Guglielmo Marconi

Guglielmo Marconi, GCVO (25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937) was an Italian electrical engineer and Nobel laureate, known for the development of a practical wireless telegraphy system commonly known as the "radio". Marconi was President of the Accademia d'Italia and a member of the Fascist Grand Council of Italy.

Middle years

Although many scientists and inventors contributed to the invention of wireless telegraphy, including Oliver Lodge, Hans Christian Ørsted, Michael Faraday, Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, Jagadis Chandra Bose, Alexander Popov, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Alva Edison, Nathan Stubblefield, and others, Marconi's practical system achieved widespread use, so he is often credited as the "father of radio." Marconi's system was based primarily on Nikola Tesla's system, theoretically demonstrated during a widely known lecture titled On Light and Other High Frequency Phenomena, presented before a meeting of the National Electric Light Association in St. Louis and the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

Related Topics:
Inventor - Wireless telegraphy - Oliver Lodge - Hans Christian Ørsted - Michael Faraday - Heinrich Rudolf Hertz - Jagadis Chandra Bose - Alexander Popov - Nikola Tesla - Thomas Alva Edison - Nathan Stubblefield - National Electric Light Association - St. Louis - Franklin Institute - Philadelphia

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Marconi sent radio signals of 300 meters (and up to 6 Kilometers) on Salisbury Plain (England) in 1896. Marconi was awarded the patent for Radio with British Patent GB12039, "Improvements in transmitting electrical impulses and signals and in apparatus there-for" on 2 July 1897 (sometimes recognised as the World's first patent). In July 1897, Marconi formed the London based Wireless Telegraph Trading Signal Company (later renamed the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company), which opened the World's first "wireless" factory in Hall Street, Chelmsford, England in 1898, employing around 50 people.

Related Topics:
British - Patent - 2 July - 1897 - London - Wireless Telegraph Trading Signal Company - Chelmsford, England - 1898

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Marconi made the first wireless transmission across water May 13th 1897, from Lavernock Point, South Wales to Flat holm Island. He made a wireless transmission across the water from Ballycastle (Northern Ireland) to Rathlin Island in 1898. He received the first trans-Atlantic radio signal on 12 December 1901 at Signal Hill in St John's, Newfoundland (now in Canada) using a 400-foot kite-supported antenna for reception.

Related Topics:
Lavernock Point - South Wales - Flat holm - Ballycastle - Northern Ireland - Rathlin Island - 1898 - Atlantic - 12 December - 1901 - Signal Hill - St John's - Newfoundland - Canada - Kite

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This was surprising at the time as it was thought by the mainstream that a radio signal could only be transmitted in the line of sight. The transmitting station in Poldhu, Cornwall used a spark-gap transmitter to produce a signal with a frequency of approximately 500kHz and a power of 100 times more than any radio signal previously produced (a maximum time-averaged power of 35 kilowatts, but with a peak pulse power of several tens of megawatts http://www.antiquewireless.org/otb/marconi1901a.htm). The message received was three dots, the Morse code for the letter S. To reach Newfoundland the signal would have to bounce off the ionosphere twice. Dr Jack Belrose has recently contested this, however, based on theoretical work as well as an actual reenactment of the experiment; he believes that Marconi heard only random atmospheric noise and mistook it for the signal. Many other engineers agree with Jack Belrose that the 1901 bridging of the Atlantic never took place. The frequency was not suitable and the time of day was wrong. It wouldn't even be possible today with modern equipment. However there is little doubt that by February 1902, Marconi's apparatus was fairly reliably receiving complete messages at 2500 km (1550 miles) at night and 1100 km (700 miles) by day, and usually picked up a special test signal at 3400 km (2100 miles), the distance of Poldhu to Newfoundland. By 1903, the Marconi Company was carrying regular transatlantic news transmissions.

Related Topics:
Mainstream - Poldhu - Cornwall - Morse code - Ionosphere - Jack Belrose

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On 16 March 1905 he married Beatrice O'Brien, daughter of Edward Donough O'Brien, 14th Baron Inchiquin, Ireland. They had three daughters, one of whom lived only a few weeks, and one son. They divorced later. Marconi did not achieve fully reliable transatlantic communication until 1907.

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16 March - 1905 - Beatrice O'Brien - Edward Donough O'Brien, 14th Baron Inchiquin - 1907

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He was the founder of the Marconi Corporation and the joint 1909 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics along with Karl Ferdinand Braun. During World War I, Marconi was in charge of the Italian wireless service. Marconi developed shortwave secret communication transmissions during this time.

Related Topics:
Marconi Corporation - 1909 - Nobel Prize in Physics - Karl Ferdinand Braun - World War I - Shortwave secret communication transmissions

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