Edison and the Field of Electricity

Whitney failed to solve an important problem related to arc lighting because the theoretical constructs of electro chemistry he brought to this work proved ineffective. This finally led him to question the value of disciplinary approaches when applied to industrial research and urge his staff to leave aside disciplinary based theory in order to concentrate on understanding phenomena through observation and experiment. combined with observation and experience would eventually lead to the solution of all research problems Whitney did not come to GE with this baconian approach his experience there directed him to it during the laboratories early years. The area of electricity really did need a man like Edison somebody to take the field to the next level Elting Morrison the MIT STS professor who wrote that book that was a