IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2022 - 21

to E. K. Root, the mechanical genius whose innovations
in drop forging and machine tools revolutionized
the methods being used to make Colt pistols.
A measure of Colt's success could also be seen in
the size of his workforce that grew from less than
100 workers in 1848 to over 500 in 1855. Few, if any,
metalworking firms in the world could point to such
growth in so short a time.
Not surprisingly, the Colt works became a mainstay
of Union arms-making efforts during the Civil War, second
only to the national armory at Springfield for the
sheer volume of production. But Samuel Colt did not
live to see the end of the bloody conflict. By 1861, a life
of hard living and excessive drinking had taken its toll
on Colt. His death the following year ended a life that
had many ups and downs. His wife, Elizabeth Jarvis
Colt, did her best to commemorate his many accomplishments,
but being a proper Victorian, remained
silent about the shadier sides of his life.
Among the many strengths of this extremely
well-written biography is the way Rasenberger
places Samuel Colt in the context of his times. In
addition to pointing to various political, military, and
social events of the antebellum years (Indian wars,
the abolitionist movement, the Revolutions of 1848,
for example), he excels at treating the friendship and
kinship relations that pervaded Colt's life. Especially
interesting is the detail he provides about cousin
Dudley Selden's involvement in Colt's early business
ventures. Equally revealing is Colt's relationship with
his brothers James and John, the latter a convicted
murderer who committed suicide before going to
the gallows in 1842. Rasenberger also details Colt's
relationship with Samuel F. B. Morse and the role
that he played in constructing early telegraph lines
in and around New York City.
all told, RaSenbeRgeR has done a commendable
job of researching Colt's life. Little, if anything,
is left out of the narrative he provides. Yet, as good
as Revolver is, the book has a serious flaw. For some
unknown reason, the author chose not to include
footnotes. Nor did he include a bibliography. Why
he decided to do so is puzzling. Was the decision his
or the publisher's? In any case, the absence of footnotes
and bibliography lessens the volume's value
to scholars interested in checking sources, following
up on interesting leads, and pursuing in greater
depth subjects discussed by the author. Properly
documented Revolver might have been a definitive
biography of Samuel Colt. Unfortunately, that is not
the case.
Merritt Roe Smith is the Leverett and William
Cutten Professor of the History of Technology
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
Cambridge, MA, USA. His primary research and
teaching interest is American industrialization,
particularly the role of the military as a catalyst
of technological change. Smith has a PhD from
Pennsylvania State University.
 Direct questions and comments about this
article to Merritt Roe Smith, Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139 USA;
roesmth@mit.edu.
September 2022
21
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