IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - May/June 2015 - 90

book review

electric traction
Sprague's efforts in railroad electrification

WE HAVE ONE BOOK REVIEWED
in this issue; The Birth of Electric Traction details the life of Frank Julian
Sprague and his efforts in railroad electrification. After reading this book, the
reviewer writes, there is no doubt in his
mind that Frank Julian Sprague should be
considered the father of electric traction.

The Birth of Electric
Traction: The
Extraordinary
Life of Inventor
Frank Julian Sprague
By Frank Rowsome, Jr., 2014, ISBN
13:9781490955346
The origin and evolution of electric traction has always been high on my list of
electrical history subjects. The story of
how the The background of how the
book was developed really whetted my
appetite for a read. It amazed me-it
was like the book had been simmering
on a stove for a long period until it was
well done. Having already read Frank
Julian Sprague by William D. Middleton and William D. Middleton III, I was
anxious to see what more I could learn
about Sprague. To me, the close-up pictures of Sprague clearly portray a certain
amount of genius and determination.
I found both books to be very informative, and they seemed to complement
each other to some degree. The Middleton book has more pictures and sketches
related to Sprague's career. Some of the
sketches helped me understand some of
his theories and designs. The Rowsome
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2014.2380572
Date of publication: 17 April 2015

ieee power & energy magazine

book provided more insight into Sprague
as an individual and his relationship with
others, including Thomas Edison. I was
certainly glad that I had the opportunity
to read both books, as I now more fully
understand Sprague's life and his contributions to the power industry.
In The Birth of Electric Traction, the introduction is a very interesting discussion about
Frank Julian Sprague,
the author Frank Rowsome Jr., and how the
book became a reality
by John L. Sprague, the
grandson of Frank Julian Sprague. The book
begins with an informative description of the
celebration to honor
Sprague in 1932 on his
75th birthday. His boyhood beginnings are
discussed along with
technical evolutions that were being developed during that time. The book theorizes
that his attendance at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876 had a lot to do
with his drive toward technical innovation.
The second and third chapters cover Sprague's attendance at the Naval
Academy at Annapolis and subsequent
assignments and worldwide travels.
During this period, Sprague was exposed to many developing and new facets regarding the use of electricity. The
book does a great job of presenting the
voraceous appetite for innovation and
technical details that the young midshipman had at that time.

The book continues with a fascinating overview of Sprague working in the
environment of Menlo Park and his association with Edison. It includes some
interesting written correspondence between Sprague and Edison. Apparently,
Edison and Sprague did not get along
well, and Sprague, at
times, became frustrated with him. The projects Sprague worked
on at Menlo Park are
explained and appear
to have provided valuable experience for the
young engineer.
The next significant
development that is covered is the formation of
the Sprague Electric Railway and Motor Company
and the real beginning of
the concepts of electric
traction. This provides an
excellent insight as to the
far-reaching vision and innovative abilities
that Sprague possessed.
Rightfully so, a large portion of the
book covers Sprague's work with the
first traction system, which began operating in 1888 in Richmond, Virginia. The
aggressive undertaking of designing and
installing an electric trolley system for
the city of Richmond with virtually no
prior installations to use as a basis was
well explained, and I was able to feel
how uncertain Sprague must have been
with the system in its beginning. The
book does an excellent job of describing how Sprague created an engineering
breakthrough involving the mounting of
may/june 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - May/June 2015