Sungook Hong: Wireless: From Marconi’s Black-Box to the Audion (2001)
Filed under book | Tags: · communication technology, history of communications, history of technology, radio, technology, telegraphy, wireless networks
By 1897 Guglielmo Marconi had transformed James Clerk Maxwell’s theory of electromagnetic waves into a workable wireless telegraphy system, and by 1907 Lee de Forest had invented the audion, a feedback amplifier and oscillator that opened the way to practical radio transmission. Fifteen years after Marconi’s invention, wireless had become an essential means of communication, as well as a hobby for many.
This book offers a new perspective on the early days of wireless communication. Drawing on previously untapped archival evidence and recent work in the history and sociology of science and technology, it examines the substance and context of both experimental and theoretical aspects of engineering and scientific practices in the first years of this technology. It offers new insights into the relationship between Marconi and his scientific advisor, the physicist John Ambrose Fleming (inventor of the vacuum tube). It includes the full story of the infamous 1903 incident in which Marconi’s opponent Nevil Maskelyne interfered with Fleming’s public demonstration of Marconi’s syntonic (tuning) system at the Royal Institution by sending derogatory messages from his own transmitter. The analysis of the Maskelyne affair highlights the struggle between Marconi and his opponents, the efficacy of early syntonic devices, Fleming’s role as a public witness to Marconi’s private experiments, and the nature of Marconi’s “shows.” It also provides a rare case study of how the credibility of an engineer can be created, consumed, and suddenly destroyed. The book concludes with a discussion of de Forest’s audion and the shift from wireless telegraphy to radio.
Publisher MIT Press, 2001
Transformations: Studies in the History of Science and Technology series
ISBN 0262082985, 9780262082983
248 pages
PDF (updated on 2013-3-30)
Comment (1)Steve J. Wurtzler: Electric Sounds: Technological Change and the Rise of Corporate Mass Media (2007)
Filed under book | Tags: · acoustics, audience, film, listening, mass media, music, sound, sound recording, wireless networks
Electric Sounds brings to vivid life an era when innovations in the production, recording, and transmission of sound revolutionized a number of different media, especially the radio, the phonograph, and the cinema.
The 1920s and 1930s marked some of the most important developments in the history of the American mass media: the film industry’s conversion to synchronous sound, the rise of radio networks and advertising-supported broadcasting, the establishment of a federal regulatory framework on which U.S. communications policy continues to be based, the development of several powerful media conglomerates, and the birth of a new acoustic commodity in which a single story, song, or other product was made available to consumers in multiple media forms and formats.
But what role would this new media play in society? Celebrants saw an opportunity for educational and cultural uplift; critics feared the degradation of the standards of public taste. Some believed acoustic media would fulfill the promise of participatory democracy by better informing the public, while others saw an opportunity for manipulation. The innovations of this period prompted not only a restructuring and consolidation of corporate mass media interests and a shift in the conventions and patterns of media consumption but also a renegotiation of the social functions assigned to mass media forms.
Steve J. Wurtzler’s impeccably researched history adds a new dimension to the study of sound media, proving that the ultimate form technology takes is never predetermined. Rather, it is shaped by conflicting visions of technological possibility in economic, cultural, and political realms. Electric Sounds also illustrates the process through which technologies become media and the ways in which media are integrated into American life.
Publisher Columbia University Press, 2007
Film and Culture series
ISBN 0231136773, 9780231136778
393 pages
Review (Jonathan Sterne, Cinema Journal, 2008)
Review (Gerd Horten, The American Historical Review, 2008)
Review (Heidi Tworek, H-Net/Jhistory, 2010)
PDF (updated on 2012-8-3)
Comment (0)Harvey Lehpamer: RFID Design Principles (2008)
Filed under book | Tags: · rfid, technology, wireless networks
This cutting-edge book serves as a comprehensive introduction to RFID, offering you a detailed understanding of design essentials and applications, and providing a thorough overview of management issues. By comparing RFID with WLAN and Bluetooth, this practical resource shows you how RFID technology can help you overcome many design challenges and limitations in the field. The book explains the design of electronic circuits, antennas, interfaces, data encoding schemes, and complete RFID systems. Starting with the basics of RF and microwave propagation, you learn about major system components including tags and readers.
This hands-on reference distills the latest RFID standards, and examines RFID at work in supply chain management, intelligent buildings, intelligent transportation systems, and tracking animals. RFID is controversial among privacy and consumer advocates, and this book looks at every angle concerning security, ethics, and protecting consumer data. From design details… to applications… to socio-cultural implications, this authoritative volume offers the knowledge you need to create an optimal RFID system and maximize its performance.
Series: Artech House microwave library
Publisher Artech House, 2008
ISBN 1596931949, 9781596931947
293 pages