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Tesla and Marconi
From: William Noble[SMTP:William_B_Noble-at-classic.msn-dot-com]
Sent: Saturday, September 20, 1997 11:03 PM
To: Tesla List
Subject: FW: Re. Tesla and Marconi
perhaps the discussion below RE the marconi / tesla arguement will interest
some of you - my brother looked this stuff up - it follows the original post
so you have the context.
----------
From: Robert B Noble
Sent: Saturday, September 20, 1997 7:54 AM
To: William_B_Noble-at-msn-dot-com; william_b_noble-at-hotmail-dot-com
Cc: md.smith-at-usa-dot-net
Subject: Re. Tesla and Marconi
Bill---
You sent me the following
From: Geoff Schecht[SMTP:geoffs-at-onr-dot-com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 1997 3:09 PM
To: Tesla List
Subject: Re: Tesla not Marconi
Michael:
If you can find an indexed microfiche of a newspaper for the year 1943
from a major city (say, the New York Times), I believe you'll find that
was
the year in which the US Supreme Court overturned Marconi's claim to be
the
"Father of Radio" and awarded that honor to Nikola Tesla. It didn't do
Tesla much good at that point since I believe that the court ruled in his
favor shortly after his death. This judgement was related to a nearly
lifelong patent dispute between the two men. It's one of my favorite
factoids, along the same lines of those about Philo Farnsworth and Edwin
Armstrong (other unappreciated electronic geniuses).
The reasons that Marconi gets all of the credit for radio are the same as
those which attribute the invention of electronic television to RCA (by
way
of Vladimir Zworykin). RCA Inc and Marconi Ltd were very well-funded,
politically-connected corporations who could afford to clobber the real
geniuses like Farnsworth, Armstrong and Tesla with a battery of
high-powered lawyers and/or sweetheart legislation deals until the patent
claims ran out and the inventors went belly-up financially, died of old
age
or jumped out of a window, in the case of Armstrong.
(Farnsworth and Armstrong were pretty good businessmen who were
essentially
victims of their times... the years between WWI and WWII when Corporate
America really ruled the roost and the Depression killed off most sources
of venture capital for the independent inventors. Tesla had most of his
successes long before the Depression and apparently never had leanings
towards business. He just liked to have a reasonable income from his
royalty checks, a decent lab to play around in and a lot of time to
think.
That made him ripe for the picking by people like Edison and
Westinghouse,
who were masters at exploiting the talents of others.)
Geoff.
>
>
> From: Michael Smith[SMTP:md.smith-at-usa-dot-net]
> Reply To: md.smith-at-usa-dot-net
> Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 1997 7:44 PM
> To: Tesla List
> Subject: Re: Tesla not Marconi
>
>
> >
> > From: KRAMPF-at-aol-dot-com[SMTP:KRAMPF-at-aol-dot-com]
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 1997 5:22 AM
> > To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> > Subject: Re: To Kevin
> >
> > Hi All!
> >
> > I am new here and have been sitting quietly in the corner for the
past
> week,
> > absorbing the wealth of information. When I saw Alfred A. Skrocki's
> post I
> > had to respond.
> >
> > In a message dated 9/16/97 5:09:03 AM, Alfred A. Skrocki wrote:
> >
> > <<Now you cooking! I might add that the deplorable educational system
> > in this country still insists that Marconi was the inventor of radio,
> > so much so that my daughter was suspended when she bought in a copy
> > of the Supreme court decision that Tesla NOT Marconi was the
> rightfulrightful
> >
> > inventor of radio!
> > >>
> >
> > Tell me more about your daughter's ordeal. I teach teachers how to
do
> > hands-on science and would love to use this as an example of why we
> need to
> > "unlearn" all of the old myths.
> >
> > I have been using a Tesla coil for science programs for 13 years and
> was
> > delighted when I found this group.
> >
> > PS - Dr. Resonance, is that you D.C.?
> >
> > Robert Krampf
> > Science Education Company
> > http://members.aol-dot-com/krampf/home.html
> >
> >
> Alfred,
>
> You know, I would like to hear that too. In fact, if anyone can cite a
> good reference, I would like to present it to the radio station here in
> Lincoln, NE that has a commercial talking up their 50 year anniversary
> that says "50 years of making Marconi proud". I bristle when I here
> that, and they play it every day on my way to work.
>
> Michael Smith
> md.smith-at-usa-dot-net
>
>
>
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--- RESPONSE by RBN ---
The case referred to is Marconi Wireless T. Co. of America v. U.S., 300
US 1 (1943). You can find a copy of it at
www.findlaw-dot-com/Scripts/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=US&vol=320&page=1
or at
www.law.vill.edu/Fed-Ct/Supreme/Flite/opinions/320US1.html.
[Michael Smith asks for a "good reference", so i'm sending him a copy of
this note).
The case did not involve Marconi's original patent, which the court says
"is not here in question" (see below). It involved a later Marconi
patent which was an improvement to his original patent and the
application of which resulted in a considerable increase in the range of
radio transmission.
I have not read the case carefully, but do not see that the court
questions Marconi's priority in practical radio transmission (based on
his original patent). The court's opinion does mention several who
contributed to early radio.
I attach some of the courts opinion and small fragments of two dissents.
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MR. CHIEF JUSTICE STONE DELIVERED THE OPINION OF THE COURT---
"LONG BEFORE MARCONI'S APPLICATION FOR THIS PATENT THE SCIENTIFIC
PRINCIPLES OF WHICH HE MADE USE WERE WELL UNDERSTOOD AND THE PARTICULAR
APPLIANCES CONSTITUTING ELEMENTS IN THE APPARATUS COMBINATION WHICH HE
CLAIMED WERE WELL KNOWN. ABOUT SEVENTY YEARS AGO CLERK MAXWELL DESCRIBED
THE SCIENTIFIC THEORY OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION THROUGH THE TRANSMISSION
OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY BY ETHER WAVES. FN6 BETWEEN 1878 AND 1890 HERTZ
DEVISED APPARATUS FOR ACHIEVING THAT RESULT WHICH WAS DESCRIBED BY DE
TUNZELMANN IN A SERIES OF ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN THE LONDON ELECTRICIAN IN
1888. ONE, OF SEPTEMBER 21, 1888, SHOWED A TRANSMITTER COMPRISING A
CLOSED CIRCUIT INDUCTIVELY COUPLED WITH AN OPEN CIRCUIT. THE CLOSED
CIRCUIT INCLUDED A SWITCH OR CIRCUIT BREAKER CAPABLE OF USE FOR SENDING
SIGNALS, AND AN AUTOMATIC CIRCUIT BREAKER CAPABLE, WHEN THE SWITCH WAS
CLOSED, OF SETTING UP AN INTERMITTENT CURRENT IN THE CLOSED CIRCUIT WHICH
IN TURN INDUCED THROUGH A TRANSFORMER AN INTERMITTENT CURRENT OF HIGHER
VOLTAGE IN THE OPEN CIRCUIT. THE OPEN CIRCUIT INCLUDED A SPARK GAP
ACROSS WHICH A SUCCESSION OF SPARKS WERE CAUSED TO LEAP WHENEVER THE
SIGNAL SWITCH WAS CLOSED, EACH SPARK PRODUCING A SERIES OF HIGH FREQUENCY
OSCILLATIONS IN THE OPEN CIRCUIT.
"BY CONNECTING THE SPARK GAP TO LARGE AREA PLATES IN THE OPEN CIRCUIT
HERTZ INCREASED THE CAPACITY AND THUS NOT ONLY INCREASED THE FORCE OF THE
SPARKS BUT ALSO CHANGED ONE OF THE TWO FACTORS DETERMINING THE FREQUENCY
OF THE OSCILLATIONS IN THE CIRCUIT, AND HENCE THE WAVE LENGTH OF THE
OSCILLATIONS TRANSMITTED. HERTZ'S RECEIVER WAS SHOWN AS A RECTANGLE OF
WIRE CONNECTED TO THE KNOBS OF A SPARK GAP, BOTH THE WIRE AND THE SPARK
GAP BEING OF SPECIFIED LENGTHS OF SUCH RELATIONSHIP AS TO RENDER THE
CIRCUIT RESONANT TO THE WAVE LENGTHS IN THE TRANSMITTER. AT TIMES HERTZ
ATTACHED TO THE RECTANGLE ADDITIONAL VERTICAL WIRES WHICH
PROVIDED ADDITIONAL CAPACITY, AND WHOSE LENGTH COULD READILY BE VARIED SO
AS TO VARY THE WAVE LENGTHS TO WHICH THE RECEIVER WAS RESPONSIVE, THUS
PROVIDING A "METHOD OF ADJUSTING THE CAPACITY" OF THE RECEIVER. FN7
THUS HERTZ AT THE OUTSET OF RADIO COMMUNICATION RECOGNIZED THE IMPORTANCE
OF RESONANCE AND PROVIDED MEANS FOR SECURING IT BY TUNING BOTH HIS
RANSMITTING AND RECEIVING CIRCUITS TO THE SAME FREQUENCY, BY ADJUSTING
THE CAPACITY OF EACH. FN8 LODGE, WRITING IN THE LONDON ELECTRICIAN IN
1894, ELABORATED FURTHER ON THE DISCOVERIES OF HERTZ AND ON HIS OWN
EXPERIMENTS ALONG THE SAME LINES. IN ONE ARTICLE, OF JUNE 8, 1894, HE
DISCUSSED PHENOMENA OF RESONANCE AND MADE AN OBSERVATION WHICH UNDERLIES
SEVERAL OF THE DISCLOSURES IN MARCONI'S PATENT. LODGE POINTED OUT THAT
SOME CIRCUITS WERE BY THEIR NATURE PERSISTENT VIBRATORS, I.E., WERE ABLE
TO SUSTAIN FOR A LONG PERIOD OSCILLATIONS SET UP IN THEM, WHILE OTHERS
WERE SO CONSTRUCTED THAT THEIR OSCILLATIONS WERE RAPIDLY DAMPED. HE SAID
THAT A RECEIVER SO CONSTRUCTED AS TO BE RAPIDLY DAMPED WOULD RESPOND TO
WAVES OF ALMOST ANY FREQUENCY, WHILE ONE THAT WAS A PERSISTENT VIBRATOR
WOULD RESPOND ONLY TO WAVES OF ITS OWN NATURAL PERIODICITY. LODGE
POINTED OUT FURTHER THAT HERTZ'S TRANSMITTER "RADIATES VERY POWERFULLY"
BUT THAT "IN CONSEQUENCE OF ITS RADIATION OF ENERGY, ITS VIBRATIONS ARE
RAPIDLY DAMPED, AND IT ONLY GIVES SOME THREE OR FOUR GOOD STRONG SWINGS.
HENCE IT FOLLOWS THAT IT HAS A WIDE RANGE OF EXCITATION, I.E., IT CAN
EXCITE
SPARKS IN CONDUCTORS BARELY AT ALL IN TUNE WITH IT." ON THE OTHER HAND
HERTZ'S RECEIVER WAS "NOT A GOOD ABSORBER BUT A PERSISTENT VIBRATOR, WELL
ADAPTED FOR PICKING UP DISTURBANCES OF PRECISE AND MEASURABLE WAVE
LENGTH." LODGE CONCLUDED THAT "THE TWO CONDITIONS, CONSPICUOUS ENERGY OF
RADIATION AND PERSISTENT VIBRATION ELECTRICALLY PRODUCED, ARE AT PRESENT
INCOMPATIBLE." (PP. 154-5.)
"IN 1892, CROOKES PUBLISHED AN ARTICLE IN THE FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW IN WHICH
HE DEFINITELY SUGGESTED THE USE OF HERTZIAN WAVES FOR WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY
AND POINTED OUT THAT THE METHOD OF ACHIEVING THAT RESULT WAS TO BE FOUND
IN THE USE AND IMPROVEMENT OF THEN KNOWN MEANS OF
GENERATING ELECTRICAL WAVES OF ANY DESIRED WAVE LENGTH, TO BE TRANSMITTED
THROUGH THE ETHER TO A RECEIVER, BOTH SENDING AND RECEIVING INSTRUMENTS
BEING ATTUNED TO A DEFINITE WAVE LENGTH. FN9 A YEAR LATER TESLA, WHO
WAS THEN PREOCCUPIED WITH THE WIRELESS TRANSMISSION OF POWER FOR USE IN
LIGHTING OR FOR THE OPERATION OF DYNAMOS, PROPOSED, IN A
LECTURE BEFORE THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE IN PHILADELPHIA, THE USE OF
ADJUSTABLE HIGH FREQUENCY OSCILLATIONS FOR WIRELESS TRANSMISSION OF
SIGNALS. FN10
"MARCONI'S ORIGINAL PATENT NO. 586,193, WHICH WAS GRANTED JULY 13, 1897,
AND BECAME REISSUE NO. 11,913, DISCLOSED A TWO-CIRCUIT SYSTEM FOR THE
TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION OF HERTZIAN WAVES. THE TRANSMITTER COMPRISED
AN ANTENNA CIRCUIT CONNECTED AT ONE END TO AN AERIAL PLATE
AND AT THE OTHER TO THE GROUND, AND CONTAINING A SPARK GAP. TO THE KNOBS
OF THE SPARK GAP WAS CONNECTED A TRANSFORMER WHOSE SECONDARY WAS
CONNECTED WITH A SOURCE OF CURRENT AND A SIGNALLING KEY. THE LOW
FREQUENCY CURRENT THEREBY INDUCED IN THE ANTENNA CIRCUIT WAS CAUSED TO
DISCHARGE THROUGH THE SPARK GAP, PRODUCING THE HIGH FREQUENCY
OSCILLATIONS WHICH WERE RADIATED BY THE ANTENNA. THE RECEIVER SIMILIARLY
CONTAINED AN ANTENNA CIRCUIT BETWEEN AN ELEVATED PLATE AND THE GROUND, IN
WHICH A COHERER WAS DIRECTLY CONNECTED. MARCONI CLAIMED
THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER SO AS TO BE RESONANT TO THE
SAME FREQUENCY, AND DESCRIBED MEANS OF DOING SO BY CAREFUL DETERMINATION
OF THE SIZE OF THE AERIAL PLATES.
"THE TESLA PATENT NO. 645,576, APPLIED FOR SEPTEMBER 2, 1897 AND ALLOWED
MARCH 20, 1900, DISCLOSED A FOUR-CIRCUIT SYSTEM, HAVING TWO CIRCUITS EACH
AT TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER, AND RECOMMENDED THAT ALL FOUR CIRCUITS BE
TUNED TO THE SAME FREQUENCY. TESLA'S APPARATUS WAS
DEVISED PRIMARILY FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF ENERGY TO ANY FORM OF ENERGY
CONSUMING DEVICE BY USING THE RARIFIED ATMOSPHERE AT HIGH ELEVATIONS AS A
CONDUCTOR WHEN SUBJECTED TO THE ELECTRICAL PRESSURE OF A VERY HIGH
VOLTAGE. BUT HE ALSO RECOGNIZED THAT HIS APPARATUS COULD, WITHOUT
CHANGE, BE USED FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION, WHICH IS DEPENDENT UPON THE
TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY. HIS SPECIFICATIONS DECLARE: "THE
APPARATUS WHICH I HAVE SHOWN WILL OBVIOUSLY HAVE MANY OTHER VALUABLE USES
- AS, FOR INSTANCE, WHEN IT IS DESIRED TO TRANSMIT INTELLIGIBLE MESSAGES
TO GREAT DISTANCES ... " FN11
"TESLA'S SPECIFICATIONS DISCLOSED AN ARRANGEMENT OF FOUR CIRCUITS, AN
OPEN ANTENNA CIRCUIT COUPLED, THROUGH A TRANSFORMER, TO A CLOSED CHARGING
CIRCUIT AT THE TRANSMITTER, AND AN OPEN ANTENNA CIRCUIT AT THE RECEIVER
SIMILARLY COUPLED TO A CLOSED DETECTOR CIRCUIT. HIS PATENT
ALSO INSTRUCTED THOSE SKILLED IN THE ART THAT THE OPEN AND CLOSED
CIRCUITS IN THE TRANSMITTING SYSTEM AND IN THE RECEIVING SYSTEM SHOULD BE
IN ELECTRICAL RESONANCE WITH EACH OTHER. HIS SPECIFICATIONS STATE THAT
THE "PRIMARY AND SECONDARY CIRCUITS IN THE TRANSMITTING APPARATUS" ARE
"CAREFULLY SYNCHRONIZED." THEY DESCRIBE THE METHOD OF ACHIEVING
THIS BY ADJUSTING THE LENGTH OF WIRE IN THE SECONDARY WINDING OF THE
OSCILLATION TRANSFORMER IN THE TRANSMITTER, AND SIMILARLY IN THE
RECEIVER, SO THAT "THE POINTS OF HIGHEST POTENTIAL ARE MADE TO COINCIDE
WITH THE ELEVATED TERMINALS" OF THE ANTENNA, I.E., SO THAT THE ANTENNA
CIRCUIT WILL BE RESONANT TO THE FREQUENCY DEVELOPED IN THE CHARGING
CIRCUIT OF THE TRANSMITTER. THE SPECIFICATIONS FURTHER STATE THAT "THE
RESULTS WERE PARTICULARLY SATISFACTORY WHEN THE PRIMARY COIL OR SYSTEM A'
WITH ITS SECONDARY C' (OF THE RECEIVER) WAS CAREFULLY ADJUSTED, SO AS TO
VIBRATE IN SYNCHRONISM WITH THE TRANSMITTING COIL OR SYSTEM AC."
TESLA THUS ANTICIPATED THE FOLLOWING FEATURES OF THE MARCONI PATENT: A
CHARGING CIRCUIT IN THE TRANSMITTER FOR CAUSING OSCILLATIONS OF THE
DESIRED FREQUENCY, COUPLED, THROUGH A TRANSFORMER, WITH THE OPEN ANTENNA
CIRCUIT, AND THE SYNCHRONIZATION OF THE TWO CIRCUITS BY THE PROPER
DISPOSITION OF THE INDUCTANCE IN EITHER THE CLOSED OR THE ANTENNA CIRCUIT
OR BOTH. BY THIS AND THE ADDED DISCLOSURE OF THE TWO CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENT
IN THE RECEIVER WITH SIMILAR ADJUSTMENT, HE ANTICIPATED THE FOUR-CIRCUIT
TUNED COMBINATION OF MARCONI. A FEATURE
OF THE MARCONI COMBINATION NOT SHOWN BY TESLA WAS THE USE OF A VARIABLE
INDUCTANCE AS A MEANS OF ADJUSTING THE TUNING OF THE ANTENNA CIRCUIT OF
TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER. THIS WAS DEVELOPED BY LODGE AFTER TESLA'S
PATENT BUT BEFORE THE MARCONI PATENT IN SUIT.
"IN PATENT NO. 609,154, APPLIED FOR FEBRUARY 1, 1898 AND ALLOWED AUGUST
16, 1898, BEFORE MARCONI'S APPLICATION, LODGE DISCLOSED AN ADJUSTABLE
INDUCTION COIL IN THE OPEN OR ANTENNA CIRCUIT IN A WIRELESS TRANSMITTER
OR RECEIVER OR BOTH TO ENABLE TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER TO
BE TUNED TOGETHER. HIS PATENT PROVIDED FOR THE USE, IN THE OPEN CIRCUITS
OF A TRANSMITTER AND A RECEIVER OF HERTZIAN WAVES, OF A SELF INDUCTION
COIL BETWEEN A PAIR OF CAPACITY AREAS WHICH HE STATED MIGHT BE ANTENNA
AND EARTH. HIS SPECIFICATIONS STATE THAT A COIL LOCATED AS
DESCRIBED COULD BE MADE ADJUSTABLE AT WILL SO AS TO VARY THE VALUE OF ITS
SELF-INDUCTANCE; THAT THE ADJUSTMENT, TO SECURE THE "DESIRED FREQUENCY OF
VIBRATION OR SYNTONY WITH A PARTICULAR DISTANT STATION," MAY BE ATTAINED
EITHER "BY REPLACING ONE COIL BY ANOTHER" OR BY THE USE OF A COIL
CONSTRUCTED WITH A MOVABLE SWITCH SO RELATED TO THE COIL AS TO SHORT
CIRCUIT, WHEN CLOSED, ANY DESIRED NUMBER OF TURNS OF THE WIRE, "SO THAT
THE WHOLE OR ANY SMALLER PORTION OF THE INDUCTANCE AVAILABLE MAY BE USED
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CORRESPONDINGLY-ATTUNED RECEIVER AT THE PARTICULAR
STATION TO WHICH IT IS DESIRED TO SIGNAL." THUS LODGE ADJUSTED HIS
TUNING BY VARYING THE SELF-INDUCTANCE OF THE ANTENNA
CIRCUITS, FOR, AS HE EXPLAINED, THE ADJUSTMENT OF WAVE LENGTHS, AND HENCE
OF FREQUENCY IN THE CIRCUITS, COULD BE MADE BY VARYING EITHER OR BOTH THE
INDUCTANCE AND CAPACITY, WHICH ARE THE FACTORS CONTROLLING WAVE LENGTH
AND HENCE FREQUENCY IN THE ANTENNA CIRCUITS."
The Chief Justice later refers to Marconi's original patent---
" MARCONI'S REPUTATION AS THE MAN WHO FIRST ACHIEVED SUCCESSFUL RADIO
TRANSMISSION RESTS ON HIS ORIGINAL PATENT, WHICH BECAME REISSUE NO.
11,913, AND WHICH IS NOT HERE IN QUESTION. THAT REPUTATION, HOWEVER
WELL-DESERVED, DOES NOT ENTITLE HIM TO A PATENT FOR EVERY LATER
IMPROVEMENT WHICH HE CLAIMS IN THE RADIO FIELD. PATENT CASES, LIKE
OTHERS, MUST BE DECIDED NOT BY WEIGHING THE REPUTATIONS OF THE LITIGANTS,
BUT BY CAREFUL STUDY OF THE MERITS OF
THEIR RESPECTIVE CONTENTIONS AND PROOFS. AS THE RESULT OF SUCH A STUDY
WE ARE FORCED TO CONCLUDE, WITHOUT UNDERTAKING TO DETERMINE WHETHER
STONE'S PATENT INVOLVED INVENTION, THAT THE COURT OF CLAIMS WAS RIGHT IN
DECIDING THAT STONE ANTICIPATED MARCONI, AND THAT MARCONI'S PATENT DID
NOT DISCLOSE INVENTION OVER STONE. HENCE THE JUDGMENT BELOW HOLDING
INVALID THE BROAD CLAIMS OF THE MARCONI PATENT MUST BE AFFIRMED."
Some interesting comments may be found in the dissents---
JUSTICE FRANKFURTER, DISSENTING IN PART:
"THE INESCAPABLE FACT IS THAT MARCONI IN HIS BASIC PATENT HIT UPON
SOMETHING THAT HAD ELUDED THE BEST BRAINS OF THE TIME WORKING ON THE
PROBLEM OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION - CLERK MAXWELL AND SIR OLIVER LODGE
AND NIKOLA TESLA. GENIUS IS A WORD THAT OUGHT TO BE RESERVED FOR THE
RAREST OF GIFTS. I AM NOT QUALIFIED TO SAY WHETHER MARCONI WAS A GENIUS.
CERTAINLY THE GREAT EMINENCE OF CLERK MAXWELL AND SIR OLIVER LODGE AND
NIKOLA TESLA IN THE FIELD IN WHICH MARCONI WAS WORKING IS NOT QUESTIONED.
THEY WERE, I SUPPOSE, MEN OF GENIUS. THE FACT IS THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE
THE "FLASH" (A CURRENT TERM IN PATENT OPINIONS HAPPILY NOT USED IN THIS
DECISION) THAT BEGOT THE IDEA IN MARCONI WHICH HE GAVE TO THE WORLD
THROUGH THE INVENTION EMBODYING THE IDEA. BUT IT IS NOW HELD THAT IN THE
IMPORTANT ADVANCE UPON HIS BASIC PATENT MARCONI DID NOTHING THAT HAD NOT
ALREADY BEEN SEEN AND DISCLOSED.
"TO FIND IN 1943 THAT WHAT MARCONI DID REALLY DID NOT PROMOTE THE
PROGRESS OF SCIENCE BECAUSE IT HAD BEEN ANTICIPATED IS MORE THAN A MIRAGE
OF HINDSIGHT. WIRELESS IS SO UNCONSCIOUS A PART OF US, LIKE THE
AUTOMOBILE TO THE MODERN CHILD, THAT IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE
OURSELVES BACK INTO THE TIME WHEN MARCONI GAVE TO THE WORLD WHAT FOR US
IS PART OF THE ORDER OF OUR UNIVERSE. AND YET, BECAUSE A JUDGE OF
UNUSUAL CAPACITY FOR UNDERSTANDING SCIENTIFIC MATTERS IS ABLE TO
DEMONSTRATE BY A PROCESS OF INTRICATE RATIOCINATION THAT ANYONE COULD
HAVE DRAWN PRECISELY THE INFERENCES THAT MARCONI DREW AND THAT STONE
HINTED AT ON PAPER, THE COURT FINDS THAT MARCONI'S PATENT WAS INVALID
ALTHOUGH NOBODY EXCEPT MARCONI DID IN FACT DRAW THE RIGHT INFERENCES THAT
WERE EMBODIED INTO A WORKABLE BOON FOR MANKIND. FOR ME IT SPEAKS VOLUMES
THAT IT SHOULD HAVE TAKEN FORTY YEARS TO REVEAL THE FATAL BEARING OF
STONE'S RELATION TO MARCONI'S ACHIEVEMENT BY A RETROSPECTIVE
READING OF HIS APPLICATION TO MEAN THIS RATHER THAN THAT. THIS IS FOR
ME, AND I SAY IT WITH MUCH DIFFIDENCE, TOO EASY A TRANSITION FROM WHAT
WAS NOT TO WHAT BECAME.
And in his dissent Justice Rutledge remarks:
"SCHOOL BOYS AND MECHANICS NOW COULD PERFORM WHAT MARCONI DID IN 1900.
BUT BEFORE THEN WIZARDS HAD TRIED AND FAILED. THE SEARCH WAS AT THE
PINNACLE OF ELECTRICAL KNOWLEDGE. THERE, SEEKING, AMONG OTHERS, WERE
TESLA, LODGE AND STONE, OLD HANDS AND GREAT ONES. WITH THEM WAS MARCONI,
STILL YOUNG AS THE COMPANY WENT FN5 OBSESSED WITH YOUTH'S ZEAL FOR THE
HUNT. AT SUCH AN ALTITUDE, TO WORK AT ALL WITH SUCCESS IS TO QUALIFY FOR
GENIUS, IF THAT IS IMPORTANT. AND A SHORT STEP FORWARD GIVES EVIDENCE OF
INVENTIVE POWER. FOR AT THAT HEIGHT A MERELY SLIGHT ADVANCE COMES
THROUGH INSIGHT ONLY A FIRST-RATE MIND CAN PRODUCE. THIS IS SO, WHETHER
IT COMES BY YEARS OF HARD WORK TRACKING DOWN THE SOUGHT SECRET OR BY
INTUITION FLASHED FROM SUBCONSCIOUSNESS MADE FERTILE BY LONG EXPERIENCE
OR SHORTER INTENSIVE CONCENTRATION. AT THIS LEVEL AND IN THIS COMPANY
MARCONI WORKED AND WON. HE WON BY THE TEST OF RESULTS. NO ONE
DISPUTES THIS. HIS INVENTION HAD IMMEDIATE AND VAST SUCCESS, WHERE ALL
THAT HAD BEEN DONE BEFORE, INCLUDING HIS OWN WORK, GAVE BUT NARROWLY
LIMITED UTILITY. TO MAKE USEFUL IMPROVEMENT AT THIS PLANE, BY SUCH A
LEAP, ITSELF SHOWS HIGH CAPACITY. AND THAT IS TRUE, ALTHOUGH IT WAS
INHERENT IN THE SITUATION THAT MARCONI'S SUCCESS SHOULD COME BY ONLY A
SMALL MARGIN OF DIFFERENCE IN CONCEPTION. THERE WAS NOT ROOM FOR ANY
GREAT LEAP OF THOUGHT, BEYOND WHAT HE AND OTHERS HAD DONE, TO BRING TO
BIRTH THE PRACTICAL AND USEFUL RESULT. THE MOST EMINENT MEN OF THE TIME
WERE CONSCIOUS OF THE PROBLEM, WERE INTERESTED IN IT, HAD SOUGHT FOR
YEARS THE EXACTLY RIGHT ARRANGEMENT, ALWAYS APPROACHING MORE NEARLY BUT
NEVER QUITE REACHING THE STAGE OF PRACTICAL SUCCESS. THE INVENTION WAS,
SO TO SPEAK, HOVERING IN THE GENERAL CLIMATE OF SCIENCE, MOMENTARILY
AWAITING BIRTH. BUT JUST THE RIGHT RELEASING TOUCH HAD NOT BEEN FOUND.
MARCONI ADDED IT."
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