Bern Dibner: The Atlantic Cable (1959)

“Bern Dibner wrote a lucid chronological history of the laying of the Atlantic Cable. He covers the early experiments of Morse in New York Harbor in 1842; Ezra Cornell’s laying of a line across the Hudson River in 1845; the five actual attempts at laying the cable; and the eventual success in completing two telegraph circuits connecting Newfoundland and Ireland in 1866.

Cyrus Field was, in the words of William Thomson (later Lord Kelvin), the “originator and mainspring” of the project, which was regarded as foolhardy in many quarters. At the outset in 1854, Field realized that many electrical, mechanical, oceanographical, and nautical problems would have to be solved. Having sought and obtained encouragement of specialists in each of these areas, he was able to raise the necessary capital to finance the design, manufacture, transportation, and laying of the submarine telegraph cable. Field did not foresee, however, that the enterprise would take twelve years and forty long, hazardous trans-Atlantic crossings (the first by sailing vessel); that it woudl touch the fields of science, politics, finance, and geography; and that it would cost $12,000,000.

This book makes clear the roles of Field and Morse and Thomson, of the ships’ captains and the financial backers, and of all those who played a part in the courageous undertaking.” (source)

Publisher Burndy Library, Norwalk/Connecticut, 1959
96 pages
via Smithsonian Libraries

Videos about the transatlantic telegraph cable (via Marcell Mars):
The Great Transatlantic Cable (PBS, 120 min), torrent
Modern Marvels S01E06 – Transatlantic Cable (44 min)
History Detectives – Transatlantic Cable (PBS, 16 min)

wikipedia

PDF (no OCR)