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IEEE History Center IISSUE 92, July 20 13 Such efforts address both goals one a This activity was part “ o This effort com- p The administrative and finan- c Our new platform, “ IEEE has t t I am g Gowen, for his l Now, we have a new Chair, Dr. Michael W In addition, t Dr. Abbate, acclaimed historian of technolog y and the au t hTheor o fsecond Recodin goalg Ge nmakesder: Wo men’s Ch a nWithging Ptheart icassistanceipation in C oofm pthisutin gleader- and Inventicng the Internet g iving a lect ur e hosted by the IE EE Hs isto ry Cent er Static from the Director . 2 Surf City . 6 Center Activities . 3 Thi ngs to See and Do . 7 Heaviside/Maxw ell Equatio ns Eth ernet Fortiet h A nniv ersary This special print newsletter, History C enter Hosts JByan efocusingt Abbat eour efforts on w Grants and Fellowships . 7 Follow sUs on Twitte r and Tu mblr Steinmetz’s Electric Car Manuscript “ D o nors a nd Su pporte Itrs is. .these . .gifts . 7 that, at IEEE Work shop with Sister S ocieties t Ob ituary . 8 GHN Update Oral History Training Webinars Bibliography . 9 IEEE History Center STATIC FROM THE DIRECTOR e newsletter reports on the activities By Michael Geselowitz, Ph.D. driving vehicles are poised for emergence as of the IEEE History Center and on a legitimate product even as electrically pow- new resources and projects in electrical In much of the world, August marks the and computer history. It is published ered vehicles are becoming a major industry. leisure travel season. There may be a public three times each year—once in hard copy Magnetic levitation train technology contin- (March) and twice electronically ( July and perception that transportation falls within the ues to advance. South Korea is about to open November) by the IEEE History Center. realm of civil engineering. When earlier this the third operational line at Incheon Airport. year the American Society of Civil Engineers IEEE History Center While technically the second commercial line, 39 Union St (ASCE) handed out its highly publicized, it may be the first time the technological choice New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8538 USA quadrennial “report card” on the infrastruc- Telephone: +1 732 562 5450 stood on its own, not shaped by politics. ture of the U.S.A., seven of the 16 categories Fax: +1 732 932 1193 These developments come as no surprise E-mail: [email protected] involved transportation. However, anyone to the historians of the IEEE History Center. In URL: www.ieee.org/history_center who pays attention to media reports of tech- the early days of engineering as a modern pro- nological innovation will notice a steady and fession, the lines between the disciplines were growing convergence between transportation IEEE History Committee 2013 not so neatly drawn. Thomas Edison, the and fields traditionally covered by electrical Lyle Feisel, Chair iconic late 19th century inventor/entrepreneur and electronics engineers. Electronically self- Fiorenza Albert-Howard who helped found the American Institute of eodore Bickart David Burger Gilmore Cooke Subscription Information members are encouraged to subscribe as well) to Irving Engelson [email protected] Elizabeth Johnston The IEEE History Center newsletter is available free Current and past issues of the newsletter can Hirohisa Kawamoto Allison Marsh to all persons interested in technological history be accessed at: www.ieee.org/about/history Eiju Matsumoto – whether engineers, scholars, researchers, hob- _center/newsletters.html David Michelson byists, or interested members of the public. It is The IEEE History Center is a non-profit organ- Juan Carlos Miguez published in hard copy in March, and in electronic ization which relies on your support to preserve, re- omas Misa form in July and November of each year. search, and promote the legacy of electrical Antonio Perez Yuste To subscribe to the IEEE History Center’s engineering and computing. To support the Cen- Mischa Schwartz free newsletter, please send your name, ter’s projects – such as the Global History Network, postal mailing address, e-mail address (optional Milestones, and Oral History Collection, please click IEEE History Center Staff if you wish to receive the electronic versions), the "Donate Online" tab at www.ieee.org/donate and IEEE member number (if applicable – non- or www.ieeefoundation.org/ Michael Geselowitz, Staff Director [email protected] Sheldon Hochheiser, Archivist and NEWSLETTER SUBMISSION BOX Institutional Historian [email protected] The IEEE History Center Newsletter welcomes submissions of Letters to the Editor, as well as articles Alexander Magoun, Outreach Historian for its “Reminiscences” and “Relic Hunting” departments. “Reminiscences” are accounts of history of a [email protected] technology from the point of view of someone who worked in the technical area or was closely con- nected to someone who was. They may be narrated either in the first person or third person. “Relic John Vardalas, Outreach Historian Hunting” are accounts of finding or tracking down tangible pieces of electrical history in interesting or [email protected] unsuspected places (in situ and still operating is of particular interest). Length: 500-1200 words. Sub- Nathan Brewer, Digital Content mit to [email protected]. Articles and letters to the editor may be edited for style or length. Manager [email protected] Robert Colburn, Research Coordinator The IEEE History Center Newsletter Advertising Rates [email protected] The newsletter of the IEEE History Center is published three times per annum; one issue (March) in paper, the other two (July and November) electronically. The circulation of the paper issue is IEEE prohibits discrimination, 4,800; the circulation of the electronic issues is 22,500. The newsletter reaches engineers, retired harassment and bullying. engineers, researchers, archivists, and curators interested specifically in the history of electrical, For more information visit electronics, and computing engineering, and the history of related technologies. www.ieee.org/nondiscrimination Cost Per Issue © IEEE information contained in this Quarter Page $150 newsletter may be copied without permission, Half Page $200 provided that copies for direct commercial Full Page $250 advantage are not made or distributed, and the title of the IEEE publication and its date Please submit camera-ready copy via mail or email attachment to [email protected]. appear on each copy. Deadlines for receipt of ad copy are 2 February, 2 June, 2 October. For more information, contact Robert Colburn at [email protected]. 2 STATIC FROM THE DIRECTOR Issue 92 July 2013 Electrical Engineers (AIEE, predecessor to IEEE), worked on the in history (see page 5). mechanical phonograph, electric power and light, and the As for the early role of electrical engineering in transporta- production of Portland cement. It is appropriate (ironic?) in the tion specifically, one need look no further that this issue with its 21st century that so many different fields of engineering are archival feature on Steinmetz’s electric car (see page 4). converging in order better to advance technology for humanity. Therefore, dear reader, if you will be traveling soon by land, These developments are in part why the IEEE is in conversation sea or air, bon voyage from the IEEE History Center. with ASCE and other sister societies about closer cooperation CENTER ACTIVITIES HEAVISIDE/MAXWELL EQUATIONS ARTICLE SETS READERSHIP RECORD IN THE INSTITUTE An article by IEEE History Center Senior Staff Di- plify the equations using notation that would be rector Dr. Michael Geselowitz drew more than clearer to use. The article is part of a continuing 27,700 readers, the highest views ever for an In- collaboration between the IEEE History Center stitute article. The article, “Did You Know? Some- and The Institute to bring the history of IEEE’s one Else Wrote Maxwell’s Equations” http:// fields of interest alive for the members. Look for theinstitute.ieee.org/technology-focus/ future articles on the history of hearing aids, tor- technology-history/did-you-know-someone- nado and tsunami detection devices, and secret else-wrote-maxwells-equations describes the White House recordings (which began long before important work done by Oliver Heaviside to sim- Nixon) at http://theinstitute.ieee.org Oliver Heaviside, who put Maxwell’s equations in the form we know them. HISTORY CENTER HOSTS COMPUTER HISTORIAN JANET ABBATE On April 3rd the IEEE History Center and the Rutgers Institute for came masculinized; so much so that women today earn a rel- Research on Women hosted a talk by Janet Abbate, Associate atively low percentage of computer science degrees and hold Professor of Science and Technology at Virginia Tech. Abbate is proportionately few technical computing jobs with percentages an acclaimed historian of technology and the author of Recod- that have declined since the 1980s. Abbate is confident that ing Gender: Women’s Changing Participation in Computing (MIT the computer industry would benefit if it would encourage both Press, 2012) and Inventing the Internet (MIT Press, 1999). men and women to exercise the full range of human interests In her talk entitled, "Gender and the History of Comput- and abilities. ing,” Abbate presented work from her current research. She de- Abbate’s talk brought together scholars from various fields scribed women’s experiences in programming and computer such as history, physics, sociology and gender studies, and ini- science from the 1940s to the late 20th century. The research tiated a lively discussion of the questions and issues it raised. draws on oral history interviews with more than fifty women The lecture was preceded by lunch with graduate students from who were active in computer science departments and the the history department who work in the nexus of culture and software industry in the United States and Great Britain.