The debate on who invented the radio has been going on for decades. In the West, they are sure that the authorship belongs to the Italian scientist Marconi. Russia is nominating its candidate, Alexander Popov. So who is the author of the invention?
The history of each great discovery includes at least a couple - three applicants for authorship. The same can be said about radio.
The first receiver in the world A.S. Popov presented on May 7, 1885 in the city of Petersburg.
Marconi made the first radio session in 1896, but his device was more advanced. The signal range was about one and a half kilometers, while the Popov device covered only 250 meters.
Both inventors, in sporting terms, walked almost "head to head."
While Alexander Stepanovich improved his invention and tested it in the field, the more efficient Italian managed to launch a factory for the production of wireless telegraph appliances in England, and in 1909 he already received the Nobel Prize for "his" development.
It would seem that the question of who invented the radio can be considered closed, but it is not so simple. The theme "Who invented the first radio" has its continuation. It's no secret that a few years before the invention of Marconi, the theoretical radio model was calculated by Nikola Tesla. By the way, the Serbian physicist claimed authorship in court. Two years before the end of World War II, the Supreme Court of America recognized the Serbian immigrant as the first inventor of the radio.
Then who invented the radio in reality? Indeed, now Nikola Tesla, who developed the theoretical model, also joined the candidates. But it turns out that is not all. In the same 1896 in Kolkata, the scientist J. Bose introduced a similar device that transmits an audio signal at a distance. Three years later, the Indian made a report at a meeting of the Royal Society of Science.
According to historical facts, Marconi met in London with Mr. Bose. Some suspect the wretched Italian that he simply stole from a Hindu his notebook with drawings and borrowed the idea of a mercury coherer.
It is curious that the Italian did not really know how to explain to those interested how he managed to solve the problem of passing radio waves through various obstacles. In addition, the device he presented was almost an exact copy of what Bose created.
Thus, it can be argued that the question of who invented the radio and today remains open. Mr. Marconi, by the way, is the son of wealthy parents, which means that the commercial vein in it was quite developed. Therefore, he hurried to get a patent for an invention, while scientists A.S. Popov and J. Bose were not particularly interested in money or fame.
By the way, Alexander Popov never claimed the title of discoverer of the radio. He granted this honor to Nicola Tesla, believing that it was his theoretical developments that formed the basis of the invention.
The device of Oliver Lodge, whose name also often appears in the list of radio inventors, was completely created according to the Popov scheme, which by that time had already appeared in scientific journals.
Some sources state that the first Kentucky farmer invented wireless communications first . By the way, he did this 4 years earlier than Popov and Marconi. But Mr. Stubblefield could hardly claim the title of inventor of the radio, his device worked by the principle of induction.
Many historians, and just sane people, Marconi's authorship in question of the invention of the radio put in great doubt. However, the sneaky Italian is accused not only of stealing other people's scientific developments, but also of the fact that for a long time, giving interviews to various publications, he famously pretended to be Nikola Tesla's own ideas and views. It was also about wireless power transmission.
The question in which year the radio was invented can also be answered in two ways. In Russia, Radio Day is celebrated in May. However, then the wireless telegraph was invented, and the radio, in its usual form, appeared only in 1921.