Researching the history of compression

[Stinsok]

In an effort to understand compression, I have begun searching the history of the compressor. Do you have any suggestions on where to look?

Here is some cool stuff:
http://www.261.gr/vintage.html

[warwick.hoy]

Talk to bongomania or go to his website ovnilab.com (if you haven't already).

http://www.ovnilab.com/faq.shtml

[fdeck]

I find when researching the history of a technology that Google Patents is your friend:

www.google.com/patents

It's amazing what you can find. Try searching under "audio compressor." I found designs going back to the 1930's.