The Victorian Internet
By Tom Standage
(A review – by Jim Field)
The Victorian Internet, published in
1997, tells of the momentous story of the rise of the telegraph and the early
pioneers who crafted a new technology into a world changing industry. It covers the dawn of a robust period in the
history of human communication that is continuing to be felt to this day and
touches on its rather rapid decline. While Alexander Bell initially set out to
improve the telegraph, his telephone quickly replaced the telegraph along with its
community, customs, and subculture, yet we still see the foundations that were laid
down by the telegraph in our communications with each other today. The internet
and email, mobile phones and texting all carry forward the basic principles of
what the telegraph accomplished in opening near instantaneous communications
with people half-way around the globe. It was inspiring to read of inventors
and enterprising men who set upon an idea and went to work crafting the reality
of that amazing thought. They toiled through plenty of nay-sayers and through insurmountable
set-backs to usher in a new age of human communication. Yet in the face of the
people who said it could never be done, these men progressed their inventions
far enough and sold the dream well enough that other men with greater monetary
means took a chance and financed these unattainable feats.
“The possible’s slow fuse is lit by the Imagination”
-
Emily Dickinson
The book also covers the
many similarities between the telegraph and the internet, how in the early days
so much optimism swirled around the utopian means that these new technologies
could lead to greater world peace, and for as much good people can use them for
there will always be bad characters who use them as a vehicle to cheat, steal,
swindle and harm others with.
Thinking of what I’ve learned from this book and how it
might impact my practice of teaching, I believe what I will most take away is
the dedication these men had towards advancing the technologies they invented
or the technologies that were around them. How a person’s drive and ambition
can conquer the impossible mountain peaks that other’s say can’t be reached
will help me to look at my students as engines full of massive amounts of
potential. I need to seek out and prod for what motivates them, or if they are
so beaten down by past failures or other external factors I need to find a way
to spark their imaginations so that they can tap that desire to conquer whatever
mountain seems impossible to them. We’re not all going to invent something as
great as the telegraph but if I can show them that they can use the grit that’s
inside of us all, to achieve a goal - then I have communicated a message that I
wanted them to receive.
Hi Jim!
ReplyDeleteI love this post! I love the fact that you focus on the ambition and drive that it took to invent the telegraph. And how you want to inspire your students to use their grit and determination. Your students are lucky to have you as their teacher. This post makes me think of the well known quote by Isaac Newton
" If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."
The inventors of the telegraph are the giants of history and innovation. Reading their stories and learning from their perseverance, can be just the thing to light a spark of creativity and intuitiveness in our students.
Jim, I found the stories of the early telegraph innovators really compelling. These guys seemed to know that they were on to something really important, and persisted, even when their ideas were dismissed over and over again. I think that is a really important message for our students! If more people had this determination to work on passion projects despite the negativity of naysayers and detractors, the world would have more beautiful and useful things in it. I think it's not hyperbole to say that you fostering this attitude in your classroom could be the catalysts for a future Zuckerberg to come through your class. Who knows! I think you've got the right idea, and I love the way you've thought about it in terms of your class and your students.
ReplyDeleteHey Jim! I agree with Kim and Zack - the book gives us a personal narrative of how the telegraph developed, not just the facts and dates. Individual lives were affected, and people went through lots of financial and personal struggles because they believed that they had something profound to contribute to society.
ReplyDeleteI tell my students every class - if they don't try, I can't help them fix what's wrong because we have no idea what is going wrong. Every person will squeak and play a wrong note and make a really weird noise, but that just means that we are trying and that's really all I care about at this point in the year.
I too felt inspired and excited to read through the history of the development of the telegraph in this book. They did all show such determination and dedication to their invention and the process. I am touched by your commitment to and nurturing of your students to push through things that are difficult. This is a priceless gift that you are instilling in them. It will serve them well in life.
ReplyDelete