Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln's Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America

Abraham Lincoln had a lifelong fascination with science and technology, a fascination that would help institutionalize science, win the Civil War, and propel the nation into the modern age. Readers will learn through Lincoln: The Fire of Genius how science and technology gradually infiltrated Lincoln’s remarkable life and influenced his growing desire to improve the condition of all men. The book traces this progression from a simple farm boy to a president who changed the world.

Counter to conventional wisdom, subsistence farming provides a considerable education in agronomic science, forest ecology, hydrology, and even a little civil engineering. Continuing through a lifetime of self-study, curiosity, and hard work, Lincoln became the only President with a patent, advocated for technological advancement as a legislator in Illinois and in Washington, and became the “go-to” western lawyer on technology, and patent cases during his legal career. During the Civil War, Lincoln drew upon his commitment to science and personally encouraged inventors while taking dramatic steps to institutionalize science via the Smithsonian Institution, create the National Academy of Sciences, and initiate the Department of Agriculture. Lincoln’s insistence on high-tech weaponry, balloon surveillance, strategic use of telegraphy, and railroad deployment positioned the North to achieve Union victory.

1140855845
Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln's Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America

Abraham Lincoln had a lifelong fascination with science and technology, a fascination that would help institutionalize science, win the Civil War, and propel the nation into the modern age. Readers will learn through Lincoln: The Fire of Genius how science and technology gradually infiltrated Lincoln’s remarkable life and influenced his growing desire to improve the condition of all men. The book traces this progression from a simple farm boy to a president who changed the world.

Counter to conventional wisdom, subsistence farming provides a considerable education in agronomic science, forest ecology, hydrology, and even a little civil engineering. Continuing through a lifetime of self-study, curiosity, and hard work, Lincoln became the only President with a patent, advocated for technological advancement as a legislator in Illinois and in Washington, and became the “go-to” western lawyer on technology, and patent cases during his legal career. During the Civil War, Lincoln drew upon his commitment to science and personally encouraged inventors while taking dramatic steps to institutionalize science via the Smithsonian Institution, create the National Academy of Sciences, and initiate the Department of Agriculture. Lincoln’s insistence on high-tech weaponry, balloon surveillance, strategic use of telegraphy, and railroad deployment positioned the North to achieve Union victory.

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Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln's Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln's Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln's Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln's Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America

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Overview

Abraham Lincoln had a lifelong fascination with science and technology, a fascination that would help institutionalize science, win the Civil War, and propel the nation into the modern age. Readers will learn through Lincoln: The Fire of Genius how science and technology gradually infiltrated Lincoln’s remarkable life and influenced his growing desire to improve the condition of all men. The book traces this progression from a simple farm boy to a president who changed the world.

Counter to conventional wisdom, subsistence farming provides a considerable education in agronomic science, forest ecology, hydrology, and even a little civil engineering. Continuing through a lifetime of self-study, curiosity, and hard work, Lincoln became the only President with a patent, advocated for technological advancement as a legislator in Illinois and in Washington, and became the “go-to” western lawyer on technology, and patent cases during his legal career. During the Civil War, Lincoln drew upon his commitment to science and personally encouraged inventors while taking dramatic steps to institutionalize science via the Smithsonian Institution, create the National Academy of Sciences, and initiate the Department of Agriculture. Lincoln’s insistence on high-tech weaponry, balloon surveillance, strategic use of telegraphy, and railroad deployment positioned the North to achieve Union victory.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781493063888
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date: 09/01/2022
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 344
Sales rank: 897,429
File size: 849 KB

About the Author

David J. Kent is an award-winning scientist, an accomplished Abraham Lincoln historian, and a successful multi-book author. He has over 35 years of experience in scientific research, consulting, and writing, plus a lifetime of Lincoln studies. David is currently President of the Lincoln Group of DC, Treasurer and member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Abraham Lincoln Institute, and a member of the Lincoln Forum Board of Advisors. He has previously served as president of three different scientific organizations.

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius is his sixth book. Previous books include Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity, and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World. His writing has also been published in Civil War Times, The Lincolnian, Writer's Digest, Lincoln Herald, The Lincoln Forum Bulletin, Smithsonian's Civil War Studies newsletter, Tesla Magazine, and other outlets. His website is http://www.davidjkent-writer.com/.

Table of Contents

Author's Note ix

Foreword Sidney Blumenthal xi

Introduction xv

Part I The Science of Frontier Life

Chapter 1 Farming Science 3

Chapter 2 Educating Lincoln: From Readin' to Euclid 19

Part II Expanding Interests in Science and Technology

Chapter 3 Life on the Waters 39

Chapter 4 The Technical Trades 53

Chapter 5 Calculating Niagara and the Only President with a Patent 69

Part III Legislative Science

Chapter 6 Internal Improvements and the Whig Way 85

Chapter 7 The Science of Slavery 99

Part IV Becoming a Science and Technology Lawyer

Chapter 8 The Patent and Technology Cases 121

Chapter 9 Working For, and Against, the Railroads 137

Chapter 10 The Science Lectures 151

Part V Modernizing America

Chapter 11 Institutionalizing Science 169

Chapter 12 The Technology of War 193

Chapter 13 The Science of War 211

Chapter 14 Assassination Science 227

Epilogue 241

Acknowledgments 251

Notes 257

Bibliography 301

Index 311

About the Author 322

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