As is the case with many revolutionary ideas, the origin of the cotton gin (gin is short for engine) has been in hot dispute. Cotton gins of various designs had been used in the British colonies since the seventeenth century, most notably the gin designed by the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-born inventor, Joseph Eve (1760-1835), for use by him and others in the West Indies. His gin was in use there from 1787 onward. When Southern planters took an interest in Eve's gin, he applied for a patent, returned to Charleston, South Carolina, and set up a factory to produce them. While somewhat successful, his gins could not compete with the more sophisticated machines later developed by Eli Whitney; consequently, the invention of the cotton gin has been widely attributed to Whitney. On a trip south from New England, Eli Whitney--a recent graduated of Yale University--made the acquaintance of...