The blacksmith's motor - Electricity, magnetism, and motion: A self-taught man pointed the direction for lighting the world

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Audience/Grade:	High School Sophomore - Continuing Education
Discipline(s):	Electrical Engineering History of Science and Technology Mechanical Engineering
Special Topic(s):	ME Magazine Features Technology and Society History of Technology
Learning Resource Type:	Reference - Article/Document
Media Type:	WWW
Author(s):	Frank Wicks Organization: ASME - American Society of Mechanical Engineers Department: ME Magazine
Description:	Article about Thomas Davenport, the inventor of the first DC motor. Excerpt: "In the spring of 1833, a self-educated but impoverished blacksmith in Forestdale, Vt., by the name of Thomas Davenport heard some curious news. This news, as it turned out, would not only change his life but would eventually change the life of almost everyone on earth. Davenport's curiosity led to his invention of the first rotating electric machine. Today, we would describe it as a shunt-wound brush and commutator dc motor." Image caption: "This Patent Office model of Davenport's motor now sits in The Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Reading about experiments and discoveries sparked DavenportÕs interest, and led to his invention of the electric motor."
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Keywords:	Thomas Davenport, DC motor, motor design, history of tehcnology
Is Component of	Mechanical Engineering Magazine Online


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Use of Resource:	Good case for "history of technology" or African American inventors. Summary: "Davenport died 30 years before the world was ready for his invention. Today, the electrification of the world and electricity's myriad of now-vital uses can be seen as the greatest technological marvel in human history. Electric light has extended full human activity to 24 hours per day. Electric-powered refrigeration is now taken for granted. Air conditioning has made the most inhospitable regions comfortable for year-round living and spawned new major cities. Our communications, computing, and information systems could not exist without electricity. Thomas Davenport, though little remembered today, played a vital part in making all of this possible."
Difficulty:	Easy
Interactivity Level:	Low