Product Description

One hundred years after the historic first transatlantic radio transmission, the extraordinary and often bizarre story of an amateur inventor and his "magic box". The world at the turn of the twentieth century was in the throes of "Marconi-mania"-brought on by an incredible invention that no one could quite explain, and by a dapper and eccentric figure (who would one day win the newly minted Nobel Prize) at the center of it all. At a time when the telephone, telegraph, and electricity made the whole world wonder just what science would think of next, the startling answer had come in 1896 in the form of two mysterious wooden boxes containing a device one Guglielmo Marconi had rigged up to transmit messages "through the ether. " It was the birth of the radio, and no scientist in Europe or America, not even Marconi himself, could at first explain how it workedit just did. And no one knew how far these radio waves could travel, until 1903, when a message from President Theodore Roosevelt to the king of England flashed from Cape Cod to Cornwall clear across the Atlantic. Here is a rich portrait of the man and his era-and a captivating tale of science and scientists, business and businessmen. There are stories of British blowhards, American con artists-and Marconi himself: a character par excellence, who eventually winds up a virtual prisoner of his worldwide fame and fortune.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1106419 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

The Times, 26 March 2003
'Gavin Weightman's amusing history of the inventor and his invention'

Trevor Baylis, Daily Mail, 14 March 2003
'a fascinating account...I strongly recommend this book...I salute Gavin Weightman for his lucid account of the radio revolution.'

New Scientist, 15 March 2003
'Weightman's book cannot fail to spark the imagination...It is an excellent read.'

Customer Reviews

Wired
Thomas Edison, who was a man who was not easily impressed, once quipped about Guglielmo Marconi that he "delivered more than he promised." This statement demonstrates two of Marconi's most significant traits: he was modest and extremely hard working. Marconi was the first to admit that his work was based on both the theories and the inventions of others. He also acknowledged that he didn't understand the reason his own inventions worked. He believed, contrary to many of his contemporaries, that "radio" waves could travel great distances. Many other people thought the waves could not be transmitted to a receiver that was beyond the horizon line...that at longer distances the waves would travel off into outer space. Based on his own, stubborn, personal belief, with no theoretical underpinning, Marconi kept things simple: he built taller transmitters and he kept making them more powerful. His goal was to transmit electrical signals in Morse Code that could be received across the Atlantic Ocean. He eventually succeeded in this, and gained worldwide fame and popularity when wireless telegraphy, after being used by ships in distress at sea, resulted in the saving of many lives. Marconi was also an astute businessman, rather than a starry eyed inventor. (He amassed a very healthy fortune, equal perhaps to $200-$250 million today.) He was an early master of public relations- for example, using wireless to report on important yacht races, which helped to "popularize" the use of wireless (albeit, with people of "quality"...who had money to invest). Mr. Weightman doesn't ignore the less savory aspects of the inventor: Marconi's womanizing and obsession with work resulted in the termination of his first marriage; also, in later life, he got buddy-buddy with Signor Mussolini. Besides being weak on theory, Marconi also failed to see the commercial possibilities of transmitting the human voice and other sounds by wireless...in other words, radio broadcasts. That was left to others, such as Lee de Forest, to develop. While Mr. Weightman is a little lightweight on biographical depth and psychological complexity (I never quite felt I understood what made Marconi tick), he is great on interesting details...for example, he explains how wireless was used to help capture the infamous murderer Dr. Crippen, and he also tells how Orthodox Russian priests once almost destroyed Marconi equipment because they wanted to anoint it with holy water! The book is meant for the lay reader, and the scientific detail is kept to a minimum. Very enjoyable.

A Magic Book about a Magic Box
An absolutely splendid book, I couldn't put it down.