November 29, 2015

Marconi Recording Released

November 29, 2015/ Colin Butler

The Essex Record Office have released a recording of a speech made by Guglielmo Marconi in 1935

Second part of a speech made by Guglielmo Marconi on the occasion of the unveiling of the 'Fisk Memorial' at Wahroonga, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 14 December 1935 (the disc is incorrectly labelled). The 'Fisk Memorial' commemorates the first direct wireless message sent from the U.K. to Australia, in 1918.

In the speech, Marconi forecasts the impact that wireless communication will have on ship navigation, but also the world economy generally. Would he be surprised by how accurate he was in his prediction that 'no country can make much headway' without such technology?

Listen - https://soundcloud.com/essex-record-office/speech-by-marconi

November 15, 2015

Blue Heritage Plaque for Radar Pioneer

November 15, 2015/ Colin Butler

A blue UK Heritage plaque has been unveiled recognising the work of Edward Bowen who built a transmitter in 1920 when aged just 9

Professor Bowen managed to miniaturise radar, from a nationwide network of 15m tall masts in 1935, right down to something which by 1943, could be fitted into the noses of planes during the Battle of the Atlantic. This meant that while Allied fighters could detect Nazi U-Boats from a range of up to 160 km, the U-boats were unaware of their presence until the planes were virtually on top of them.

The breakthroughs which Prof Bowen made during his career led directly and indirectly to a string of other developments: