Jefferson polygraph
The Jefferson polygraph (polygraph from Greek: poly πολύς = many, several; graph γραφή = writing) is a mechanical device that the American President Thomas Jefferson used to reproduce written documents directly when they were drafted.
function
When he received the device in 1804 from the inventor John Isaac Hawkins, who also gave it its name, he is said to have described it as "the finest invention of the present age" ( the most successful invention of this age ). The polygraph had two or more nibs that moved simultaneously with the writing movement of the hand and made an exact copy of what was written. While the writer still had to be present in person, this was no longer necessary with the signature machine that was used more than 150 years later .
Surname
Polygraph was originally the name given to a prolific writer , a term often used in a disparaging sense for the author of a large number of books. In later encyclopedias (Meyers 1905, Brockhaus 1911) the name is also associated with an oddly constructed copying machine .