Brian Bowers

‘In a parental position to our telegraph system’: Charles Wheatstone

Prince Albert said that Wheatstone was dasiain a parental position to our telegraph systempsila. Was that description justified? The practical electric telegraph began with the work of Cooke and Wheatstone in Britain and of Morse in the USA. The first commercial installation was arranged by Cooke, using Wheatstonepsilas dasiafive-needlepsila instruments, on the Great Western Railway. It led to the formation of the Electric Telegraph Company and the rapid development of the telegraph network. When Morse came to London, seeking an English patent, he met Wheatstone, and probably also Cooke. They discussed possible cooperation, but the discussions came to nothing.

Charles wheatstone—experimental philosopher

Abstract Professor Sir Charles Wheatstone, F.R.S. (1802–1875) was originally destined for a career in the manufacture of musical instruments but he was more interested in the science of acoustics. He investigated Chladnis figures, the conduction of sound in solids and the action of ‘free reed’ instruments. Subsequently he turned to the electric telegraph and made fundamental studies in electrical science, especially in measurements. His practical contributions to electrical technology include many designs of telegraph and work on motors and generators.

Wheatstone and the generation of electricity

Charles Wheatstone is generally remembered for the electrical measuring bridge that bears his name, although it was not his invention ; he merely developed it into a practical technique. It is less well known that he made many important contributions to the early development of electrical machines, and was one of the inventors of the self-excited generator, which eventually made possible the large-scale generation of electricity as we know it today.