The History of Wireless: How Creative Minds Produced Technology for the Masses

The History of Wireless reads like a novel. It chronicles the discoveries and inventions that led to today's mass market. Part I covers Volta, Faraday, Maxwell, Lodge, and Hertz--presenting crucial aspects of their work often missed by other biographers. Part II describes the development of the telegraph and telephone and how Marconi, Fessenden, de Forest, and Armstrong made them "wireless." It also covers the birth of radio and TV broadcasting and figures including Sarnoff, Farnsworth, and Zworykin. Part III provides the most comprehensive history of mobile radio, cellular, and digital cellular found in one place. It proceeds to look at emerging technologies and standards such as mobile TV and ambient light-powered color displays. The final chapter reviews the creative process in technology development.