Dawn of the Electronic Age: Electrical Technologies in the Shaping of the Modern World, 1914 to 1945

Introduction 1

1. The Great War and Wireless Communications 11

1.1 Land-Bound Communications 11

1.1.1 The Battle of Tannenberg and the Electron Tube 11

1.1.2 The Telegraph 15

1.1.3 The Telephone and the Battle of Neuve Chapelle 17

1.1.4 Ground Telegraphy 20

1.2 Communication Through the Ether 21

1.2.1 Origins of Wireless Telegraphy 21

1.2.2 Wireless at Sea 24

1.2.3 Wireless on Land and in the Air 26

1.3 Eavesdropping 30

1.3.1 Military Intelligence 30

1.3.2 Cryptology and the Zimmermann Telegram 34

1.4 The Art and Science of Radio 37

1.4.1 The Manufacture of Electron Tubes 37

1.4.2 The Science of Electron Tubes 40

1.4.3 Radio Engineers 43

2. Electrical Technologies in Total War 47

2.1 Remote and Automatic Control 47

2.1.1 The Battle of Jutland and Electrical Technology at Sea 47

2.1.2 Fire Control and Analog Calculation 51

2.1.3 Gyroscopic Control 54

2.1.4 Sound Ranging and Other Systems of Control 58

2.2 Military Research and Development 62

2.2.1 Research Against the Submarine Threat 62

2.2.2 A War of the Engineers 66

2.2.3 Institutionalizing Military R&D 69

2.3 Mobilization for Total War 72

2.3.1 A War of Attrition 72

2.3.2 Electrical Technology and Mobilization 75

2.3.3 The War for Minds 77

2.3.4 The Legacies of World War I 78

3. Electrification in the Interwar Period 83

3.1 Lenin’s Program of Development Through Electric Power 83

3.1.1 “Communism is Soviet Power Plus the Electrification of the Whole Country” 83

3.1.2 The State Adopts an Electrification Plan 85

3.1.3 Engineers Gain in Status 87

3.2 Generators, Power Lines, and Motors 88

3.2.1 Generating Electric Power 88

3.2.2 Transmitting Electric Power 90

3.2.3 Using Electric Power 92

3.2.4 Interconnecting Power Networks 94

3.3 Power Engineering 97

3.3.1 The Science of Power Engineering 97

3.3.2 Network Analyzers 99

3.3.3 The Business of Power Engineering 101

3.4 Technology Transfer to the Soviet Union 102

3.4.1 Transfer of Technology from One Country to Another 102

3.4.2 The Soviet Context 104

3.4.3 The GOELRO Projects 105

3.4.4 Soviet Electrification in the 1930s 107

3.5 Worldwide Dissemination of Technology 109

3.5.1 Third World Industrialization 109

3.5.2 Electrification of Brazil 110

3.5.3 An International Arena for Power Engineering 114

3.6 Rural Electrification 115

3.6.1 The Soviet Countryside Electrified 115

3.6.2 The Tennessee Valley Electrified 117

3.6.3 Rural Life Transformed 118

4. The Jazz Age and Radio Broadcasting 121

4.1 Radio in the Twenties 121

4.1.1 The Battle of the Century 121

4.1.2 The Radio Craze 123

4.1.3 Sports, Music, and Drama 125

4.1.4 Ballyhoo, Politics, and Religion 128

4.1.5 Synergy of Radio and Culture 130

4.2 The Establishment of Broadcasting in the United States 132

4.2.1 Radio Amateurs 132

4.2.2 The Formation of RCA 134

4.2.3 The Beginning of Regular Broadcasting 137

4.2.4 Advertisements and Networks 138

4.2.5 Government Regulation 142

4.3 The Establishment of Broadcasting in Other Countries 143

4.3.1 The British Broadcasting System 143

4.3.2 Broadcasting in Other European Countries 146

4.3.3 Broadcasting in Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas 148

4.3.4 International Cooperation 151

4.4 Radio Engineering 152

4.4.1 Electron Tubes 152

4.4.2 Edwin Howard Armstrong 154

4.4.3 Interference 156

4.4.4 Advancing the Radio Art 158

4.5 How Good is this Radio? 161

4.5.1 Quantification in Radio Engineering 161

4.5.2 Standardization of Measures of Receiver Performance 165

4.6 Radio’s Golden Age 168

4.6.1 A Radio in Every Home 168

4.6.2 The Expansion of Programming 171

4.6.3 Educational and Other Uses of Radio 173

4.6.4 The Social Impact of Radio 175

5. Postwar Recovery and the Great Depression: Electrical Technologies in Industry and Commerce 179

5.1 Electrifying the Factory 179

5.1.1 Electric Motors in Manufacturing 179

5.1.2 Electrochemistry and Electrometallurgy 181

5.1.3 Electrification of Industry 184

5.1.4 Electrical and Electronic Control of Machines 187

5.1.5 Mass Production and Popular Culture 194

5.2 Processing Information 196

5.2.1 Information-Intense Businesses 196

5.2.2 International Business Machines 201

5.3 Electrifying Transportation 206

5.3.1 Streetcars and Subways 206

5.3.2 The Diesel-Electric and Turboelectric Drives 207

5.3.3 Automobiles, Aircraft, and Elevators 210

5.3.4 Control in Transportation 213

5.4 Fostering Economic Growth 217

5.4.1 Postwar Recovery and Electrification 217

5.4.2 New Products and Industrial Research-and-Development 221

5.4.3 The Great Depression and the Economic Infrastructure 225

6. Electrical Technologies and the Consumer Culture 229

6.1 Electricity in the Home 229

6.1.1 Electric Lighting 229

6.1.2 The Modern Kitchen 234

6.1.3 Cleanliness and Comfort with the Aid of Appliances 238

6.2 Mass Entertainment 243

6.2.1 Music for the Masses 243

6.2.2 Movies 250

6.2.3 A Common Culture 259

6.3 The Consumer Culture 264

6.3.1 A Plethora of Consumer Goods 264

6.3.2 Standardization 268

6.3.3 The Americanization of National Cultures 271

7. Communication Technologies in Democratic and Totalitarian Countries 279

7.1 New Communication Technologies 279

7.1.1 The 1936 Olympic Games: Technology in the Service of Propaganda 279

7.1.2 New Types of Wire Communications: Teletype and Phototelegraphy 280

7.1.3 Distant Vision: Television 283

7.1.4 Convenient Recording of Sound: Magnetic Recording 287

7.1.5 Avoidance of Static: FM Radio 288

7.2 Telephone Technologies and Services 290

7.2.1 Providers of Telephone Service 290

7.2.2 The Negative-Feedback Amplifier 294

7.2.3 Increased Transmission Capacity 295

7.2.4 Automatic Switching 298

7.2.5 Social Impact of the Telephone 302

7.3 Technology, Politics, and Governance 304

7.3.1 Radio and Politics 304

7.3.2 Cinema and Politics 310

7.3.3 Outdoor Lighting and Public-Address Systems 312

7.3.4 Governments and Information Processing 315

7.3.5 Society and Communications 316

8. Electrical Engineering in an Age of Science 321

8.1 An Age of Science 321

8.1.1 1932, The Year in Science 321

8.1.2 Science Shaped by Technology 324

8.1.3 Facilities for Research 327

8.2 Measuring and Imaging Instruments 328

8.2.1 Measuring Instruments 328

8.2.2 Imaging Devices 335

8.2.3 Means of Manipulation 337

8.2.4 Medical Technology 339

8.3 Calculating Machines 342

8.3.1 Growth of Applied Mathematics 342

8.3.2 Digital Computers 343

8.3.3 Analog Calculators 346

8.4 The Profession of Electrical Engineering 348

8.4.1 The Image of the Electrical Engineer 348

8.4.2 Societies, Journals, and Standards 350

8.4.3 Education 354

8.4.4 Engineering Science 355

9. World War II and Electrical Technology 359

9.1 The World War Resumed 359

9.1.1 Renewal of War 359

9.1.2 Mobilizing for War 361

9.1.3 Propaganda 364

9.2 Electrical Technology in Battle 371

9.2.1 On Land 371

9.2.2 At Sea 378

9.2.3 In the Air 382

9.3 Control Systems and Computers 385

9.3.1 Guided Missiles 385

9.3.2 Control Systems 388

9.3.3 Computers 390

9.4 The Battle of the Atlantic, Codebreaking, and Sonar 397

9.4.1 The Battle of the Atlantic 397

9.4.2 Codebreaking 401

9.4.3 Sonar 408

10. Radar, the Weapon That Decided the War 413

10.1 The Battle of Britain 413

10.1.1 Operation Sea Lion 413

10.1.2 Technical Developments 418

10.1.3 Variety of Radars 425

10.2 Radar Countermeasures 430

10.2.1 Detecting, Jamming, and Changing Frequency 430

10.2.2 Chaff, Coating, and Active Deception 433

10.3 The Proximity Fuse 436

10.3.1 A New Weapon 436

10.3.2 The New Weapon in Combat 439

10.4 The Radar-Computer Combination 442

10.4.1 Fire Control 442

10.4.2 Bombing Systems 446

10.5 Electronic Navigation 449

10.5.1 Navigational Systems for Strategic Bombing 449

10.5.2 Radio and Radar Applied to Navigation 452

10.5.3 The Identification Problem 455

10.6 Government-Industry-Academia Collaboration 456

10.6.1 Technology by Command 456

10.6.2 Radar’s Legacy 462

Conclusion: Dawn of the Electronic Age 469

Notes on the Illustrations 477

Sources 479

Index 513