Today in Technology History
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March 29
On March 29, 1853, Elihu Thomson was born. Although almost forgotten today, Thomson was a pivotal figure in the adoption of electricity and an astonishingly prolific inventor.
Thomson was born in Manchester, England, but his family moved to the U.S. when he was five years old. His main contributions were in the area of electricity, where he made pioneering experiments with alternating-current (AC) motors. He was convinced electricity would change the world: "It seems destined to become at some future time the means of obtaining light, heat, and mechanical force."
For Thomson, there was no gulf between pure and applied science, and he constantly looked for practical applications for his theoretical research. In 1880 he and a friend founded an electric company that in 1892 merged with Thomas Edison's electric company to begin General Electric.
Thomson invented an electrical welding system and the electricity meter. He improved the technology for lighting, automobile mufflers and X-ray machines. He wrote cogent articles on a wide range of topics, from telescopes to fireflies. In all, the U.S. Patent Office granted him 696 patents. (Only a handful of people have ever had more.)
Over his long intellectual career Thomson received degrees from many of the world's most prestigious universities. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was for many decades a professor of what would today be called electrical engineering, even made him interim president -- twice. He died in 1937, at the age of 83.
Related link:
Click here to read a blurb about Thomson.
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