Excerpt from Wireless Telegraphy and Wireless Telephony: An Understandable Presentation of the Science of Wireless Transmission of Intelligence Work of Steinheil. Today it seems glaringly obvious that the earth may be used as a conductor, but in 1838 when Steinheil, a Bavarian, accidentally discovered this fact, it created quite a sensa tion. He had been experimenting with the steel rails of a railroad trying to utilize them as substitutes for the wires of a telegraph cir cuit, but was unable to obtain sufficient insulation. He was sur prised to discover, however, what a high degree of conductivity the earth possessed, and was led to conceive that he might employ it instead of the return wire hitherto used. He made the experiment, and with complete success, thus introducing into telegraphy one of its most important features-the earth circuit. Expanding the idea, Steinheil wondered if it were not possible to telegraph through the earth without using metallic conductors at all. This experiment, which was successful over very short distances, is said to have been the first attempt to telegraph without wires. Steinheil, however, being unable to signal farther than 50 feet, gave up this method, convinced that it was inexpedient for telegraphy. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.