L'objectif de cet ouvrage est d'explorer la variete des cheminements par lesquels les activites innovantes ont fait emerger l'industrie electrique depuis la phase pionniere du milieu du XIXe siecle jusqu'a nos jours. En effet, au cours de la premiere moitie du XXe siecle, la recherche des innovations est passee d'une activite menee par quelques individus hautement creatifs, la plupart d'entre eux travaillant comme inventeurs independants, a une activite portee par des equipes de specialistes travaillant dans des structures industrielles specifiquement consacrees a la recherche. Le modele du laboratoire integre, dominant dans l'industrie electrique, ne saurait occulter la porosite des structures de recherche qui surent se greffer a d'autres dynamiques (universite, agents independants, etc.) ainsi que la realisation, souvent irremplacable, des experimentations grandeur nature.
The goal of this book is to explore the variety of ways in which innovative activities were carried out in the electrical industry from its pioneering phase in the mid-19th century to the present. It is a shared assumption among historians of technology and economic historians alike that during the first half of the 20th century the mainsprings of innovation shifted from an activity pursued by a few highly creative individuals, most of them working as independent inventors, to one carried out by teams of specialists operating within industry, in structures specifically devoted to research. In electrical technology, as in other fields, the transition was gradual and it has continued to the present day. Laboratories, established in all the main electrical engineering firms, were dominant but many of the advances in electrical technology did not originate from departments designated as laboratories (university, independent agents, etc.).