Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0012
T. Lewis
This chapter examines how radio communications and broadcasting became essential to the prosecution of the new war. It argues that the conflict became a chilling “wizard war,” waged with ever more sophisticated scientific instruments of destruction. The chapter investigates the shift from searchlight flashes and semaphore flags to the use of radio and electronics. The Germans began navigating their planes through fog and cloud by fixing them on radio signals transmitted from stations on the continent. The British responded by deflecting the signals with transmissions of their own and sending the planes off course. Radio brought this war into American homes with a vividness and speed never known before. The chapter reveals how radio went across the oceans, too, delivering reports from home to U.S. troops around the world. It then introduces the “alert receiver,” a device that would turn on a radio automatically and ring a bell to summon listeners to hear announcement of an attack.
{"title":"The Wizard War","authors":"T. Lewis","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0012","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter examines how radio communications and broadcasting became essential to the prosecution of the new war. It argues that the conflict became a chilling “wizard war,” waged with ever more sophisticated scientific instruments of destruction. The chapter investigates the shift from searchlight flashes and semaphore flags to the use of radio and electronics. The Germans began navigating their planes through fog and cloud by fixing them on radio signals transmitted from stations on the continent. The British responded by deflecting the signals with transmissions of their own and sending the planes off course. Radio brought this war into American homes with a vividness and speed never known before. The chapter reveals how radio went across the oceans, too, delivering reports from home to U.S. troops around the world. It then introduces the “alert receiver,” a device that would turn on a radio automatically and ring a bell to summon listeners to hear announcement of an attack.","PeriodicalId":212439,"journal":{"name":"Empire of the Air","volume":"61 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116595956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0011
T. Lewis
This chapter unravels Howard Armstrong's creation of wide-band frequency modulation — FM. It follows a trail of research from hundreds of thousands of tests and measurements, tens of thousands of hours of work for Armstrong and his assistants, to ultimate triumph. Like most revolutions, Armstrong's FM had been a long time in the making. The chapter argues that Armstrong began exploring the nature of frequency modulated waves in as thorough a way as he had the operation of the vacuum tube and the phenomenon of static. The chapter then tracks Armstrong's fundamental changes in the radio receiver. The chapter investigates the challenges and hearings faced by Armstrong. It became clear to all in radio that new portions of the spectrum were needed for television, police, and government communications as well as FM. The chapter then recounts how the introduction of FM began to move more swiftly.
{"title":"Armstrong and the FM Revolution","authors":"T. Lewis","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0011","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter unravels Howard Armstrong's creation of wide-band frequency modulation — FM. It follows a trail of research from hundreds of thousands of tests and measurements, tens of thousands of hours of work for Armstrong and his assistants, to ultimate triumph. Like most revolutions, Armstrong's FM had been a long time in the making. The chapter argues that Armstrong began exploring the nature of frequency modulated waves in as thorough a way as he had the operation of the vacuum tube and the phenomenon of static. The chapter then tracks Armstrong's fundamental changes in the radio receiver. The chapter investigates the challenges and hearings faced by Armstrong. It became clear to all in radio that new portions of the spectrum were needed for television, police, and government communications as well as FM. The chapter then recounts how the introduction of FM began to move more swiftly.","PeriodicalId":212439,"journal":{"name":"Empire of the Air","volume":"247 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128653772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0009
T. Lewis
This chapter discusses the system of protecting inventors. It elucidates Congress' removal of the issuance of patents from the duties of the secretary of state and its creation of a separate patent office with its own building. The chapter elaborates on the complex procedures of the Patent Office, designed to protect the rights of inventors. It is not generally known that inventions were often the subject of patent litigation pressed by other inventors who claimed to have made the discoveries first. In some instances, the lawsuit went as far as the Supreme Court. The chapter explores how some inventions have changed the course of the nation. It pays attention to the Lee de Forest and Edwin Howard Armstrong case over rights to the discovery of regeneration. For nearly twenty years, from 1914 to 1934, ego and pride combined with the promise of financial reward and fame to create what was, in the end, ruinous to each man.
{"title":"Court Fight","authors":"T. Lewis","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0009","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter discusses the system of protecting inventors. It elucidates Congress' removal of the issuance of patents from the duties of the secretary of state and its creation of a separate patent office with its own building. The chapter elaborates on the complex procedures of the Patent Office, designed to protect the rights of inventors. It is not generally known that inventions were often the subject of patent litigation pressed by other inventors who claimed to have made the discoveries first. In some instances, the lawsuit went as far as the Supreme Court. The chapter explores how some inventions have changed the course of the nation. It pays attention to the Lee de Forest and Edwin Howard Armstrong case over rights to the discovery of regeneration. For nearly twenty years, from 1914 to 1934, ego and pride combined with the promise of financial reward and fame to create what was, in the end, ruinous to each man.","PeriodicalId":212439,"journal":{"name":"Empire of the Air","volume":"48 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126959556","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0006
T. Lewis
This chapter explores the changing reliance on telegraph and how more and more governments and private companies were employing wireless to transmit their messages over great distances of land and sea. It begins with recounting the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia. The chapter uncovers how had the German kaiser learned of the murders and how Americans found out that the loose fabric of European alliances had been irreparably torn. The chapter then argues that the Great War altered the nature of radio, just as radio began to alter the nature of war. Shortly after the declaration of war, the US federal government imposed a moratorium on radio patent litigation for the duration of the hostilities. The chapter then investigates how the moratorium ignored the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America and De Forest Radio Telephone and Telegraph Company suits and all other patent infringement cases. The chapter analyzes the implications of the government's actions — arguing its orders brought about an institutionalization of radio development that signaled the end of the lone inventor — the Marconi, de Forest, or Armstrong — who had brought radio to life.
{"title":"Wireless Goes to War","authors":"T. Lewis","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0006","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter explores the changing reliance on telegraph and how more and more governments and private companies were employing wireless to transmit their messages over great distances of land and sea. It begins with recounting the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia. The chapter uncovers how had the German kaiser learned of the murders and how Americans found out that the loose fabric of European alliances had been irreparably torn. The chapter then argues that the Great War altered the nature of radio, just as radio began to alter the nature of war. Shortly after the declaration of war, the US federal government imposed a moratorium on radio patent litigation for the duration of the hostilities. The chapter then investigates how the moratorium ignored the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America and De Forest Radio Telephone and Telegraph Company suits and all other patent infringement cases. The chapter analyzes the implications of the government's actions — arguing its orders brought about an institutionalization of radio development that signaled the end of the lone inventor — the Marconi, de Forest, or Armstrong — who had brought radio to life.","PeriodicalId":212439,"journal":{"name":"Empire of the Air","volume":"73 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132130529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0007
T. Lewis
This chapter details the creation of Radio Corporation of America (RCA), led by Owen D. Young. It tracks the formation of the new American communication corporation that could protect and advance American interests in the world. The chapter then elaborates on the discussions and meetings between Young, vice-president of General Electric Company, and Edward J. Nally, vice-president of American Marconi. It looks at the General Electric Company's decision to take over Marconi's American interests — including its patent licenses — add them to the patents controlled by the navy, and place these holdings in a new American company. The chapter assesses the industry's dramatic changes: thousands of radio amateurs had been drafted into the war effort; they had emerged radio professionals, committed to staying with the art, and requiring tubes and equipment from RCA. It then explores the relationship between RCA's radio transmitters and American Telephone and Telegraph Company's telephone lines, and the idea of broadcasting.
{"title":"Releasing the Art: The Creation of RCA","authors":"T. Lewis","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0007","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter details the creation of Radio Corporation of America (RCA), led by Owen D. Young. It tracks the formation of the new American communication corporation that could protect and advance American interests in the world. The chapter then elaborates on the discussions and meetings between Young, vice-president of General Electric Company, and Edward J. Nally, vice-president of American Marconi. It looks at the General Electric Company's decision to take over Marconi's American interests — including its patent licenses — add them to the patents controlled by the navy, and place these holdings in a new American company. The chapter assesses the industry's dramatic changes: thousands of radio amateurs had been drafted into the war effort; they had emerged radio professionals, committed to staying with the art, and requiring tubes and equipment from RCA. It then explores the relationship between RCA's radio transmitters and American Telephone and Telegraph Company's telephone lines, and the idea of broadcasting.","PeriodicalId":212439,"journal":{"name":"Empire of the Air","volume":"59 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132136120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0013
T. Lewis
This chapter assesses the gradual fade out of AM as listeners prefer the finer quality of sound and static-free reception that FM offered. It looks at how commercial broadcasters use the Federal Communications Commission, the power of advertising, and the new power of television to hinder the postwar development of FM. Certainly, no communications executive worked more assiduously than David Sarnoff to cultivate a cordial spirit of cooperation between RCA and members of the commission. Looking to the end of the war and the new era of communications that would come with peace, the chapter then recounts the hearings in the fall of 1944 about frequency allocations in the radio spectrum. It discusses the changes in the allocation of the spectrum and changes in the power of FM stations. The chapter delves into the changes in band frequency allocation, the adoption of the single market plan, and the duplication of AM programs. It then reviews how this dulled the threat of FM to the network broadcast industry and denied Howard Armstrong the chance to collect great sums on his invention.
{"title":"“Until I’m Dead or Broke”","authors":"T. Lewis","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0013","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter assesses the gradual fade out of AM as listeners prefer the finer quality of sound and static-free reception that FM offered. It looks at how commercial broadcasters use the Federal Communications Commission, the power of advertising, and the new power of television to hinder the postwar development of FM. Certainly, no communications executive worked more assiduously than David Sarnoff to cultivate a cordial spirit of cooperation between RCA and members of the commission. Looking to the end of the war and the new era of communications that would come with peace, the chapter then recounts the hearings in the fall of 1944 about frequency allocations in the radio spectrum. It discusses the changes in the allocation of the spectrum and changes in the power of FM stations. The chapter delves into the changes in band frequency allocation, the adoption of the single market plan, and the duplication of AM programs. It then reviews how this dulled the threat of FM to the network broadcast industry and denied Howard Armstrong the chance to collect great sums on his invention.","PeriodicalId":212439,"journal":{"name":"Empire of the Air","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134501933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0001
T. Lewis
This chapter begins with the introduction of three men of genius, vision, determination, and fascinating complexity: Lee de Forest, Edwin Howard Armstrong, and David Sarnoff. It explores how information about the world in 1899 came from the World Almanac and Encyclopedia for 1899 and 1900 and the June 1899 issues of the New York Times. The chapter argues that radio was in fact the first modern mass medium. It then analyzes how America's position in the world has changed from a parochial, isolated nation into a significant world power. The chapter highlights the work of de Forest, Armstrong, and Sarnoff from a time when the country possessed unbounded confidence in the power of science and technology, through two devastating world wars, a staggering economic collapse, the New Deal, and the Korean War.
{"title":"Prologue","authors":"T. Lewis","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0001","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter begins with the introduction of three men of genius, vision, determination, and fascinating complexity: Lee de Forest, Edwin Howard Armstrong, and David Sarnoff. It explores how information about the world in 1899 came from the World Almanac and Encyclopedia for 1899 and 1900 and the June 1899 issues of the New York Times. The chapter argues that radio was in fact the first modern mass medium. It then analyzes how America's position in the world has changed from a parochial, isolated nation into a significant world power. The chapter highlights the work of de Forest, Armstrong, and Sarnoff from a time when the country possessed unbounded confidence in the power of science and technology, through two devastating world wars, a staggering economic collapse, the New Deal, and the Korean War.","PeriodicalId":212439,"journal":{"name":"Empire of the Air","volume":"102 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133366250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.1515/9781501759338-012
{"title":"10. Armstrong and the FM Revolution","authors":"","doi":"10.1515/9781501759338-012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501759338-012","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":212439,"journal":{"name":"Empire of the Air","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122420044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0004
T. Lewis
This chapter opens with the discussion of Ray Stannard Baker's The Boy's Book of Inventions: Stories of the Wonders of Modern Science and Russell Doubleday's Stories of Inventors: The Adventures of Inventors and Engineers, True Incidents and Personal Experiences. Drawing upon Otto Lilienthal's study of birds, the pioneer of flight made substantial advances in the design of gliders, including the use of arched rather than flat surfaces on his wings. The chapter then shifts to focus on Edwin Howard Armstrong's early life and the life on Warburton Avenue. Armstrong passed his childhood and youth in the calm and comfort that middle-class families were able to maintain during the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth. The chapter then recounts Armstrong's relationship with Charles Underhill, a wireless enthusiast and inventor. It also introduces a faculty member who influenced Armstrong most profoundly in his investigations of wireless — Michael Pupin. The chapter highlights Armstrong's inquiries about the potential of regeneration and his discovery of its application to the amplification abilities of the vacuum tube.
{"title":"“What Wireless Is Yet to Be”","authors":"T. Lewis","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0004","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter opens with the discussion of Ray Stannard Baker's The Boy's Book of Inventions: Stories of the Wonders of Modern Science and Russell Doubleday's Stories of Inventors: The Adventures of Inventors and Engineers, True Incidents and Personal Experiences. Drawing upon Otto Lilienthal's study of birds, the pioneer of flight made substantial advances in the design of gliders, including the use of arched rather than flat surfaces on his wings. The chapter then shifts to focus on Edwin Howard Armstrong's early life and the life on Warburton Avenue. Armstrong passed his childhood and youth in the calm and comfort that middle-class families were able to maintain during the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth. The chapter then recounts Armstrong's relationship with Charles Underhill, a wireless enthusiast and inventor. It also introduces a faculty member who influenced Armstrong most profoundly in his investigations of wireless — Michael Pupin. The chapter highlights Armstrong's inquiries about the potential of regeneration and his discovery of its application to the amplification abilities of the vacuum tube.","PeriodicalId":212439,"journal":{"name":"Empire of the Air","volume":"99 10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128005365","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0005
T. Lewis
This chapter recounts the plight of the Jews in Minsk — detailing the shtetl of Uzlian. It argues that they had been confined to small shtetls, villages of at most a few hundred inhabitants since the reign of Catherine the Great. The chapter then chronicles David Sarnoff's early life while living with his uncle. It tracks his rough passage to America and how he became the ultimate hot and cold warrior, designing the communications operations for D-Day. The chapter also reveals an essential truth of Sarnoff's indomitable will to survive in the New World. His character and his discipline augured well for his success. The chapter then looks at Sarnoff's purchase of newsstand in Hell's Kitchen, and follows his second stroke of good luck: getting work at American Marconi. In addition to his enterprise, quick intelligence, skills, and contacts with Marconi, Sarnoff had demonstrated a flair for garnering at least some public recognition for his role in reporting the Titanic. The chapter discusses a powerful new regeneration receiver created by Michael Pupin's protégé and assistant, Edwin Howard Armstrong. It then reviews the encounter between Armstrong and Sarnoff.
{"title":"Sarnoff and Marconi: Inventing a Legend","authors":"T. Lewis","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759321.003.0005","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter recounts the plight of the Jews in Minsk — detailing the shtetl of Uzlian. It argues that they had been confined to small shtetls, villages of at most a few hundred inhabitants since the reign of Catherine the Great. The chapter then chronicles David Sarnoff's early life while living with his uncle. It tracks his rough passage to America and how he became the ultimate hot and cold warrior, designing the communications operations for D-Day. The chapter also reveals an essential truth of Sarnoff's indomitable will to survive in the New World. His character and his discipline augured well for his success. The chapter then looks at Sarnoff's purchase of newsstand in Hell's Kitchen, and follows his second stroke of good luck: getting work at American Marconi. In addition to his enterprise, quick intelligence, skills, and contacts with Marconi, Sarnoff had demonstrated a flair for garnering at least some public recognition for his role in reporting the Titanic. The chapter discusses a powerful new regeneration receiver created by Michael Pupin's protégé and assistant, Edwin Howard Armstrong. It then reviews the encounter between Armstrong and Sarnoff.","PeriodicalId":212439,"journal":{"name":"Empire of the Air","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133984141","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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