Wireless: From Marconi's Black-Box to the Audion (Transformations: Studies in the History of Science and Technology) [Hardcover]

Sungook Hong (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0262082985 | ISBN-13: 978-0262082983 | Edition: 1st

By 1897 Guglielmo Marconi had transformed James Clerk Maxwell's theory of electromagnetic waves into a workable wireless telegraphy system, and by 1907 Lee de Forest had invented the audion, a feedback amplifier and oscillator that opened the way to practical radio transmission. Fifteen years after Marconi's invention, wireless had become an essential means of communication, as well as a hobby for many.This book offers a new perspective on the early days of wireless communication. Drawing on previously untapped archival evidence and recent work in the history and sociology of science and technology, it examines the substance and context of both experimental and theoretical aspects of engineering and scientific practices in the first years of this technology. It offers new insights into the relationship between Marconi and his scientific advisor, the physicist John Ambrose Fleming (inventor of the vacuum tube). It includes the full story of the infamous 1903 incident in which Marconi's opponent Nevil Maskelyne interfered with Fleming's public demonstration of Marconi's syntonic (tuning) system at the Royal Institution by sending derogatory messages from his own transmitter. The analysis of the Maskelyne affair highlights the struggle between Marconi and his opponents, the efficacy of early syntonic devices, Fleming's role as a public witness to Marconi's private experiments, and the nature of Marconi's "shows." It also provides a rare case study of how the credibility of an engineer can be created, consumed, and suddenly destroyed. The book concludes with a discussion of de Forest's audion and the shift from wireless telegraphy to radio.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Historians of science and technology will regard this book as the definitive work on the scientific underpinnings and technological development of wireless in its first fifteen years." David Hochfelder Business History Review

"This is a carefully drawn and well-written study that sheds new light on an old but central story." Communications Booknotes Quarterly

"With clarity and precision, Sungook Hong shows how theoretical science and practical engineering came together in the 1890s to produce wireless telegraphy, a technology that now pervades the modern world. It is an important and fascinating story, and Hong tells it very well indeed."--Bruce J. Hunt, Department of History, University of Texas

"While there have been many books about Marconi and the invention of radio, Sungook Hong is the first to combine a thorough discussion of the scientific details with a lively account of the give-and-take between Marconi and his British contemporaries. Through his brilliant narration of this pivotal moment in the history of technology, Hong reminds us that the path from scientific discovery to commercial technology is often long, bumpy, and highly contested; yet it only along this path that new technologies acquire utility and meaning."--W. Bernard Carlson, Division of Technology, Culture, and Communication, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Virginia

About the Author

Sungook Hong is Associate Professor at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto.

CHRIS THOMPSON is an art historian and critic based in Portland,Maine. He is working on a book on Fluxus, intermedia, and TibetanBuddhism.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; 1st edition (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262082985
• ISBN-13: 978-0262082983
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #981,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where radio came from, February 12, 2002

By 

Harvey M. Solomon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wireless: From Marconi's Black-Box to the Audion (Transformations: Studies in the History of Science and Technology) (Hardcover)

This book is an excellent history of important events associated with the early scientific understanding of electromagnetic radiation and with the technical development of wireless communication. It answers many questions which have been raised concerning the roles of individuals who participated in critical events associated with the transition from electrics to electronics. Activities which occurred over 100 years ago are skillfully recreated based on extensive research involving many unusual references. The book is well written and demonstrates a high level of scholarship. It explains clearly how the rudimentary spark gap transmitter and primitive receiver which Marconi brought to England in 1896 was so effectively transformed that a successful transatlantic transmission of the letter S took place in 1901. The quality of the illustrations, circuit diagrams and figures obtained from laboratory note books and patent applications is excellent. No photographs of Marconi with various social luminaries of the time are included; this only enhances the quality of the book and the judgement of the author.

The author thoroughly documents the technical progression from Edison's monode, to Fleming's diode, to De Forest's triode and characterizes how the development and understanding of these important early hollow-state devices contributed to the ultimate introduction of continuous wave technology.

It has been illegal to communicate with spark gap transmitters since the late 1920's. Today few people know how such devices sound. In honor of the 100th anniversary of Marconi's first transatlantic transmission, VE3BBN was permitted to operate a low-power rotary spark transmitter on the 80 meter amateur band. (...)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Covers an important part of radio history, January 27, 2008

By 

R.Cabell "Old Sparky" (Boyce, Vatican City State (Holy See)) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wireless: From Marconi's Black-Box to the Audion (Transformations: Studies in the History of Science and Technology) (Hardcover)

The structure is pretty good, but it gets bogged down in the two areas in which I was most interested. (1) the evolution to tuned LC circuits which are the foundation of all radio and TV today -- the ability to generate specific frequencies rather than the wide-band-noise of a spark. and (2) the importance of the TRIODE which argurebly was the greatest single invention to bring us radio. He does talk about "The Edison Effect" and "The Audion" which I think - but am not sure -- was actually the triode. But all in all, the best short history of radio at that time period that I have come across.