of Technology.

3.6 Rural Electrifi cation.

4. The Jazz Age and Radio Broadcasting.

4.1 Radio in the Twenties.

4.2 The Establishment of Broadcasting in the United States.

4.3 The Establishment of Broadcasting in Other Countries.

4.4 Radio Engineering.

4.5 How Good is this Radio?

4.6 Radio's Golden Age.

5. Postwar Recovery and the Great Depression: ElectricalTechnologies in Industry and Commerce.

5.1 Electrifying the Factory.

5.2 Processing Information.

5.3 Electrifying Transportation.

5.4 Fostering Economic Growth.

6. Electrical Technologies and the Consumer Culture.

6.1 Electricity in the Home.

6.2 Mass Entertainment.

6.3 The Consumer Culture.

7. Communication Technologies in Democratic and TotalitarianCountries.

7.1 New Communication Technologies.

7.2 Telephone Technologies and Services.

7.3 Technology, Politics, and Governance.

8. Electrical Engineering in an Age of Science.

8.1 An Age of Science.

8.2 Measuring and Imaging Instruments.

8.3 Calculating Machines.

8.4 The Profession of Electrical Engineering.

9. World War II and Electrical Technology.

9.1 The World War Resumed.

9.2 Electrical Technology in Battle.

9.3 Control Systems and Computers.

9.4 The Battle of the Atlantic, Codebreaking, and Sonar.

10. Radar, the Weapon That Decided the War.

10.1 The Battle of Britain.

10.2 Radar Countermeasures.

10.3 The Proximity Fuse.

10.4 The Radar-Computer Combination.

10.5 Electronic Navigation.

10.6 Government-Industry-Academia Collaboration.

Conclusion: Dawn of the Electronic Age.

Notes on the Illustrations.

Sources.

Index.

?The volume provides a broad spectrum of nearly 700 (mostly
secondary) references and enough background material for dozens of
student papers.? (CHOICE, October 2009)

"Many readers will appreciate the way in which Nebeker explains
how the technologies worked without using complicated
mathematics.... Throughout there are excellent quotes from
engineers, scientists and historians giving fantastic insight into
their thoughts." (Engineering and Technology, June 2009)

"The Dawn of The Electronic Age is easily one of the most
interesting books I have read in some time." (BlogCritics,
June 2009)