How Reginald Fessenden Put Wireless on the Right Technological Footing
Ira Brodsky · 2008
Reginald Aubrey Fessenden was a prolific inventor. Fessenden saw spark radio's limitations. He championed continuous waves, invented a variable detector and the heterodyne principle, and made the first audio broadcast. His creations ran the gamut from microphotography to sonar to the turbo-electric drive for battleships. His wireless innovations, however, were particularly farsighted. In Canada, the centenary of the first audio broadcast was celebrated with a postage stamp honoring Fessenden. Despite these facts, the name Guglielmo Marconi far outshines that of Reginald Fessenden. The problem is not that Marconi's fame is undeserved; it's that Fessenden's contributions are not sufficiently well known. Fessenden was a visionary engineer but a poor businessman.