I learned about government establishments that had radio. I got interested in radio, during the war. Hoddeson:ĭo you recall any early experiences, during your early schooling, or up through high school that related to your scientific interests? Sears: But he learned the telephone business, and understood that very well. I really don't think he understood science. But it's hard to distinguish between science and engineering. Well, Father had a scientific interest, then, more in engineering you know, how do things work? That sort of thing. What I’m trying to determine is the degree of scientific interest in your family, when you were a child. He will retire in another year, I think, because I think they go to '67, before they have to retire. My brother is professor of physics at University of Georgia. He was a Quaker… I came from the Quakers. He went to a boarding school, in lieu of high school. Was your father interested in the scientific aspects of telephony? Sears: I was just exposed to it because my father was in it, and I worked summers there and so forth. Sears:ĭid you decide to go into the telephone industry in some way when you were a child? Sears: I remember that - it’s interesting, fascinating. Matter of fact, the Bell System had opposed this development back in the early days, because they had such a big investment in switchboards and non-automatic things, you know, where the operator says, “Number, please?” and so forth. It was invented and developed by independent people. You see, the automatic telephone system was not invented or developed by the Bell System. When did Bell? I don’t k now when they put in the - they had automatic, too, but in that particular town, they didn’t have automatic. Oh, the automatic telephone was invented much before that. I don’t know the date when the automatic telephone came out. You know - with dials and that sort of thing. As a matter of fact, the independent telephone company was an automatic system, back in 1916.
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Well, you had telephones in Cambridge? Sears: They were trying to contract and get only the long distance telephony and the big cities.
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No, he didn’t know Vail, but in those early days the Bell System wasn’t really interested in expanding in the smaller towns. Hoddeson:ĭid your father talk about Vail at all? Sears: I heard a lot of it, back in this time, yeah. So you lived through all the turmoil of the Bell System during Vail’s administration? Sears: The Bell System would give you a fancy title, but that’s all. So, I was raised on an anti-Bell System diet as a youngster, you know. There used to be two telephone companies there when I was a youngster and the independent company was automatic, and the Bell System was manual, and so the independent company bought out the Bell System. Well, he was the manager of the independent telephone company. I knew more about the telephone business before I came to Bell Laboratories than I ever learned at Bell Laboratories. Had your parents been living in Cambridge for some time? Sears:
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I see you’re from Cambridge Ohio, born in 1906. Disclaimer: This transcript was scanned from a typescript, introducing occasional spelling errors. Please bear in mind that: 1) This material is a transcript of the spoken word rather than a literary product 2) An interview must be read with the awareness that different people's memories about an event will often differ, and that memories can change with time for many reasons including subsequent experiences, interactions with others, and one's feelings about an event.
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