Physical Science, Measurement and Instrumentation, Management and Education, IEE Proceedings A

In 1866 Fleeming Jenkin reviewed the state of telegraphic engineering consequent upon the success of the 1866 Atlantic cable expedition. An examination is made of the years between 1859 and 1865 with a view to establishing an idea as to the processes by which the success had been achieved. The examination is carried out with reference to more or less popular opinion, represented by The times, Scientific American, Edinburgh Review and Mechanics Magazine, with particular reference to two sources: the first an inquest on the failure of two prestigious cables, those under the Atlantic and the Red Sea, the second a collection of reports issued by the British Association for the Advancement of Science, detailing the development of a standard of resistance. It is concluded that the process of development was a normal, slow but sure one, with the embryonic solutions present well before 1860, but requiring the imprimatur of an ´official´ committee to validate what had become ´best practices´ of the engineers.<>