Brilliant Beacons - A History of the American Lighthouse
Year: 2016 Language: english Author: Eric Jay Dolin Genre: History Publisher: Liveright ISBN: 978-1-63149-153-5 Format: EPUB Quality: eBook Pages count: n/a Description: The book traces the evolution of America's lighthouse system from its earliest days, highlighting the political, military, and technological challenges. Beginning with "Boston Light," America’s first lighthouse, the author shows how the story of America, from colony to global industrial power, can be illustrated through its lighthouses. The history of America’s lighthouses is quite wide ranging: colonies built the first lighthouses on the east coast to welcome commerce to their shores, and one of the first issues faced by the inaugural federal Congress convened in 1789, was whether the federal government or the states would be in charge of lighthouses. In one of its earliest acts, Congress made lighthouses a federal concern. Brilliant Beacons is also a history of technical innovation and international competition, as for a long time America’s lighthouses were greatly inferior to those in Great Britain and France. Lighthouse illuminants changed dramatically over time, from whale, lard, and vegetable oil to kerosene, acetylene, and finally electricity. Reflectors were replaced by the crown jewels of lighthouse illumination, Fresnel lenses, which greatly increased the intensity of the light. Lighthouses served as lookout towers in many conflicts, but during the American Revolution and the Civil War they also became key strategic targets, resulting in more than 160 of them being damaged or completely destroyed. However the history of America’s lighthouses is about people: Founding Fathers, skillful engineers, imperiled mariners, and intrepid soldiers, as well as saboteurs, penny-pinching bureaucrats, ruthless egg collectors, and inspiring leaders. But the most important actors, no doubts, are the male and female keepers, who kept the lights shining and the fog signals blaring.
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Brilliant Beacons A History of the American Lighthouse.epub
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Brilliant Beacons - A History of the American Lighthouse
Language: english
Author: Eric Jay Dolin
Genre: History
Publisher: Liveright
ISBN: 978-1-63149-153-5
Format: EPUB
Quality: eBook
Pages count: n/a
Description: The book traces the evolution of America's lighthouse system from its earliest days, highlighting the political, military, and technological challenges. Beginning with "Boston Light," America’s first lighthouse, the author shows how the story of America, from colony to global industrial power, can be illustrated through its lighthouses. The history of America’s lighthouses is quite wide ranging: colonies built the first lighthouses on the east coast to welcome commerce to their shores, and one of the first issues faced by the inaugural federal Congress convened in 1789, was whether the federal government or the states would be in charge of lighthouses. In one of its earliest acts, Congress made lighthouses a federal concern. Brilliant Beacons is also a history of technical innovation and international competition, as for a long time America’s lighthouses were greatly inferior to those in Great Britain and France. Lighthouse illuminants changed dramatically over time, from whale, lard, and vegetable oil to kerosene, acetylene, and finally electricity. Reflectors were replaced by the crown jewels of lighthouse illumination, Fresnel lenses, which greatly increased the intensity of the light. Lighthouses served as lookout towers in many conflicts, but during the American Revolution and the Civil War they also became key strategic targets, resulting in more than 160 of them being damaged or completely destroyed. However the history of America’s lighthouses is about people: Founding Fathers, skillful engineers, imperiled mariners, and intrepid soldiers, as well as saboteurs, penny-pinching bureaucrats, ruthless egg collectors, and inspiring leaders. But the most important actors, no doubts, are the male and female keepers, who kept the lights shining and the fog signals blaring.
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Brilliant Beacons A History of the American Lighthouse.epub
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