Masters of Space

The Italian Youth who Dreamed Wonderful Dreams -- His Studies -- Early Detectors -- Marconi Seeks an Efficient Detector -- Devises New Sending Methods -- The Wireless Telegraph Takes Form -- Experimental Success.

With the nineteenth century approaching its close, man had discovered that the electric waves would travel through the ether; he had learned something of how to propagate those waves, and something of how to receive them. But no one had yet been able to combine these discoveries in practical form, to apply them to the task of carrying messages, to make the improvements necessary to make them available for use at considerable distances. Though many mature scientists had devoted themselves to the problem, it remained for a youth to solve it. The youth was Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian.

We have noticed that the telegraph, the cable, and the telephone were the work of those of the Anglo-Saxon race -- Englishmen or Americans -- so it came as a distinct surprise that an Italian youth should make the next great application of electricity to communication. But Anglo-Saxon blood flows in Marconi's veins. Though his father was an Italian, his mother was an Irishwoman. He was born at Villa Griffone near Bologna, Italy, on April 25, 1874. He studied in the schools of Bologna and of Florence, and early showed his interest in scientific affairs. From his mother he learned English, which he speaks as fluently as he does his native tongue. As a boy he was allowed to attend English schools for short periods, spending some time at Bedford and at Rugby.

One of his Italian teachers was Professor Righi, who had made a close study of the Hertzian waves, and who was himself making no small contributions to the advancement of the science. From him young Marconi learned of the work which had been accomplished, and of the apparatus which was then available. Marconi was a quiet boy -- almost shy.

He did not display the aggressive energy so common with many promising youths. But though he was quiet, he was not slothful. He entered into his studies with a determination and an application that brought to him great results. He was a student and a thinker. Any scientific book or paper which came before him was eagerly devoured. It was this habit of careful and persistent study that made it possible for Marconi to accomplish such wonderful things at an early age.