The Erie Canal Essay, Research Paper

In the days before Alexander G Bells invention news and other topics of interest traveled across America quite slowly, usually becoming distorted as a result of the number of times it changed hands before the invention reached its final destination. An example of this that best exemplifies the proceeding statement is the California Gold Rush. When this news finally reached the central and eastern Americas California was made out to be a promise land with gold for the taking. As result towns popped up literally over night peppering the western United States. Although the California Gold Rush is an extreme example people of the pre phone era were also quite creative with their means of communication; the opening of the Erie Canal best shows this. The canal was opened on October 25, 1825. The Erie Canal was a big deal for everyone within its vicinity since the Hudson and Lake Erie were now linked. This was important because instead of traveling overland, which was expensive and time, consuming. People goods and information could now be floated to their destination via the Erie Canal. Usually a typical message would take weeks or months to move across the state but not this day.

When the canal was opened a cannon was fired in Buffalo when a man stationed further east herd the first man?s blast he fired his own and so on and so forth until the rumble had traveled down the Hudson and into New York City. When the clock stopped in New York the news had traveled a total of 500 miles in a mere two hours.

In 1847 a child was born into the Bell family; this child was named Alexander Gram Bell. Alexander?s mother Eliza was def. In fact, the only way he could talk to her was to speak in slow deep tones very close to her forehead. Alexander was intrigued how his def mother could understand these vibrations. This fascination was the beginning of a lifelong strife that led to numerous contributions to the social and scientific communities. Bell?s career as an inventor and armature scientist began when he was only 14 years old. He designed a device that was able to separate the husks from wheat by combining a nailbrush and paddle to form a brushing wheel. Bell as one might think was no ordinary child. By the age of 16 he was a music instructor at an all male boarding school. Alexander also enjoyed to read and found himself drawn toward the German physicist Herman Von Helmlsltz who, in one of his writings discussed how vowel sound could be produced using tuning forks and resonators. The only problem with Von Helmlsltz?s work was that it was in German and since Bell could not read German he made what he called a very valuable blunder. Alexander interpreted von Helmlotz?s work as claiming vowel sounds could be carried over a wire. This blunder in turn began Bell?s experiments with electricity. Alexander?s original dream was to produce a telegraph that was capable of sending multiple messages at one time. This invention when complete was to be called the harmonic telegraph. While working on this telegraph Alexander Bell acquired the assistance of a gentleman named Thomas Watson who was known for devising tools that helped in improving numerous inventions. Later while discussing ways to improve Bell?s harmonic telegraph the two discussed the dream of sending human voices over the telegraph wires.Then, on June 2, 1875 while working on their project the duo attempted to free a reed that was wound too tightly around an electromagnet they were doing experiments on. During this time the reed slipped and produced a twang. The twang reminded Bell of some of the same tones in the human voice. When this occurred it was said that Bell realized his dream was more of a reality now than ever. From this moment on Bell worked vigorously to complete his telephone. Bell later discovered that if a wire was submersed in a liquid and then vibrated by the human voice the wire would produce an undulating current allowing for the human voice to be transmitted over a wire. Now, with the means of transmitting complete, Bell was ready to file for a patient; he did so, and on March 7, 1876 was issued a patent for the first operating telephone. Eager to introduce his invention to the rest of the world bell entered it in the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The reaction at the exposition was overwhelming in fact soon after Ruther B. Hays became the first president to have a telephone installed in the white house. Many businesses realized that there was huge potential in the telephone and as a result came numerous lawsuits claiming that they were in fact the inventors of Bell?s telephone. Meanwhile Alexander Bell and his business the Bell Corporation grew by leaps and bounds and ultimately proved all equations against them as furiously.

Today it is virtually impossible for a person to not be affected to some degree by the telephone. Telephones and phone lines play a pivotal role in today?s economy an example of this is best illustrated by counting the number of times a person receives information either directly or indirectly via the phone lines. An average day for me consists of the following: eight a.m. wake up and get dressed. After I am dressed my roommate and I watch about ten minutes of the news or until the weather comes on. (1.) The majority of the news is transmitted over phone lines. Next I grab my cell phone and go to class (2.). In between each class I usually check my email and phone approximately four times. Then at around two p.m. I go to work where I do receptionist work for a few hours. On average I use the phone ten to fifteen times while working. After work I usually go eat and go to the library for a bout three to four hours. While at the library I check my email a couple of times usually on break. After my library work is complete I return to my room and unwind by either talking on the phone or watching television (19). I do this until around eleven or twelve at which time I retire for the night so I can get up and do it all over again the next day.

There are many issues related to technology in my life that have positively influenced me and transformed my life significantly for the better. The telephone unparticular is the one technology that I use habitually and has affected society as a whole for the ever changing advances of today?s modern era.In the days before Alexander G Bells invention news and other topics of interest traveled across America quite slowly, usually becoming distorted as a result of the number of times it changed hands before the invention reached its final destination. An example of this that best exemplifies the proceeding statement is the California Gold Rush. When this news finally reached the central and eastern Americas California was made out to be a promise land with gold for the taking. As result towns popped up literally over night peppering the western United States. Although the California Gold Rush is an extreme example people of the pre phone era were also quite creative with their means of communication; the opening of the Erie Canal best shows this. The canal was opened on October 25, 1825. The Erie Canal was a big deal for everyone within its vicinity since the Hudson and Lake Erie were now linked. This was important because instead of traveling overland, which was expensive and time, consuming. People goods and information could now be floated to their destination via the Erie Canal. Usually a typical message would take weeks or months to move across the state but not this day.

When the canal was opened a cannon was fired in Buffalo when a man stationed further east herd the first man?s blast he fired his own and so on and so forth until the rumble had traveled down the Hudson and into New York City. When the clock stopped in New York the news had traveled a total of 500 miles in a mere two hours.

In 1847 a child was born into the Bell family; this child was named Alexander Gram Bell. Alexander?s mother Eliza was def. In fact, the only way he could talk to her was to speak in slow deep tones very close to her forehead. Alexander was intrigued how his def mother could understand these vibrations. This fascination was the beginning of a lifelong strife that led to numerous contributions to the social and scientific communities. Bell?s career as an inventor and armature scientist began when he was only 14 years old. He designed a device that was able to separate the husks from wheat by combining a nailbrush and paddle to form a brushing wheel. Bell as one might think was no ordinary child. By the age of 16 he was a music instructor at an all male boarding school. Alexander also enjoyed to read and found himself drawn toward the German physicist Herman Von Helmlsltz who, in one of his writings discussed how vowel sound could be produced using tuning forks and resonators. The only problem with Von Helmlsltz?s work was that it was in German and since Bell could not read German he made what he called a very valuable blunder. Alexander interpreted von Helmlotz?s work as claiming vowel sounds could be carried over a wire. This blunder in turn began Bell?s experiments with electricity. Alexander?s original dream was to produce a telegraph that was capable of sending multiple messages at one time. This invention when complete was to be called the harmonic telegraph. While working on this telegraph Alexander Bell acquired the assistance of a gentleman named Thomas Watson who was known for devising tools that helped in improving numerous inventions. Later while discussing ways to improve Bell?s harmonic telegraph the two discussed the dream of sending human voices over the telegraph wires.Then, on June 2, 1875 while working on their project the duo attempted to free a reed that was wound too tightly around an electromagnet they were doing experiments on. During this time the reed slipped and produced a twang. The twang reminded Bell of some of the same tones in the human voice. When this occurred it was said that Bell realized his dream was more of a reality now than ever. From this moment on Bell worked vigorously to complete his telephone. Bell later discovered that if a wire was submersed in a liquid and then vibrated by the human voice the wire would produce an undulating current allowing for the human voice to be transmitted over a wire. Now, with the means of transmitting complete, Bell was ready to file for a patient; he did so, and on March 7, 1876 was issued a patent for the first operating telephone. Eager to introduce his invention to the rest of the world bell entered it in the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The reaction at the exposition was overwhelming in fact soon after Ruther B. Hays became the first president to have a telephone installed in the white house. Many businesses realized that there was huge potential in the telephone and as a result came numerous lawsuits claiming that they were in fact the inventors of Bell?s telephone. Meanwhile Alexander Bell and his business the Bell Corporation grew by leaps and bounds and ultimately proved all equations against them as furiously.

Today it is virtually impossible for a person to not be affected to some degree by the telephone. Telephones and phone lines play a pivotal role in today?s economy an example of this is best illustrated by counting the number of times a person receives information either directly or indirectly via the phone lines. An average day for me consists of the following: eight a.m. wake up and get dressed. After I am dressed my roommate and I watch about ten minutes of the news or until the weather comes on. (1.) The majority of the news is transmitted over phone lines. Next I grab my cell phone and go to class (2.). In between each class I usually check my email and phone approximately four times. Then at around two p.m. I go to work where I do receptionist work for a few hours. On average I use the phone ten to fifteen times while working. After work I usually go eat and go to the library for a bout three to four hours. While at the library I check my email a couple of times usually on break. After my library work is complete I return to my room and unwind by either talking on the phone or watching television (19). I do this until around eleven or twelve at which time I retire for the night so I can get up and do it all over again the next day.

There are many issues related to technology in my life that have positively influenced me and transformed my life significantly for the better. The telephone unparticular is the one technology that I use habitually and has affected society as a whole for the ever changing advances of today?s modern era.