Telegraph Messenger Boys provides an entirely new perspective on the telegraph system, a communications network that revolutionized human perceptions of time and space. But the book's ramifications go far beyond just the telegraphy - it tells a broader story of human interaction with technology, and social and cultural changes brought about by this interaction. Downey argues that the telegraph network was not merely an electromechanical system; labour systems, like those of the telegraphers and the messengers, played integral roles within it. Telegraph companies presented messengers as the penultimate link within their networks: the boys were uniformed and drilled to work and behave in a machine-like manner. Through the boys' story, Downey also demonstrates that technological 'progress' is uneven: supposedly 'superior' technologies like the telephone did not kill off older ones; they often existed side by side for sustained periods of time, even complimenting each other.

Interdisciplinarity has become a buzzword in academia, as research universities funnel their financial resources toward collaborations between faculty in different disciplines. In theory, interdisciplinary collaboration breaks down artificial divisions between different departments, allowing more innovative and sophisticated research to flourish. But does it actually work this way in practice?   Investigating Interdisciplinary Collaboration puts the common beliefs about such research to the test, using empirical data gathered by scholars from the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. The book’s contributors critically interrogate the assumptions underlying the fervor for interdisciplinarity. Their attentive scholarship reveals how, for all its potential benefits, interdisciplinary collaboration is neither immune to academia’s status hierarchies, nor a simple antidote to the alleged shortcomings of disciplinary study.  Chapter 10 is available Open Access here (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK395883)

Telegraph Messenger Boys provides an entirely new perspective on the telegraph system, a communications network that revolutionized human perceptions of time and space. But the book's ramifications go far beyond just the telegraphy - it tells a broader story of human interaction with technology, and social and cultural changes brought about by this interaction. Downey argues that the telegraph network was not merely an electromechanical system; labour systems, like those of the telegraphers and the messengers, played integral roles within it. Telegraph companies presented messengers as the penultimate link within their networks: the boys were uniformed and drilled to work and behave in a machine-like manner. Through the boys' story, Downey also demonstrates that technological 'progress' is uneven: supposedly 'superior' technologies like the telephone did not kill off older ones; they often existed side by side for sustained periods of time, even complimenting each other.