MARCONI, GUGLIELMO. - Scientist, b. in Bologna on Apr. 25, 1874, d. in Rome on July 20, 1937. From his youth he showed a marked ten-
At that time the tendency of physicists was to produce increasingly shorter analogous waves; Hertz had managed to reduce the length of the waves generated with his devices down to 80 cm; Righi in Bologna managed to produce waves of a few millimeters. M., while appreciating those results of great physical interest, brilliantly intuited that in order to send signals to distant stations, waves different from those used up to that time in physics laboratories were required; therefore, having moved to his paternal villa in Pontecchio, he began his experiments. The first notable progress achieved was the use of an antenna for the production and reception of waves and the introduction of the earth as part of his device. Thus in a short time M. was able to transmit signals over distances of a few hundred meters, and then reach 1,700. He then intuited that to bypass obstacles, e.g., a hill, it was advisable to use waves of a much greater length than those in use in laboratories: thus he succeeded in transmitting signals up to 2,400 m with a hill interposed. At this point M. took out his first patent (1896) and began the improvements aimed at the industrial exploitation of his work, going to England, where he had relatives willing to help him. He was then 22 years old.
After a series of successful experiments under the auspices of Sir William Preece, with the assistance of representatives of the navy and army, the practicality of the Marconi system for signal transmission was recognized; the company to finance further research was therefore established in 1897, which in 1900 took the name M.'s Wireless Telegraph Company.
From then on, triumphs were innumerable. From transmission over tens of kilometers on land and at sea, on Dec. 12, 1901, the first transmission between England and America was achieved. All major steamships were equipped with transmitting and receiving stations, and several of them were able to obtain rescue in tragic circumstances, saving innumerable human lives.
From the transmission of signals one moved on
to the transmission of speech. Naturally, numerous scientists and organizations from many nations also contributed to this enormous work; and, as always happens, there was no shortage of jealousies and struggles of every kind. But all of humanity recognized M. for the merit of having been the first to intuit the possibility and perfect the technique of radio transmissions with immense universal advantage. The whole world shared in the grief for the untimely death of the great pioneer; for the duration of his solemn funeral, all radiotelegraphic and radiotelephonic stations in the world interrupted their operation as a sign of mourning.