Posted by Ed Holland on January 30, 2023 at 21:01:48.

In Reply to: Re: Radio's beginnings posted by John Davis on January 30, 2023 at 20:01:56.

Great conversation! I remember reading about early attempts to communicate without wires in a book that was at my grandparents house. These didn't mention the effect studied by Loomis (but the publication may have been somewhat British-centric). It did mention Oliver Lodge's inductive system, and, IIRC, a means to communicate electrically across a body of water. Marconi is a very interesting character. He was in a privileged position to make a successful venture out of his work, and was very well supported through it e.g. by the British Post Office. Most historical sources seem to agree that the technical success achieved was down to empirical determination, rather than a use of first principles. Of course, electrical equipment of the day was limited, and an understanding of what created "wireless waves" still remained to be clear, even in academic circles. I'm reading "The Continuous Wave" at the moment, which I recommend highly. (worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/The-Continuous-Wave-1900-1932-Aitken-1985.pdf) Aitken's book illustrates how the necessity of a spark - the whiplash effect, reasoned by Fleming's "Decussation" theory, was becoming entrenched belief prior to more sophisticated methods of radio transmission. Marconi, of course, was making good business out of his system by this point. No doubt, it worked, but the 1901 Transatlantic communication still seems fantastical. Did Marconi stretch the truth? If so, one might think his bluff would be called eventually, and that could have damaged his credibility, something that he seems to have valued a great deal. Was something heard by George Kemp that was mistaken for the "S" for which he was instructed to listen? The arrangements of that famous test don't seem particularly rigorous. We'll probably never know what really happened that day, but Marconi's business went from strength to strength for years afterward.

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