History Of Radio

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 138, 8 March 1945, Page 6

History Of Radio

Sir,—Last evening at 8.45 p.m. from 2YA there was broadcast a talk by Sir Ernest Fisk on “Radio for 50 Years.” I was amazed that the speaker should acclaim and credit Marconi with both the invention and development of radio. Knowing something of the history of radio, it is quite inaccurate to say that anyone invented wireless or radio. In the 1840’s, Thomson (Lord Kelvin) and Pederson (British) discussed mathematically what happened when a spark passes between two terminals. This was really the “de novo” stages —Hertz (German) discovered oscillations in 1880 by experiment, and in 1893 Branley (British) devised an instrument (the coherer) to measure such oscillations. It was Rutherford, a British-born subject (a New Zealander —just in case the 2YA people and Sir Ernest Fisk forget), who really gave the world its first radio “detector.” About this time Marconi had improvements ' made to Branley’s colierer. and, this is the important point —took 'out a patent. Here let me digress for the purposes of illustration. Some years ago a well-known designer of aircraft engines and aviation machinery was asked why he patented every single thing he designed when he did not use half of them. His answer was “to prevent other people preventing us from using them.” After this stage Rutherford changed over to radio activity, and was responsible, I believe, in laying down the basis of and developing successfully, the forerunner of our present and amazingly successful anti-submarine detection indicator gear (ASDIG). In 1890, John Ambrose invented Or developed the Diode valve, and, later, de Forest dedovoped the Triode valve. My view, on reading the history of radio, is, that Marconi's predecessors in the field of radio activity made Marconi’s commercialization of wireless possible. To return to the broadcast. Does the U.S.A., Germany, Russia, Italy or Japan ever admit the adoption of British patents or scientific developments? Halford’s supercharger and aero engine, Whittle’s jet propulsion, Ross’s discoveries of the Stegomia Mosquito, Arthur Gouge's hull and wing design for flying boats, Fleming’s penicillin, and a host of other things are used by other countries as their own. Why, then, cannot British subjects acknowledge fully the "euius of British brains in British broadcasts?—l am, etc., ait. WATSON. Waipukurau, March 5.