| Book Reviews | The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 130.2

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| Book Reviews | The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 130.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Reviews

Steam: The Untold Story of America's First Great Invention. By Andrea Sutcliffe. (New York: Palgrave McMillan, 2004. xiv, 272p. Illustrations, notes, chronology, bibliography, index. $24.95.)
The invention of the steamboat in America was a more complex and muddled affair than you might think, especially if you are ready to name Robert Fulton as the steamboat's originator. Contenders for that honor include a number of inventors who worked on related projects before Fulton. These pioneers fought for patronage and funds to build their version of a workable mechanical boat able to move upstream against the current.	1
The situation was further confused by the fact that the American patent system was not in effect when the battle for priority rights to the invention of the steamboat began. In the period before the establishment of the patent system in 1790, inventors scrambled to press legislatures and Congress with their rival claims, requests for funds, and calls for exclusive right to use routes on America's rivers.	. . .

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