The physicist Sir Oliver Lodge (1851 1940) made significant contributions to the study of electrons, electromagnetic waves, X-rays, radio and telegraphy, earning him the Rumford Medal, the Faraday Medal and, in 1902, a knighthood. In addition to serving as President of the Physical Society, Lodge succeeded F. W. H. Myers as President of the Society for Psychical Research, an organisation devoted to the study of paranormal phenomena. In this work, first published in 1908, Lodge discusses the controversy between science and faith, showing how the self-sufficient laws of 'orthodox science' may...

The early 1890s saw the development of wireless telegraphy. Although the behaviour of radio waves had been predicted by James Clerk Maxwell, the production of a working coherer occupied some of the greatest practical physicists of the time. A giant in the field was Heinrich Hertz (1857 94), who was among the first to discover that radio waves could travel independently of wires. When Hertz died, his work was continued and soon led to the development of the first wireless radios. This book, published in 1900, is the third edition of Sir Oliver Lodge's popular explanation of Hertz's work....

In 1870, Sir William Crookes (1832 1919) travelled to Gibraltar to observe the solar eclipse. He kept a diary and produced beautiful accounts of the expedition - alongside altogether more specific observations, including the 656 steps down a local cliff face, and every item in his luggage. It is with the same meticulous approach and cheerful prose that he records, in letters, journal articles and reports, the successes and failures of the vast range of projects in which he was involved. Although initially trained as a chemist, Crookes worked across the spectrum of the sciences, from...

As a result of being asked to give public lectures on the subject, the eminent physicist Oliver Lodge (1851 1940) published in 1892 a pioneering study of the protection of buildings, cables and telegraphic instruments from the devastation caused by lightning strikes. This work led him almost immediately to the discovery of electromagnetic wave transmission and ultimately to the development of a version of radio telegraphy. Lodge also saw that many of the current theories about the nature of lightning were seriously in error, and his investigations led to a number of significant changes in the...

In the 1860s, radio waves were predicted by James Clerk Maxwell in his work on electromagnetism. It took a further twenty years for the first experiments to produce a working demonstration. In this guide to radio technology, first published in 1925, eminent physicist Sir Oliver Lodge (1851 1940) provides a concise history of the development of the wireless radio, explains the theory behind it, and includes some practical tips for amateurs. Having lived through and contributed to the discovery, he explains the difficulty of the early experiments, which took place in a time when terms like...