Re:The True American: On Henry David Thoreau
by dmckeon on Sunday September 17, 2017 @12:06AM
(#15268174)
As technologists, let's not overlook Thoreau's tech work [0] -
he made the lead pencil into a profitable product in the US:
and could be said to have invented the "Number 2 lead pencil"
in that the technique of blending graphite and clay made
it possible for his family's company to produce different
grades of pencils.
To be fair, European pencil-makers were using a similar
process as a trade secret at the time, and the market share
of Thoreau pencils was helped by high tariffs. Still,
HDT was not just a dreamer and writer in the woods, but
a technologist improving the very tools he wrote with.
To be fair, European pencil-makers were using a similar process as a trade secret at the time, and the market share of Thoreau pencils was helped by high tariffs. Still, HDT was not just a dreamer and writer in the woods, but a technologist improving the very tools he wrote with.
[0] http://www.english.illinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/482...