This article details the history of electrical engineering. Topics also included are the general developments and notable individuals within the electrical engineering profession. Electrical engineering, sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering, is a field of Engineering that deals with the study and application of

Ancient developments

According to Thales of Miletus, writing at around 600 BC, a form of electricity was known to the Ancient Greeks who found that rubbing fur on various substances, such as amber, would cause a particular attraction between the two. Thales of Miletus According to Bertrand Russell, "Philosophy begins with Thales The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca Fur is a body hair of any non-human Mammal, also known as the Pelage. Amber is Fossil tree Resin, which is appreciated for its color and beauty The Greeks noted that the amber buttons could attract light objects such as hair and that if they rubbed the amber for long enough they could even get a spark to jump. Hair is a keratinised protein filament that grows through the epidermis from follicles deep within the Dermis. An object found in Iraq in 1938, dated to about 250 BC and called the Baghdad Battery, resembles a galvanic cell and is believed by some to have been used for electroplating, although this is unproven and contoversial. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events By place Egypt Ptolemy II encourages the Jewish residents of Alexandria to have their Bible translated The Baghdad Battery is the common name for a number of artifacts created in Mesopotamia, possibly during the Parthian or Sassanid period (the early The Galvanic cell, named after Luigi Galvani, consists of two different metals connected by a Salt bridge or a porous disk between the individual half-cells Electroplating is the process of using electrical current to reduce Cations of a desired material from a solution and coat a conductive object

Early developments

Electricity has been a subject of scientific interest since at least the 17th century. Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding A friction machine was constructed at about 1663 by Otto von Guericke, using a rotating sulphur globe rubbed by hand. An electrostatic generator, or electrostatic machine, is a mechanical device that produces Static electricity, or electricity at High voltage Otto von Guericke (originally spelled Gericke ˈgeːʁɪkə ( November 20, 1602 &ndash May 11, 1686 ( Julian calendar) Isaac Newton suggested the use of a glass globe instead of a sulphur one (Optics, 8th Query). Sir Isaac Newton, FRS (ˈnjuːtən 4 January 1643 31 March 1727) Biography Early years See also Isaac Newton's early life and achievements In the latter part of the 18th Century, Benjamin Franklin, Ewald Jürgen Georg von Kleist, and Pieter van Musschenbroek (the last two the inventors of the Leyden jar) made several important discoveries concerning electrostatic machines. Benjamin Franklin ( April 17 1790 was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. Ewald Georg (or Jürgen von Kleist ( 10 June 1700 &ndash December 11, 1748) was a German Jurist, Lutheran cleric Pieter (Petrus van Musschenbroek ( 14 March 1692, Leiden - 19 September 1761, Leiden was a Dutch scientist who is credited The first suggestion of an influence machine appears to have grown out of the invention of Alessandro Volta's electrophorus. An electrostatic generator, or electrostatic machine, is a mechanical device that produces Static electricity, or electricity at High voltage Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta was a Lombard physicist known especially for the development of the first electric cell in An electrophorus is a capacitive generator used to produce Electrostatic charge via the process of Electrostatic induction. "Doublers" were the first rotating influence machines. Abraham Bennet, the inventor of the gold leaf electroscope, described a "doubler" or "machine for multiplying electric charges" (Phil. Abraham Bennet FRS ( baptised 20 December 1749 - buried 9 May 1799 was an English Clergyman and Physicist, the inventor of the Gold-leaf Trans. , 1787).

19th century developments

Michael Faraday, detail from portrait by Thomas Phillips c1841-1842 ^[1]

In the 19th century, the subject of electrical engineering, with the tools of modern research techniques, started to intensify. Thomas Phillips ( October 18, 1770 - April 20, 1845) was an English portrait and subject painter. Notable developments in this century include the work of Georg Ohm, who in 1827 quantified the relationship between the electric current and potential difference in a conductor, Michael Faraday, the discoverer of electromagnetic induction in 1831, and James Clerk Maxwell, who in 1873 published a unified theory of electricity and magnetism in his treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. Georg Simon Ohm' was a German physicist As a high school teacher Ohm began his research with the recently invented Electrochemical cell, invented by Italian Count Electric current is the flow (movement of Electric charge. The SI unit of electric current is the Ampere. In Physics, the potential difference or pd between two points is the difference of the points' Scalar potential, equivalent to the line integral Michael Faraday, FRS ( September 22 1791 – August 25 1867) was an English Faraday's law of induction describes an important basic law of electromagnetism which is involved in the working of Transformers Inductors and many forms of Year 1831 ( MDCCCXXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 &ndash 5 November 1879 was a Scottish mathematician and theoretical physicist. In Classical electromagnetism, Maxwell's equations are a set of four Partial differential equations that describe the properties of the electric In Physics, magnetism is one of the Phenomena by which Materials exert attractive or repulsive Forces on other Materials. ^[2] In the 1830s, Georg Ohm also constructed an early electrostatic machine. The homopolar generator was developed first by Michael Faraday during his memorable experiments in 1831. A homopolar generator is a DC Electrical generator that is made when a magnetic electrically conductive rotating disk has a different Magnetic field passing Michael Faraday, FRS ( September 22 1791 – August 25 1867) was an English It was the beginning of modern dynamos — that is, electrical generators which operate using a magnetic field. The invention of the industrial generator, which didn't need external magetic power in 1866 by Werner von Siemens made a large series of other inventions in the wake possible. In Electricity generation, an electrical generator is a device that converts Mechanical energy to Electrical energy, generally using Electromagnetic Ernst Werner von Siemens (known as Werner von Siemens) ( December 13, 1816 &ndash December 6, 1892) was a German Inventor In 1878, the British inventor James Wimshurst developed an apparatus that had two glass disks mounted on two shafts (ed. Biography Wimshurst was born in Poplar England, and was the son of Henry Wimshurst a shipbuider of Ratcliffe Dock it was not till 1883 that the Wimshurst machine was more fully reported to the scientific community). The Wimshurst machine is an electrostatic device for generating high Voltages developed between 1880 and 1883 by British Inventor James Wimshurst

Thomas Edison built the world's first large-scale electrical supply network

During the latter part of the 1800s, the study of electricity was largely considered to be a subfield of physics. Physics (Greek Physis - φύσις in everyday terms is the Science of Matter and its motion. It was not until the late 19th century that universities started to offer degrees in electrical engineering. A university is an institution of Higher education and Research, which grants Academic degrees in a variety of subjects A degree is any of a wide range of status levels conferred by institutions of Higher education, such as universities, normally as the result of successfully completing In 1883 Cornell University introduced the world's first course of study in electrical engineering and in 1885 the University College London founded the first chair of electrical engineering in the United Kingdom. University College London ( UCL) is a multi-faculty university institution based in the United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located ^[2] The University of Missouri subsequently established the first department of electrical engineering in the United States in 1886. The University of Missouri (also known as the University of Missouri–Columbia, Mizzou, or MU) is a public land-grant and research ^[3]

During this period work in the area increased dramatically. In 1882 Edison switched on the world's first large-scale electrical supply network that provided 110 volts direct current to fifty-nine customers in lower Manhattan. Direct current ( DC) is the unidirectional flow of Electric charge. In 1887 Nikola Tesla filed a number of patents related to a competing form of power distribution known as alternating current. There have already been discussions about Tesla's ethnicity on the talk page An alternating current ( AC) is an Electric current whose direction reverses cyclically as opposed to Direct current, whose direction remains constant In the following years a bitter rivalry between Tesla and Edison, known as the "War of Currents", took place over the preferred method of distribution. In the "War of Currents" era (sometimes "War of the Currents" or "Battle of Currents") in the late 1880s George Westinghouse AC eventually replaced DC for generation and power distribution, enormously extending the range and improving the safety and efficiency of power distribution.

Nikola Tesla made long-distance electrical transmission networks. There have already been discussions about Tesla's ethnicity on the talk page

The efforts of the two did much to further electrical engineering—Tesla's work on induction motors and polyphase systems influenced the field for years to come, while Edison's work on telegraphy and his development of the stock ticker proved lucrative for his company, which ultimately became General Electric. An induction motor (IM is a type of asynchronous AC motor where power is supplied to the rotating device by means of electromagnetic induction. A polyphase system is a means of distributing Alternating current electrical power. Ticker tape was used by ticker tape machines, the Ticker tape timer stock ticker machines, or just stock tickers.

However, by the end of the 19th century, other key figures in the progress of electrical engineering were beginning to emerge. ^[4] Charles Proteus Steinmetz help fostered the development of alternating current that made possible the expansion of the electric power industry in the United States, formulating mathematical theories for engineers. Charles Proteus Steinmetz ( April 9, 1865 &ndash October 26, 1923) was a German-American Mathematician and Electrical

Konrad Zuse invented the first electrical computer, the Z22. It still is functional and stands in Berlin.

Modern developments

Emergence of radio and electronics

Beginning of the 20th century

During the development of radio, many scientists and inventors contributed to radio technology and electronics. This article covers the main arguments about who had what part in the early development of radio An inventor is a person who creates or discovers a new method form device or other useful means Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. In his classic UHF experiments of 1888, Heinrich Hertz transmitted (via a spark-gap transmitter) and detected radio waves using electrical equipment. Heinrich Rudolf Hertz ( February 22, 1857 – January 1, 1894) was a German physicist who clarified and expanded the electromagnetic theory A spark-gap transmitter is a device for generating Radio frequency electromagnetic waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves occurring on the Radio frequency portion of the Electromagnetic spectrum. In 1895, Nikola Tesla was able to detect signals from the transmissions of his New York lab at West Point (a distance of 80. 4 km) ^[5]. In 1896, Alexander Popov made wireless transmissions across 60 m and Guglielmo Marconi, around the same time, made a transmission across 2. Alexander Stepanovich Popov (Александр Степанович Попов (Gregorian March 16 1859 - January 13 1906, Julian March Wireless communication is the transfer of information over a distance without the use of electrical conductors or " Wires quot In Telecommunications transmission is the process of sending propagating and receiving an analogue or digital information signal over a physical point-to-point or Marchese Guglielmo Marconi mar'koni (25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937 was an Italian inventor best known for his development of a Radiotelegraph system 4 km. John Fleming invented the first radio tube, the diode, in 1904. Sir John Ambrose Fleming ( November 29, 1849 - April 18, 1945) was an English Electrical engineer and Physicist This article is about the electronic device not an evacuated pipe used for experiments in Free-fall.

Reginald Fessenden recognized that a continuous wave needed to be generated to make speech transmission possible, and he continued the work of Nikola Tesla, John Stone Stone, and Elihu Thomson on this subject. Reginald Aubrey Fessenden ( October 6, 1866 &ndash July 22, 1932) born in East Bolton, Quebec, Canada, was John Stone Stone ( September 24, 1869 &ndash May 20, 1943) was an American mathematician, Physicist Elihu Thomson ( March 29, 1853  – March 13, 1937) was an engineer and Inventor who was instrumental in the founding By the end of 1906, Fessenden sent the first radio broadcast of voice. Also in 1906, Robert von Lieben and Lee De Forest independently developed the amplifier tube, called the triode. Robert von Lieben ( September 5, 1878 in Vienna &ndash February 20, 1913 in Vienna) was a notable Austrian Lee De Forest, ( August 26, 1873 – June 30, 1961) was an American Inventor with over 300 patents to his credit This article is about the electronic device not an evacuated pipe used for experiments in Free-fall. ^[6] Edwin Howard Armstrong enabling technology for electronic television, in 1931. Edwin Howard Armstrong ( December 18, 1890 &ndash January 31, 1954) was an American Electrical engineer and Inventor Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic ^[7]

Second World War years

The second world war saw tremendous advances in the field of electronics; especially in RADAR and with the invention of the magnetron by Randle and Boot at the University of Birmingham in 1940. Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range altitude direction or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as Aircraft, ships John Randle (born December 12, 1967 in Hearne Texas) is a former NFL Defensive tackle who played for the Minnesota Vikings The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a British red brick University located in the city of Birmingham Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Radio location, radio communication and radio guidance of aircraft were all developed in Britain at this time. Communication is the process of conveying information from a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood the same way An early electronic computing device, Colossus was built by Tommy Flowers of the GPO to decipher the coded messages of the German Lorenz cipher machine. The Colossus machines were electronic Computing devices used by British codebreakers to read Encrypted German messages during Thomas (Tommy Harold Flowers MBE ( 22 December 1905 &ndash 28 October 1998) was an English engineer "Tunny" redirects here For the fish see Tuna. The Lorenz SZ 40 and SZ 42 ( Schlüsselzusatz, meaning Also developed at this time were advanced clandestine radio transmitters and receivers for use by secret agents. An American invention at the time was a device to scramble the telephone calls between Churchill and Roosevelt. This was called the Green Hornet system and worked by inserting noise into the signal. In Cryptography, SIGSALY (also known as the X System, Project X, Ciphony I, and the Green Hornet) was a secure speech The noise was then extracted at the receiving end. This system was never broken by the Germans. A great amount of work was undertaken in the United States as part of the War Training Program in the areas of radio direction finding, pulsed linear networks, frequency modulation, vacuum tube circuits, transmission line theory and fundamentals of electromagnetic engineering. These studies were published shortly after the war in what became known as the 'Radio Communication Series' published by McGraw hill 1946. In 1941 Konrad Zuse presented the Z3, the world's first fully functional and programmable computer. Konrad Zuse (ˈkɔnʁat ˈtsuːzə June 22, 1910 Berlin - December 18, 1995 Hünfeld) was a German Konrad Zuse 's ^[8]

Post war developments

Prior to the second world war, the subject was commonly known as 'radio engineering' and basically was restricted to aspects of communications and RADAR, commercial radio and early television. At this time, study of radio engineering at universities could only be undertaken as part of a physics degree.

Later, in post war years, as consumer devices began to be developed, the field broadened to include modern TV, audio systems, Hi-Fi and latterly computers and microprocessors. In 1946 the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) of John Presper Eckert and John Mauchly followed, beginning the computing era. ENIAC, short for Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer, was the first general-purpose electronic Computer. John Adam Presper "Pres" Eckert Jr ( April 9, 1919 – June 3, 1995) was an American electrical engineer and John William Mauchly ( August 30 1907 &ndash January 8 1980) was an American Physicist who along with J The arithmetic performance of these machines allowed engineers to develop completely new technologies and achieve new objectives, including the Apollo missions and the NASA moon landing. A moon landing is the arrival of an intact manned or unmanned Spacecraft on the surface of a Planet 's Natural satellite. The ENIAC Museum Online. Retrieved on January 18, 2006. Events 350 - Generallus Magnentius deposes Roman Emperor Constans and proclaims himself Emperor Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

The invention of the transistor in 1947 by William B. Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain opened the door for more compact devices and led to the development of the integrated circuit in 1958 by Jack Kilby and independently in 1959 by Robert Noyce. William Bradford Shockley ( February 13, 1910 &ndash August 12, 1989) was a British -born American Physicist John Bardeen ( May 23 1908 – January 30 1991) was an American Physicist and Electrical engineer, who won Walter Houser Brattain ( February 10, 1902 – October 13, 1987) was an American physicist at Bell Labs who along with Microchipsjpg|right|thumb|200px|Microchips ( EPROM memory with a transparent window showing the integrated circuit inside Jack St Clair Kilby ( November 8, 1923 - June 20, 2005) was a Nobel Prize laureate in Physics in 2000 for his invention Robert Norton Noyce ( December 12, 1927 &ndash June 3, 1990) nicknamed " the Mayor of Silicon Valley " co-founded ^[9] In the mid to late 1950s, the term radio engineering gradually gave way to the name electronics engineering, which then became a stand alone university degree subject, usually taught alongside electrical engineering with which it had become associated due to some similarities. In 1968 Marcian Hoff invented the first microprocessor at Intel and thus ignited the development of the personal computer. Marcian Edward "Ted" Hoff Jr (born October 28, 1937 in Rochester New York) is one of the inventors of the Microprocessor. A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a Central processing unit (CPU on a single Integrated A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated The first realization of the microprocessor was the Intel 4004, a 4-bit processor developed in 1971, but only in 1973 did the Intel 8080, an 8-bit processor, make the building of the first personal computer, the Altair 8800, possible. The Intel 4004 is a 4-bit Central processing unit (CPU released by Intel Corporation in 1971 The Intel 8080 was an early Microprocessor designed and manufactured by Intel. The MITS Altair 8800 was a Microcomputer design from 1975 based on the Intel 8080 CPU and sold as a mail-order kit through advertisements in ^[10]

References