Elihu Thomson was a major American inventor of electric light and power systems.
A contemporary of Thomas Edison, Thomson performed the engineering and design work necessary to make electric lighting a common product.
From the 1880s to the 1930s, Thomson was employed by the General Electric Company and its predecessors.
Working within the corporation, Thomson reveals how successful inventions are based on explicit links among technological artifacts, marketing strategy, and the business organization needed for manufacturing and marketing.
List of figures and tables; Editors' preface; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations used in footnotes; Introduction; 1. The cultivation of a scientific man; 2. Learning the craft of invention; 3. The Philadelphia partnership, 1879–80; 4. Frustration in New Britain, 1880–3; 5. Success in Lynn: the Thomson-Houston electric company, 1883–92; 6. Maintaining the organization: product development at General Electric, 1892–1900; Epilogue and conclusion; Index.
Reviews for Innovation as a Social Process: Elihu Thomson and the Rise of General Electric
'At a time when the country is searching for clues to understanding invention and innovation, Bernard Carlson's detailed and thoughtful study of Elihu Thomson provides information and insights of immense value. He moves the art of writing the biography of inventors a quantum leap beyond sentimental heroic-inventor stories and the dry skepticism of macro-economic monographs.' Thomas P. Hughes, Mellon Professor, University of Pennsylvania
