Beyond Einstein : New Jersey’s* Contributions to World Science and Technology
* also New York City and Philadelphia
Michael G. Littman Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Princeton University 1 Since 1664 …
• What radical innovations originate and thrive in NJ ?
• Who are the key people ?
• How has society changed ?
2 For this talk …
• List NJ innovators, innovations, and organizations Since 1664 … • Select the most significant • What radical innovations originate and thrive in NJ ? • Group them
• Who are the key people ? Common theme emerges – • How has society changed ? NJ contributions to origin and development of electric power and information networks is extensive
3 “ CEE 102 Engineering For this talk … in the Modern World” • List NJ innovators, DESIGN innovations, and organizations Structures Civil Machines Mechanical • Select the most significant Networks Electrical Processes Chemical • Group them
DISCOVERY Physics Common theme emerges – Astronomy NJ contributions to origin and Chemistry development of electric power Geology and information networks is extensive
No Life Science or Medicine 4 Edward Sorel – “People of Progress” – 20th Century
(left to right): Philo T. Farnsworth, George Washington Carver, Jonas Salk, Henry Ford, Orville Wright, Wilbur Wright, Albert Einstein, Charles H. Townes, Charles Steinmetz, J. C. R. Licklider, John Von Neumann, William H. Gates III, Robert Goddard, James Dewey 5 Watson, Wallace Hume Carothers, Rachel Carson, Willis Carrier, Gertrude Elion, Edwin H. Armstrong, Robert Noyce Edward Sorel – “People of Progress” – 20th Century
(left to right): Philo T. Farnsworth, George Washington Carver, Jonas Salk, Henry Ford, Orville Wright, Wilbur Wright, Albert Einstein, Charles H. Townes, Charles Steinmetz, J. C. R. Licklider, John Von Neumann, William H. Gates III, Robert Goddard, James Dewey 6 Watson, Wallace Hume Carothers, Rachel Carson, Willis Carrier, Gertrude Elion, Edwin H. Armstrong, Robert Noyce Christian Schussele – “Men of Progress” – 19th Century
(left to right): William Thomas Green Morton, James Bogardus, Samuel Colt, Cyrus Hall McCormick, Joseph Saxton, Charles Goodyear, Peter Cooper, Jordan Lawrence Mott, Joseph Henry, Eliphalet Nott, John Ericsson, Frederick Sickels, Samuel Finley Breese 7 Morse, Henry Burden, Richard March Hoe, Erastus Bigelow, Isaiah Jennings, Thomas Blanchard, and Elias Howe. Benjamin Franklin Peter Cooper Alfred Vail’s Samuel F.B. Morse Joseph Henry Telegraph Register
Christian Schussele – “Men of Progress” – 19th Century
(left to right): William Thomas Green Morton, James Bogardus, Samuel Colt, Cyrus Hall McCormick, Joseph Saxton, Charles Goodyear, Peter Cooper, Jordan Lawrence Mott, Joseph Henry, Eliphalet Nott, John Ericsson, Frederick Sickels, Samuel Finley Breese 8 Morse, Henry Burden, Richard March Hoe, Erastus Bigelow, Isaiah Jennings, Thomas Blanchard, and Elias Howe. Telegraph Register (Printer) by Alfred Vail of Morristown NJ
moving tape
Morse code
Register base-plate signed by Alfred Vail in 9 places – note on bottom …."This lever and roller were invented by me in the sixth story of the New York Observer office, in 1844, before we put up the telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore... I am the sole and only inventor of this mode of telegraph embossing writing. Professor Morse gave me no clue to it... and I have not asserted publicly my right as first and sole inventor, because I wished to preserve the peaceful unity of the invention, and because I could not, according to my contract with Professor Morse, have got a patent for it. "
9 First Grouping
• Ideas • Inventions • Industries
10 Ideas
First Grouping Joseph Henry pole-reversed strong electromagnet • Ideas Albert Einstein • Inventions relativity • Industries John von Neumann stored-program digital computer
11 Ideas
Electric Motor Telegraph Joseph Henry POWER INFORMATION pole-reversed strong electromagnet
Albert Einstein relativity
John von Neumann one memory for stored-program program and digital computer data
12 How society changed
At the time of … my original experiments on electro-magnetism …, I was urged by a friend to take out a patent, both for its application to machinery and to the telegraph, but this I declined, on the ground that I did not then consider it Electric Motor Telegraph compatible with the dignity of science … In this POWER INFORMATION perhaps I was too fastidious. – J. Henry 1876
The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking...the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker. – A. Einstein 1945
It would appear that we have reached the limits one memory for of what it is possible to achieve with computer program and technology, although one should be careful with data such statements, as they tend to sound pretty silly in 5 years. – J. von Neumann 1949
13 All residents of Princeton NJ
Daniel Chester French Statue of Joseph Henry at Princeton University
Horse-shoe Electric Motor Telegraph Electromagnet POWER INFORMATION
one memory for program and data
14 All residents of Princeton NJ
Daniel Chester French Statue of Joseph Henry Inventions at Princeton University
Horse-shoe Edison Electromagnet Phonograph
Bardeen, Brattain, Shockley Transistor
Townes, Schawlow Laser
15 Inventions
Edison Phonograph
Bardeen, Brattain, Shockley Transistor
Townes, Schawlow Laser
16 How society changed
Archival recordings of voice and music - as significant as photography
Miniature electronic devices; portable, rugged, fast, instant on
Optical storage of digital data; Optical transmission of data
17 Menlo Park, NJ West Orange, NJ
Murray Hill, NJ
New York, NY Murray Hill, NJ
18 Menlo Park, NJ Industries West Orange, NJ
Edison Electric Power
Murray Hill, NJ Sarnoff and Armstrong Radio & TV
Samuel Morse and A. Vail J. P. Morgan and T. N. Vail Telegraph & Telephone New York, NY Murray Hill, NJ
19 Industries
Edison Electric Power
Sarnoff and Armstrong Radio & TV
Samuel Morse and A. Vail J. P. Morgan and T. N. Vail Telegraph & Telephone
20 Industries
Edison Electric Power
Sarnoff and Armstrong Radio & TV
Samuel Morse and A. Vail J. P. Morgan and T. N. Vail Telegraph & Telephone
21 Industries
Edison Electric Power RCA Victor RCA Radio and Phonograph Color Television Sarnoff and Armstrong Radio & TV
Samuel Morse and A. Vail J. P. Morgan and T. N. Vail Telegraph & Telephone
Alpine NJ – First FM Radio Tower 22 R & D Laboratories Industries
Edison Laboratories Edison Menlo Park, NJ Electric Power
RCA Laboratories Sarnoff and Armstrong NYC; West Windsor, NJ Radio & TV
Bell Laboratories Samuel Morse and A. Vail NYC; Murray Hill, NJ J. P. Morgan and T. N. Vail Telegraph & Telephone
23 R & D Laboratories Manufacturing
Edison Laboratories Edison Lamp Works Menlo Park, NJ Harrison, NJ
RCA Laboratories RCA Vacuum Tubes NYC; West Windsor, NJ Harrison, NJ
Bell Laboratories Western Electric Company NYC; Murray Hill, NJ Kearny, NJ
24 Manufacturing
Second Grouping Edison Lamp Works Harrison, NJ
• Capturing RCA Vacuum Tubes • Communicating Harrison, NJ
• Computing Western Electric Company Kearny, NJ
25 Capturing
Second Grouping Edison – Phonograph Sound
• Capturing Edison – Kinetoscope • Communicating Motion Picture
• Computing Boyle and Smith – CCD Digital Images
26 Capturing
Edison – Phonograph Sound
Edison – Kinetoscope Motion Picture
Boyle and Smith – CCD Digital Images
27 28 29 filmed in Milltown NJ
30 filmed in Milltown NJ
31 SEM image of iPhone 4 CCD
filmed in Milltown NJ CCD invented at Bell Labs (Murray Hill NJ) by Willard Boyle and George Smith 32 Communicating
Telegraph & Telephone Bell
Radio & TV RCA
Satellites Bell and RCA SEM image of iPhone 4 CCD J. R. Pierce
CCD invented at Bell Labs (Murray Hill NJ) by Willard Boyle and George Smith 33 Communicating
Telegraph & Telephone Bell
Radio & TV RCA
TIROS 1 – first weather satellite Satellites RCA Astro Labs in East Windsor, NJ Bell and RCA J. R. Pierce
34 ECHO 1 – first communications relay Bell Labs – Holmdel, NJ
TIROS 1 – first weather satellite RCA Astro Labs in East Windsor, NJ
TELSTAR – first television pictures and telephone calls Bell Labs – Murray Hill, NJ
35 Computing
Computer John von Neumann ECHO 1 – first communications relay Bell Labs – Holmdel, NJ UNIX Dennis Ritchie Ken Thompson
C Programming Language Dennis Ritchie TELSTAR – first television pictures and telephone calls Bell Labs – Murray Hill, NJ
36 Computing
Computer John von Neumann
UNIX Dennis Ritchie Ken Thompson
C Programming Language Dennis Ritchie Stamp issued in 1996 50th anniversary of ENIAC
37 Universities
Computer Princeton and Penn
Telegraph NYU
Radio & Laser Columbia
Stamp issued in 1996 50th anniversary of ENIAC
38 PEOPLE Nobel Prizes
Pole reversal Henry Relativity Einstein 1921 Computer Von Neumann Laser Townes, Schawlow 1964, 1981 Electric Lamp Edison Phonograph Edison Transistor Bardeen, Brattain, Shockley 1956 Satellite Pierce CCD Boyle, Smith 2009 UNIX & C Ritchie, Thompson Radio & TV Sarnoff, Armstrong Electric Power Edison Motion Picture Edison
39 PLACES
Menlo Park Phonograph, Electric Light West Orange Motion Pictures, Later Phonograph Princeton Von Neumann Computer Harrison Lamps, Vacuum Tubes Kearny Telephone manufacturing West Windsor Color TV East Windsor Satellite design and construction Trenton Wire Rope, Brooklyn Bridge Murray Hill Transistor, Laser, CCD, UNIX Holmdel Satellite, Radio Astronomy Morristown Telegraph tests NYC Central Station Electricity Philadelphia ENIAC Computer
40 A few final observations and a question ….
The technologies here are transformational. They change the way we live our lives.
NJ (and NYC and Philadelphia) nurtured many radical innovations (Radio, TV, Telephone, Electric Power, Transistor, Computer, Laser). These objects and systems are the core of our modern INFORMATION AND POWER NETWORKS.
It is a great history, but …. Why hasn’t NJ profited more from its innovations?
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