From Publishers Weekly
A precocious farm boy with a passion for electronics, 21-year-old Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) carried out the first wireless telegraph transmission in 1895, assuring the birth of radio. The Italian inventor and entrepreneur founded the world's first wireless telegraphy company in London two years later, with a network of stations extending from China to Morocco. First published in Italy in 1976, this admiring biography ably traces Marconi's experiments, his triumphant public demonstrations of radio and the science underlying his inventions. Italian science journalist Masini, who lives in California, is less successful in probing the contradictions of the possessive, absent husband who had numerous affairs, the Italian senator who avowedly hated politics, the tender father who financially cut off the three children of his first marriage, the ardent nationalist who became Mussolini's staunch supporter and an active propagandist for the fascist cause.
Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Library Journal
Marconi (1874-1937) was a man of strong character whose life was a puzzling set of contrasts. He built devices that helped create the 20th century's telecommunications industry while regarding his inventiveness not as a research or academic pursuit but as a means to commercial success and personal profit. Masini, a physical chemist and historian of science, provides an easily read and informative examination of the inventor's scientific career as well as his business, political, and personal life. He deftly supplies insight and background to the life of this amazingly complex man. Highly recommended for all collections, especially those focusing on the history of science.
Michael David Cramer, Virginia Polytechnic & State Univ. Libs., BlacksburgCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
