Chapter 18 Lesson 2 Inventions Change Society

Inventions Change Society

Pages 650-654

Chapter 18 Lesson 2

How did innovations in

communications change society?

During the 1830s, Samuel Morse
developed the telegraph. By
1860 the United States had
thousands of miles of telegraph lines.
Western Union Telegraph Company’s
trained operators transmitted message in Morse code.

Multiple Choice

Who invented the telegraph and in what year?

• Thomas Edison in 1889
• Alexander Graham Bell in 1876
• Samuel Morse in 1830

• Nikola Tesla in 1901

Telegrams - messages sent by telegraph - offered almost instant communication delivered by hand.
Telegrams served many purposes, especially for
ordinary people to send personal messages to
friends and family.

Multiple Choice

What was unique about the telegraph?

• It offered almost instant communication over long distances.

• It was the first form of written communication
• It was only used for short-distance communication
• It used smoke signals for communication

The telegraph soon linked the United States and Europe.
Before the telegraph news crossed the ocean by ship. This process could take weeks. Cyrus Field wanted to speed it up. After several unsuccessful attempts. Field managed to lay a
telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean in 1866. The new
Transatlantic telegraph transmitted messages in a matter of
seconds.

Multiple Choice

Who and in what year was a telegraph cable laid across the Atlantic Ocean?

• Thomas Edison, 1901
• Alexander Graham Bell, 1876
• Nikola Tesla, 1895
• Cyrus Field, 186

By 1876 Alexander Graham Bell made great advances in
developing a device for transmitting speech - the
telephone. While preparing to test the device, he
accidentally spilled battery acid on his clothes. Panicked,
Bell called out to his assistance, Thomas
Watson, who was in another room:
“Mr. Watson - come here- I want to see you!”
Watson heard Bell’s voice through the
telephone. The invention worked!

Multiple Choice

Who and in what year was the telephone invented?

• Thomas Edison, 1892
• Nikola Tesla, 1901
• Benjamin Franklin, 1750
• Alexander Graham Bell, 1876

How did innovations improve

people’s lives?

Many of the inventions were designed to help businesses operate more efficiently and other inventions affected everyday life.

Christopher Sholes’s typewriter (1868)

William Burrough’s adding machine (1888)

George Eastman invented a small box camera - the Kodak
that made it easier and less costly to take photographs.

John Thurman developed a vacuum cleaner in 1899 that simplified housework.

Match

Match the following inventions with the correct inventor.

• vacuum cleaner

• typewriter

• adding machine

• Kodak Camera

John Thurman

Christopher Shole

William Burrough

George Eastman

• John Thurman

• Christopher Shole

• William Burrough

• George Eastman

In his childhood, Thomas Edison was called
“dull” by his teachers. Because of his poor
hearing, he had trouble in school and often did
not attend. His mother finally removed him from
school and taught him at home. Edison loved
anything related to science and his mother
allowed him to set up a chemistry lab in the
family’s basement. While still in his 20s Edison
decided to go into the “invention business.” In
1876 he set up a workshop in Menlo Park New
Jersey. He produced four amazing inventions!

Edison produced …

the phonograph

the motion
picture
projector

the storage
battery

the lightbulb

Poll

Which invention from Edison do you feel was the most important?

• the phonograph

• the motion picture projector

• the storage battery

• the lightbulb

In 1885 George Westinghouse
developed and built
transformers, which could send
electric power more cheaply
over long distances. Electricity
became the power source for
factories, trolleys, streetlights
and lamps throughout the
United States. He also created
a method for safely
transporting natural gas along
with many other safety
devices.

Open Ended

Why were George Westinghouse's transformer's important?

Amazing African American Inventors

Lewis Latimer
improved wire
for use in the
lightbulb.

Granville Woods
invented an
electric
incubator and
improved brake
for railroads.

Elijah
McCoy
invented a
mechanism
for oiling
machinery.

Jan
Matzeliger
developed a
shoe-making
machine.

How did innovations of the 1800s

change society?

Henry Fold worked as an engineer in
Detroit, Michigan in the 1890s. He
wanted to build an inexpensive car that
would last a lifetime. He and his partner
Sorenson worked on the Model T,
building the car and testing it on rough
roads.

In 1908 Ford introduced the Model T to
the public.

“A car which anyone could afford to buy,
which anyone could drive anywhere, and
which almost anyone could keep in
repair.”

During the next 18 years, Ford’s company sold more than 15 million Model
Ts in the the United States. It also sold more than a million cars overseas.
Model T sales accounted for about half of the automobiles on the road in
the world during that time.

Henry Fold also pioneered
a new, less expensive way
to manufacture cars - the
assembly line. On
the assembly line each worker performed an assigned task again and again.
This method proved more
efficient than having one
person do several different
tasks while building an
automobile.

The assembly line revolutionized other industries as well. It enabled
manufacturers of many different items to produce large quantities of goods
more quickly. This mass production of goods decreased manufacturing
costs so products could be sold more cheaply.

Audio Response

A new machine dramatically changed society in the early 1900s. Record the following answers:

1. 1. Name of the car:

2. 2. Name of the creator:

3. 3. Year it was introduced:

4. 4. Number sold:

5. 5. Techniques (2) used to make so many of them:

Open Audio Recorder

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