Popov and Marconi et al. A Sense of Urgency

1. a) The story of radio begins with James Clerk Maxwell, professor of experimental physics at Cambridge University. In 1864, Maxwell proved mathematically that an electrical disturbance was capable of producing a remote effect by electromagnetic propagation. His calculations which concluded that these radio waves move at the same speed as visible light, were put to test in 1888 by Heinrich Hertz, a German physicist. However, he said that he did not see any useful purpose for this  mysterious, invisible

Guglielmo Marconi                         electromagnetic energy.

b) Popov thoroughly enjoyed his research but he did not approach it with a sense of urgency. Marconi, in contrast, was determined to develop wireless telegraph into a profitable technology, lest someone else achieve it first. When an Italian government showed no interest in his apparatus, Marconi set sail for England, where he was granted a patent for “a system of telegraphy using Hertzian waves”, dating June 2 1896. From that point on, the future of the early radio belonged to Marconi.

c) The birth of radio communication came in 1895, when Alexander Stepanovich Popov, a Russian, and Guglielmo Marconi, whose father was an Italian nobleman and his mother Irish, separately sent and received radio signals over distance.

d) Two years after, Edouard Branly, a French scientist, noticed that the electrical resistance of a tube of fine metal particles decreased dramatically when a spark discharged nearby, but the particles had to be shaken loose after each discharge in order to detect the next spark.

e) Both men used similar equipment, including an antenna, and both had studied the work of Hertz. Popov had read Lodge’s work in scientific journals, and he  further      Alexander S. Popov

improved the sensitivity of the coherer.

f)Then, in 1892 Oliver Lodge, an English physicist, noticed that when a spark discharged near two barely touching metal spheres, the spheres fused together and current would flow easily through the junction. Lodge called this phenomenon “coherer” and realized that it could be used to detect electromagnetic waves produced by a distant spark discharge.

g) Marconi’s experiments became increasingly successful. In 1897, the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company was formed with Marconi as its major shareholder. A year later, the Italian navy adopted Marconi’s wireless, the press used wireless, Queen Victoria communicated with the Prince of Wales on board the Royal yacht, and Lord Kelvin sent the first telegram by wireless.

h) Popov felt no personal resentment towards Marconi. In 1902 when Marconi visited Kronstadt, Popov met him and the two had a cordial discussion. Marconi later received a silver samovar and a sealskin coat from Popov as a wedding present. Popov’s work won him a Grand Gold medal at the Paris International Exhibition of 1900. (Marconi’s gained him a share of the 1909 Nobel Prize for physics.

i) In 1902, Valdemar Poulse, a Dane, invented the first high-frequency generator without moving parts. By generating continuous waves, it enabled transmitters to be fine tuned and minimized signal disturbance between stations. Radio came of age.

 

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