Wheatstone, Sir Charles

Wheatstone, Sir Charles (1802-75), scientist, b. Gloucester, England.

Charles Wheatstone's first job, at the age of fourteen, was as an assistant to his uncle who made musical instruments.

Later he turned his attention to science and became a professor at King's College, London. In the meantime, he had invented the concertina.

Wheatstone carried out experiments in many fields. In 1837, he and William Cooke produced a form of electric telegraph and this was installed by the Great Western Railway on their line from London to Bristol. Posters called it 'The Wonder of the Age' and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert went along to see it in action. But, in time people stopped using the Wheatstone-Cooke telegraph. Samuel Morse's telegraph came into use everywhere.

See Charles Wheatstone A Reply To Mr. Cooke's Pamphlet