The Generations of Corning : The Life and Times of a Global Corporation

A history of Corning Incorporated, chronicling how one of the oldest business enterprises in the world maintained its place as a global leader in technology for over 150 years. It tells the stories of its founding family, the inventors, and the adventures, behind Corning's achievements. This engrossing history of an extraordinary company, Corning Incorporated, chronicles how one of the oldest business enterprises in the world maintained its place as a global leader in technology for over 150 years. In the nineteenth century, Corning developed colored signal lights for railroads. In the twentieth century, it created Pyrex and color television tubes; today, it is a Fortune 500 company leading the international marketplace in areas such as fiber optics and photonics.If you use the Internet, drive a car, or simply turn on a light, then Corning is a part of your life. The Generations of Corning tells the fascinating stories of its founding family--the Houghtons, the inventors, and the adventures, behind Corning's remarkable achievements--from unexpected discoveries, like the laboratory mishap that led to Corning Ware, to the years of painstaking, often frustrating, research that led to its breakthrough in fiber optics.From 1851 to 1996, five generations of Houghtons made Corning a company that combined a culture of continuous innovation with a sense of loyalty to its employees and their community. Davis Dyer and Daniel Gross show how the critical changes in organization and leadership that accompanied each new generation helped Corning not just survive, but to prosper, and push itself to the cutting edge of materials technology in decade after decade. The Generations of Corning is a classic success story and a triumph of the inventive spirit. This engrossing history of an extraordinary company, Corning Incorporated, chronicles how one of the oldest business enterprises in the world maintained its place as a global leader in technology for over 150 years. In the nineteenth century, Corning developed colored signal lights for railroads. In the twentieth century, it created Pyrex and color television tubes; today, it is a Fortune 500 company leading the international marketplace in areas such as fiber optics and photonics. If you use the Internet, drive a car, or simply turn on a light, then Corning is a part of your life. The Generations of Corning tells the fascinating stories of its founding family--the Houghtons, the inventors, and the adventures, behind Corning's remarkable achievements--from unexpected discoveries, like the laboratory mishap that led to Corning Ware, to the years of painstaking, often frustrating, research that led to its breakthrough in fiber optics. From 1851 to 1996, five generations of Houghtons made Corning a company that combined a culture of continuous innovation with a sense of loyalty to its employees and their community. Davis Dyer and Daniel Gross show how the critical changes in organization and leadership that accompanied each new generation helped Corning not just survive, but to prosper, and push itself to the cutting edge of materials technology in decade after decade. The Generations of Corning is a classic success story and a triumph of the inventive spirit. Chronicles the evolution of Corning Incorporated, including the leadership of five generations of the Houghton family from 1851 to 1996, and the development of Pyrex, the Ribbon Machine, Corning Ware, television tubes, and fiber optics THIS BOOK EXPLORES the relationship between Corning and glass, the material from which it (as well as its forebears) has wrought its livelihood since 1851. From light bulbs to Pyrex to fibre optics - this is the engrossing history of an extraordinary company, Corning Inc., over its 150 years of existence.