The invention of radio occurred during a stormy scientific and technological revolution. Along with some other innovations, wireless communication has become an important stage in the overall human progress, affecting both the technological picture Peace, and socio-economic, giving humanity new opportunities.
Background of wireless communication
The first step that predetermined the invention of radio, the herd was the discovery in 1883 by Thomas Edison of the effect of sputtering matter from the filament of an electric bulb. The inventor noticed that the positive voltage applied to the electrode generates a current in vacuum between the filament and the electrode. That is, he first discovered that the current can be transmitted through the external medium, without the help of conductors. This process was called the "Edison effect". In 1868, the American scientist Mahlon Loomis was the first to create a prototype of wireless communication. In fact, this was a system of transmitting and receiving antennas, a length of 22 km. However, it was too cumbersome and was not yet a full line. To create a full wireless connection, you need Was still learning how to use the natural electricity of the atmosphere to transmit information over distances. Important for the subsequent technical novelty was the creation by James Maxwell in 1865 of the theory of the electromagnetic field, on which both Alexander Popov and Guglielmo Marconi relied. However, at that time it was still just an assumption, not all accepted. The theory of electromagnetic waves was practically confirmed when, in 1887, Henry Hertz showed the world his generator and resonator of electromagnetic oscillations. The work of these physicists has become an important foundation for the last step in the creation of the device, they all to some extent share the invention of radio. Another thing is that all these attempts were just laboratory experiments and were not brought to a logical conclusion.
The invention of radio: so who was the first?
In our country it is traditionally believed that the right of the discoverer belongs to Alexander Popov. However, in the West you will be told that it was the Italian Guglielmo Marconi who invented the radio. Both these scientists almost simultaneously Perfected the device Hertz. And even the technical solution was almost the same for them. They both added grounding and an antenna to the device, as well as a so-called coherer-a glass tube, which acted as a resistor whose resistance at the ends of it took only extreme values and performed commands for turning the machine off and on. In 1895 the invention of radio Popov was announced . The presentation took place on May 7 in the Russian Physico-Chemical Society. And in the spring of the same year, Marconi conducts an identical experiment, but the first manages to apply for a patent invention. Thus, the invention of radio is difficult to give uniquely to man alone, it was the result of the long development of the theory of electromagnetic waves and almost simultaneous implementation of it in practice.