[SystemSafety] Bug Redux... WAS Safety Culture redux

[Chuck_Petras at selinc.com]

The IEEE Institute had a fun tidbit on the origin of the term "bug." 

"In 1873 Edison first confronted what he later called a bug when he began 
developing a quadruplex telegraph system to transmit and receive up to 
four separate telegrams on a single wire simultaneously. If he succeeded, 
his patron, Western Union Telegraph, would profit greatly from the 
increased message capacity. The 26-year-old engineer combined diplex and 
duplex circuits to send two messages in each direction using changes in 
current direction and strength. The problem in this approach was the false 
break in a message?s signal created by the changing polarity of the 
electromagnet in the diplex circuit when the current switched direction.

"Edison worked around this by building what he later called a ?bug trap? 
to isolate the unwanted break so that it wouldn?t interfere with the 
meaning of the Morse-coded signal. In August 1873 he filed a patent 
caveat, a form of patent application long since discontinued, which 
included this solution. A year later it became part of his application for 
U.S. Patent 480,567, which did not issue until 1892 due to 
patent-interference claims and court cases."

[snip]

"Author and engineer Thomas Sloane standardized Edison?s terms in his 1892 
Standard Electrical Dictionary. He defined a bug as '[a]ny fault or 
trouble in the connections or working of electric apparatus,' with a bug 
trap being a 'connection or arrangement for overcoming' said bug."

[snip]

"News of Edison?s quadruplex also encouraged German speakers to adopt the 
terms ?bug? and ?bug trap? in translation. Karl Zetzsche explained in his 
1890 Handbuch der Electrischen Telegraphie (Handbook of Electrical 
Telegraphy) that Edison used 'neutralen und einem polarisirten Relais in 
Brückenschaltung und mit Wanzenfalle in Thätigkeit,' or 'neutral and 
polarized relays in a bridge circuit with a bug trap during action.' Three 
years later, Dinglers Polytechnisches Journal also referred to 'Edison?s 
Wanzen Falle (bug trap).'"

Did You Know? Edison Coined the Term ?Bug?, 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__theinstitute.ieee.org_tech-2Dhistory_technology-2Dhistory_did-2Dyou-2Dknow-2Dedison-2Dcoined-2Dthe-2Dterm-2Dbug&d=DwIFAw&c=zVFQZQ67ypsA9mYKSCqWmQHiVkCCaN-Gb60_N6TVnLk&r=zCwDz0h_ezUCVpbXoLT-zh0iTVdbymfdnT16kGAgelNE5W_nOFK-pESbjJCRy2gv&m=6nRQc7G_KEr-H6EQlNfNrlY3pyHSqvXgX36QSb4EJ5w&s=K8uTWD35j_dQGwuCXoavjQIp5rEV8FD2Tkf4lv1Bb2M&e=


Chuck Petras, PE**
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc
Pullman, WA  99163  USA
http://www.selinc.com
Tel: +1.509.332.1890
Cel: +1.509.991.0613

SEL Synchrophasors - A New View of the Power System <
http://synchrophasor.selinc.com>

Making Electric Power Safer, More Reliable, and More Economical (R)

** Registered in Oregon.
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