Wired into nature : the telegraph and the North American frontier
Bibliographie
- Auteurs : Schwoch James (1955-....) ;
- Editeurs : Urbana [Ill.] Chicago [Ill.] Springfield [Ill.] University of Illinois Press ;
- Date d'édition : [2018]
- ISBN : 978-0-252-04177-8, 978-0-252-08340-2
- Sujets : Télégraphe -- États-Unis (ouest) 19e siècle, Télégraphe, West (U.S.) -- History, United States, West
- Comprend : The telegraph and the North American frontier
- Langue(s) : Anglais
- Description matérielle : 1 vol. ([ix], 248 p.), : Ill., couv. ill. en coul., 23 cm
- Pays de publication : États-Unis
- Collection (notice d'ensemble) : The history of communication
Notes
La ressource est également disponible en version électronique ; Notes bibliogr.. Bibliogr. p. [223]-239. Index
Résumé
La 4e de couv. indique : 'The completion of the Transcontinental Telegraph in 1861 represented an extraordinary American effort in many fields of endeavor to know, act upon, and control a continent. Merging new research with bold interpretation, James Schwoch details the unexplored dimensions of the frontier telegraph and its impact. The westward spread of telegraphy entailed encounters with environments that challenged Americans to acquire knowledge of natural history, climate, and a host of other fields. Telegraph codes and ciphers, meanwhile, became important political, military, and economic secrets. Schwoch shows how the government's use of commercial networks drove a relationship between the two sectors that served increasingly expansionist aims. He also reveals the telegraph's role in securing high ground and encouraging surveillance. Both became vital aspects of the American effort to contain, and conquer, the West's indigenous peoples--and part of a historical arc of concerns about privacy, data gathering, and surveillance that remains pertinent today.'