Additional Degree:
University of Wisconsin (M.S. & Ph.D.)
RESEARCH INTERESTS
My research and publication interests have focused on the interrelations of science, technology, and business in mid-to-late 19th and the early 20th centuries, especially in the photographic and electrical industries where new technologies contributed to the strategic emergence of oligopolistic competition in national and international markets.
Current Research Projects
- Completing a study on the role of key personnel at the pioneering national corporation, Western Union Telegraph Co., in developing technically-oriented business strategies for seizing and maintaining market dominance and directly transferring these strategies to the electrical, photographic, celluloid, telephone, and motion picture industries.
COURSES REGULARLY TAUGHT
Undergraduate
- 512-220 Your Family in History
- 512-236 Edison & His Era
- 506-253 Technology & Society
- 512-332 American Economic Growth
- 512-326 Technology & Society in America
- 512-432 American Business History
- 506-401/402 History Seminar
- 506-471/472 Research in History
- 506-495/496 Honors in History
Graduate
- Occasional seminars and colloquiam
PUBLICATIONS
Books
- Images and Enterprise: Technology and the American Photographic Industry, 1839-1925.
- Japanese ed. (Tokyo: Heibonsha, Ltd Publishers, 1998);
- paper ed. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins U. Press, 1987);
- hard cover ed. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins U. Press, 1976)
- Oral History Interview with William Stuber, Jr. [Vice- President, Eastman Kodak, & son of pioneer emulsion maker] (Rochester, NY: U. Rochester, 1978)
- (with John Neu), Chemical, Medical, and Pharmaceutical Books Printed before 1800 (Madison, WI: U.Wisconsin Press,1965)
Editions
- With Robert Rosenberg et al. The Papers of Thomas A. Edison (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins U. Press)
- Vol. 3 March 1876-Dec.1877 (1994)
- Vol. 2 June 1873-March 1876 (1991)
- Vol. 1 Feb.1847-June 1873 (1989)
- With Thomas E. Jeffrey et al. Thomas A. Edison Papers: A Selective Microfilm Edition (Frederick, Maryland: University Publications of America)
- Part III (1887-1898) 64 Reels and Guide (1995)
- Part II (1879-1886) 69 Reels and Guide (1987)
- Part I (1850-1878) 28 Reels and Guide (1985)
- With Charles Musser et al. Thomas A. Edison Papers: Motion Picture Catalogs by American Producers and Distributors, 1894-1908: A Microfilm Edition (Frederick, Maryland: University Pub. of America)
- 6 Reels and Hard-copy Guide (1985)
Notable Articles
- "Technology and the Market: George Eastman and the Origins of Mass Amateur Photography."
- reprinted in Stephen H. Cutcliffe & Terry S. Reynolds (ed.), Technology and American History, A Historical Anthology from Technology and Culture (Chicago: U. Chicago, 1997)
- trans. to French ("George Eastman et les debuts de la photographie populaire." Culture Technique 10 (June 1983): 75-88
- original in Technology & Culture 16 (Jan.1975):1-19
AWARDS
- Grants: from 80 foundations & corporations, 1968-2000
- Commendation from Council and President of the Association for Documentary Editing, 24 January 1996 [published in Documentary Editing 18 (March 1996): 26]
- New Jersey Historical Commission Award of Recognition, 1991
- The Outstanding Academic Book for 1989 in economics and business, Association of American Publishers
- Patricia Doyle Wise Lecturer, American Film Institute (Presented at University of Texas, May 1988)
- Dexter Prize, Outstanding Book, Society for the History of Technology, 1978
- Award for best book, 1976, Choice
- Award for Distinguished Achievement in History, Photographic History Society of New York, 1976
- Harvard-Newcomen Business History Fellow, Harvard Business School, 1969-70
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
- American Association of University Professors
- Association of Documentary Editors
- Business History Conference
- George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography
- History of Science Society
- International Committee for the History of Technology
- Society for the History of Technology
