Don't Look Back in Anger: Wildman Whitehouse and the Great Failure of 1858
summary
1858 attempt to lay the first transatlantic telegraph cable builds a 3,000 km copper line insulated with gutta-percha insulation and weighing about one ton per mile, but the chief electrician insists on thin copper and a high-voltage overdrive approach. cables snap repeatedly (whales and spooling failures), a live cable works for three weeks then dies because excessive voltage fries the insulation; public inquiry, a pamphlet campaign and replacement under William Thomson with thicker conductor, low voltage and recoverable repairs finally make it work.
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chapters (25)
- 0:00Introduction
- 0:53Welcome
- 3:36Successful Reflection
- 4:22Success
- 4:49What is a Telegraph
- 6:46The 1858 Telegraph
- 8:02No fallback plan
- 11:04Wildman Whitehouse
- 13:57William Thompson
- 14:57Whitehouse vs Thompson
- 18:41The Fourth Attempt
- 20:24The Reality
- 21:13Reflection
- 21:36Blame
- 22:01Public Inquiry
- 23:50The best scientist in the world
- 24:06The charges leveled against Whitehouse
- 25:44The Atlantic Telegraph project
- 26:15Constructive reflection
- 26:36Feedback
- 26:58Prime Directive
- 27:46No Room for Hero Behavior
- 29:17Recap
- 30:14Atlantic Telegraph
- 30:49Outro
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