Everyone credits Guglielmo Marconi with the invention of the radio in 1895, but most would be surprised to learn that Nikola Tesla was the first to construct an apparatus that produced the radio frequency needed to transmit signals for the purpose of communication.
Marconi didn’t invent the radio or the use of wireless communication, but he did refine many of its workings, building on the inventions and knowledge of others. As early as 1891, Tesla demonstrated that energy could be transmitted without the use of wires. The term Tesla effect was used to describe the process. He proved that energy could be moved through space as well as objects, and that energy wasn’t just a matter of creating increasing levels of voltage. He theorized that energy could be harnessed to send radio signals and for wireless communication.
Tesla gave a presentation to the Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1892, at which time he postulated that wireless messages could be sent utilizing radio frequencies. While it made headlines in the major newspapers of the time, no one wanted to pursue it. Scientists and inventors of the day were interested in the transmission of radio frequencies. However, it took a back seat to the study of electricity and increasing its voltage.
Over the next few years, Tesla developed a variety of systems using radio frequencies and demonstrated them at various times at the Franklin Institute and the National Electric Light Association. However, his ideas still failed to garner the support for further experimentation and development for which he’d hoped.
Undaunted, Tesla continued to experiment with radio frequencies. He claimed to have developed an invention that received long distance wireless signals sometime between 1895 and 1899. However, he had no evidence to support his claims and no witnesses to verify the accomplishment. Consequently, his claims were seen as the ramblings and wishful thinking of a mad scientist, an appellation given to him by scientists of the day who didn’t understand his genius or his vision. However, he proved his theory of transmitting wireless radio waves by constructing the first remote-controlled boat, built with the hope of military applications.
The work and experimentation Tesla conducted with wireless radio frequencies eventually had far reaching applications. His work, while in its most basic form, provided the impetus for further development and the basis of our current wireless communications.
Much of Tesla’s work was scorned by his contemporaries. However, those same scientists and inventors felt no compunction about appropriating his work and research for their own ends. Tesla may not have received the credit for creating radio or wireless communications, but we all use devices every day that are built on the research and development he pioneered.