Who Invented Wireless? Marconi, Lodge or Tesla?

Who invented the wireless telegraph? Guglielmo Marconi made a wireless telegraph empire but he didn't invent most of the devices he used nor was he the first to make a transmission. But he was determined and did have a useful lack of Physics knowledge! Watch this video for the interesting story

As usual, the fantastic music from Kim Nalley (except the music at the end which is from a live broadcast in 1937 from Benny Goodman.)

[arthur_stve]

Sir JC Bose, Oliver Lodge, Karl Braun, Marconi and Aleksandr Popov this Five Man are the crucial part of Developing Wireless Telegraphy and Radio System, and also my favourite radio scientist

[Eternal]

Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose was the person who first demonstrated the science behind capturing radio waves. Wondering how he is not as well known as Marconi? This is because he never patented his work.


Bose is known as the father of wireless telecommunication. He had invented the Mercury Coherer, a radio wave receiver that was used by Guglielmo Marconi to build an operational two-way radio.The science behind capturing radio waves was first demonstrated by Bose. While Marconi was celebrated for his invention, Bose remained unknown to many, as he never patented his work.

[williamfulgham]

Thank you miss Kathy for bringing us up-to-date on the development that Marconi went through, to establish his communication company.
However, everyone keeps missing the 1st proven wireless communication.
Dr Maylon Loomis, a dentist in the state of Virginia, obtained patents and was working with the US Navy after he performed the 1st wireless communication between 2 mountain tops, 14 miles apart using kites with 300' wites going to an arc point on the ground, keying the circuit with a telegraph key.
His 1st documented experiment with witnesses to testify, occurred several years before Marconi was even born.
He was making progress in developing his project, when a nationwide economic panic occurred, scaring off future investors.
He died almost broke with no further progress being made.

[lawrencemiller]

I believe there is an article in the ARRL QST magazine, which speculated Marconi did hear the signal on that first transmission due to harmonics from the transmitter and a receiver with low selectivity, so instead of being at medium frequencies that would be unlikely to get through, the transmission and reception was at HF which was likely to get through.

[gualbertomicolano]

I've heard the Russians also were on radio transmission research before Marconi, but it was done under military secret.
Years ago I heard on the BBC that there's a working radio in a Russian museum marked with the date of its creation, the inventor being a certain Popov before Marconi.
I haven't researched it, though.

[jeffharrison]

Great and Interesting piece again!!!! Every time I go to Starbucks for coffee and bagel, my first order of business
is to watch one of your productions while enjoy my coffee and bagel!!! However, the "one" video always turns
into 3 or 4 videos urged on by your "cliffhangers"....lol! Keep up the good work!

[williamlinington]

So enlightening. I always tell folks not to believe everything you hear when it comes to famous inventors.

[rweerakkody]

You're a wonderful lecturer, thank you so much for your enlightening and entertaining videos.

[patsyhetzel]

At 6:00 it was the letter 'S', not 'SOS', that Marconi claimed to have heard at Signal Hill which overlooks the city of St. John's, Newfoundland. This is not a criticism, but a correction. You provide so many facts, I would guess errors are <~0.01%. I am sincerely grateful for your very professional product.

Please research the work of David Edward Hughes. He demonstrated transmission and reception of electromagnetic radiation at radio frequencies BEFORE H. R. Hertz. I do recall one of your videos mentioning Bell's use of Hughes' Induction Balance in searching for the bullet that ultimately killed President Garfield. Ivor Hughes' book Before We Went Wireless: David Edward Hughes, His Life, Inventions and Discoveries 1831-1900 is a fascinating read, and now available in eBook format.

Oh, incidentally, It was Marconi's early experiment that gave him confidence that wireless waves could be received from behind a hill when he sent his brother there with a receiver, and instructed him to fire a shot if he received Marconi's transmission from the attic window.

[scanlime]

Whoa, i had no idea you could detect radio waves with metal powders, or that it still isn't well-understood. Thank you for another great video!

[TaiChiGhost]

I'm so glad that I stumbled across your vids. The Google algorithm got something right this time.
This is High School Physics, with better detail and some much appreciated history. I usually had to look that up o my own, in my school library; so old fashioned ... I'm in my Seventies now, but I feel like a kid again when I watch these AV treats.

[chem]

I actually didn't know that the Wardenclyffe tower was also an experiment to transmit radiowaves, instead of just energy. This makes the project sound much more reasonable than it has been described in some other videos I've watched.

It's also interesting that Marconi won the Nobel Prize for designs that Tesla heavily contributed to, and that the patent decisions were reversed. Great telling, thanks so much!

[arctic_haze]

The Russian had their own radio inventor, Alexandr Popov even if he himself stated that Marconi was the father of the wireless (but Popov was late by only a few months).

[jorgediez]

When Aleksandr Popov finally "invented" the radio he was able to listen to the BBC.

[ronniedrozario]

Xaverian Jagadish Ch. Bose's London RADIO/wireless telegraphy demonstration was much before Marconi's patent.

[borisfilipovic]

Hi Kathy, hats off. You have to read N. Tesla's Colorado Springs notes _diary made from 1899 to1901.
It is not a nonsense to use energy of ionosphere as (spheric) condenser to discharged it. Maybe technically impossible, but conservation of energy ok

[charlesfaulkner]

What a wonderful contribution to an historical perspective on science. Thank you.

[trevorcrossley]

Fantastic channel for we learn so much from the greats and history shows the path while unravelling the questions before them, so thank you from me as you do a very good job.

[johnbanka]

You omitted the part of the story when Marconi did receive the first trans-Atlantic radio transmission fro Europe at Signal Hill on the Island of Newfoundland.

[andreasschmitt]

According to Tesla's autobiography J.P. Morgan did not fund his transmitter: "I would add further, in view of various rumors which have reached me, that Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan did not interest himself with me in a business way but in the same large spirit in which he has assisted many other pioneers. He carried out his generous promise to the letter and it would have been most unreasonable to expect from him anything more."