author
Charles Grafton Page
1812–1868
A 19th-century American inventor and physician, he helped push electromagnetism from curiosity to practical technology. His experiments with induction coils and early electric motors made him an important, if often overlooked, figure in the story of electricity.
1 Audiobook
Psychomancy: Spirit-Rappings and Table-Tippings Exposed
by Charles Grafton Page
About the author
Born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1812, Charles Grafton Page studied at Harvard, earning a science degree in 1832 and a medical degree in 1836. He built a career that crossed science, medicine, and public service, working not only as a physician and chemistry professor but also as a patent examiner and advocate.
Page is best remembered for his experiments in electricity and magnetism during the early days of electrical research in the United States. He developed an influential high-voltage induction coil and worked on electromagnetic machinery, including early motor and locomotive experiments, at a time when the practical uses of electricity were still being discovered.
He died in Washington, D.C., in 1868. Although he is less famous today than some of his contemporaries, his work helped bridge the gap between laboratory investigation and real-world invention, and his papers remain an important record of early American electrical science.