Charles Wheatstone was one of the leading electrical engineers of the mid-nineteenth century. This fascinating biography celebrates the bicentenary of his birth, and draws on information about the family business as well as letters, including correspondence with Cooke and Faraday.

Brian Bowers, formerly curator of electrical engineering at the Science Museum, London, now consults on a number of museum projects in Britain and overseas. His interest in Sir Charles Wheatstone began in the 1970s when he gained his PhD on the life and work of Wheatstone. He is a Fellow of the IEE and has served the Institution on numerous Boards and Committees, and on Council. Other publications include A History of Electric Light and Power (IEE, second edition in preparation) and Lengthening the Day: a history of lighting technology (OUP).

• Chapter 1: An extraordinary fellow


• Chapter 2: Early life


• Part 1: Sound and light


• Chapter 3: Researches in sound


• Chapter 4: Musical instrument manufacturer


• Chapter 5: The stereoscope


• Part 2: Electricty


• Chapter 6: The velocity of electricity


• Chapter 7: Professor Wheatstone


• Chapter 8: Researches in electricity


• Chapter 9: Electrical measurements


• Part 3: The telegraph


• Chapter 10: Early telegraphy


• Chapter 11: The practical electric telegraph


• Chapter 12: Submarine telegraphy


• Chapter 13: The developing telegraph


• Part 4: Sir Charles


• Chapter 14: Wheatstone at home


• Chapter 15: Later scientific work


• Chapter 16: The public figure