A Study Of The Early History Of British Telecommunications (1794-1851)

In the current information society,in addition to computer and other information processing means,fast information exchange technology is also indispensable.Telecommunications technology is the earliest systematic remote "instant communication" technology.As the pioneer of modern political and economic changes,Britain is also the leading country in the invention and application of telecommunications technology.Therefore,the early history of British telecommunications technology and industry is very representative.British telecommunications technology was officially born at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries,just at the time of the "dual revolution" of the French revolution and the Industrial Revolution--war promoted the use of optical telegraph technology,while industry expanded the use of it.In the late 1830s,the vigorous development of the railway industry promoted the application of the telegraph technology and further provided the possibility for the industrialization of the telegraph.In more than half a century,British telecommunication has gone from technology to industry.The main body of the article is divided into three chapters,which respectively discuss the predecessor and birth of British telecommunication technologies,the military and market application of them driven by the dual revolution,and the later telegraph technology and its industrialization process.The First Chapter firstly,under the theory of "technological evolution",traces back to many remote "instant communication"technologies before optical telegraph:it holds that many communication attempts from ancient times to early modern times,as well as the development of cryptography,coding ideas,flags and telescopes,have jointly promoted the improvement of remote "instant communication" technologies.The war situation caused by the French revolution at the end of the 18th century provided the conditions for the application of mechanical optical telegraph for the first time and promoted the formal beginning of telecommunication technology in France,Britain and other countries.The Second Chapter focuses on the specific application of optical telegraph technology,pointing out that the French revolution in the "dual revolution" dominated the military application of British visual newspaper,while the economic reality and concepts brought by the industrial revolution provided the ideological guidance and actual market for British visual newspaper.After the Vienna Conference,France and other countries still maintained the state monopoly of the optical telegraph,but the application of it in Britain has been extended to the port trade communication lines and other commercial uses,and laid the foundation of the concept,management and other aspects for the later telecommunications technology.Chapter Three sorts out the evolution of the telegraph technology itself,discusses the electrical knowledge needed for the development of the telegraph,the scientific community and other factors,classifies the various prototypes of the telegraph technology,and analyzes the different outcomes and reasons of different inventors such as Ronald,Cooke and Wheatstone.The advantages of telegraph technology itself,the development of railways during this period,and Cooke’s efforts in publicity and promotion made the large-scale application of telegraph a reality,and further established telegraph enterprises,thus completing the process of British Telecommunication from technology to industry.