This book is a compilation of writings of great American electrical pioneers at the dawn of the electrical age.

They were a diverse group. Many were not born in the U.S., but became naturalized U. S. citizens. They came from different economic levels. Edison started out poor, went to work young, and was practically self-educated. Westinghouse had the benefits of wealthy parents and a good education. They had varied interests. Electricity and inventing were not the main interests of Benjamin Franklin. Nikola Tesla, on the other hand, was almost totally devoted to electrical engineering, inventing, and experimenting. However, all were self-motivated, hard workers, inventive, and intelligent.

Minimal biographical information is supplied. The goal of this book is to present the words of these pioneers, not to present a biographer's view point.

All original text material has been retyped. On the rare occasions that spelling errors were encountered in the original material, the errors were corrected. Otherwise, the words presented are the same as originally published.


CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS

Alexander Graham Bell

Lee de Forest

Thomas Alva Edison

Benjamin Franklin

Joseph Henry

Charles Proteus Steinmetz

Nikola Tesla

Elihu Thomson

George Westinghouse