The History of the Telephone

OF INTEREST TO: readers of social history, students of technological innovation With the use of the telephone has come a new habit of mind. The slow and sluggish mood has been sloughed off. The old to-morrow habit has been superseded by "Do It To-day"; and life has become more tense, alert, vivid. -from "The Telephone and National Efficiency" This classic 1910 book-by one of the first stars of technology journalism-is a charming and highly readable overview of the impact of the telephone in its first quarter-century. Discover: . what led Alexander Graham Bell to his breakthrough . the early ridicule Bell's "toy" endured . the adventurous business pioneers of the new technology . the scientific refinements that made the telephone more useful . how the technology quickly shifted from a novelty to a necessity . how the telephone was revolutionized banking, industry, journalism, government, and even farming . and much more. Canadian journalist HERBERT NEWTON CASSON (1869-1951) contributed to numerous New York and London publications, writing mostly about business and technology. He is also the author of The Romance of Steel: The Story of a Thousand Millionaires. ALSO FROM COSIMO: Casson's Making Money Happily: Twelve Tips on Success and Happiness, The Crime of Credulity, and Creative Thinkers