ALEXANDER POPOV: RUSSIA'S RADIO PIONEER
by
James P. Rybak
Each year on May 7, the Soviet Union still
celebrates "Radio Day" to commemorate the
achievements of Alexander Popov.
The date was May 7, 1895 and the occasion was a meeting of
the Russian Physical and Chemical Society held in the (then)
capital city of St. Petersburg. On this day, Alexander
Popov presented a demonstration which would become
recognized as an historic achievement. This demonstration,
together with another by Popov which reportedly took place
the following year, eventually would produce controversy
among historians concerning whether the credit for
"inventing" radio should be given to Marconi or to Popov.
Those in attendance for Popov's May 7 presentation were very
much impressed when he demonstrated a receiver which could
detect the electromagnetic waves produced by lightning
discharges in the atmosphere many miles away. The value
this instrument could have in weather forecasting was
obvious.
Only seven years earlier, Heinrich Hertz had conducted
laboratory experiments in Germany which demonstrated
conclusively that the electromagnetic waves predicted by
James Clerk Maxwell in 1865 actually do exist. Prior to
Popov's work, however, few practical uses for these
electromagnetic or "Hertzian" waves had been found.
Popov's receiver consisted of a metal filings coherer he had
developed as the detector element together with an antenna,
a relay, and a bell. The relay was used to activate the
bell which both announced the occurrence of a lightning
discharge and served as a "decoherer" (tapper) to ready the
coherer to detect the next lightning discharge.
While this demonstration by Popov did not involve the
transmission and reception of a message, it nonetheless was
a significant scientific achievement for that time. Clear
written records of the event were made and preserved.
First Wireless Telegraphy? Reports also exist that some ten
months later on March 24, 1896 Alexander Popov demonstrated
the transmission and reception of information by wireless
telegraphy. The occasion was another meeting of the Russian
Physical and Chemical Society and the location was the St.
Petersburg University. Wireless telegraph signals,
transmitted a distance of over 800 feet from another
building on the campus, were audible to all in the meeting
room.
The President of the Society, F. F. Petrushevsky, stood at a
blackboard holding a paper on which a listing of the letters
of the alphabet and their equivalents in Morse Code were
written. As the signals were received, Petrushevsky
referred to the paper and wrote the appropriate letter on
the blackboard. The letters spelled out the name "HEINRICH
HERTZ."
Unfortunately, no written record was made at the time of
this wireless telegraphy demonstration to provide
documentation for historical purposes. The reports of the
event which do exist are based on the recollections of
several persons present at the time, but were not recorded
until almost thirty years later.
Who Was First? Marconi's first wireless patent application
was filed in England on June 2, 1896 and his first public
demonstration of wireless signaling to a group of scientists
took place in July of that year. Both events occurred after
the March 24 date claimed for Popov's transmission and
reception of the words "HEINRICH HERTZ." It seems clear to
most present day American and European historians, however,
that Marconi's work had achieved a significant level of
development, including the unpublicized transmission and
reception of simple messages, prior to March 24.
Historians from the Soviet Union have maintained for many
years that Alexander Popov, not Guglielmo Marconi, should be
recognized as radio's "inventor." Their claim, however, is
based largely on his well documented May 7, 1895
demonstration of a lightning detecting receiver rather than
on the later and less well documented "HEINRICH HERTZ"
demonstration. Each year on May 7, "Radio Day" is still
celebrated with considerable enthusiasm in the U.S.S.R. in
recognition of Popov's achievements.
Determining who has claim to the title "Inventor of Radio"
is complicated somewhat by issues of nationalistic pride,
inadequate documentation of events, and differing
interpretations of what constitutes "inventing" radio. By
what most persons in the West consider "objective" analysis
of the facts known, however, Marconi's work invariably is
recognized as having priority over Popov's. Nonetheless,
Popov's numerous achievements do merit both recognition and
respect.
Ural Mountain Beginnings. Alexander Stepanovich Popov was
born on March 16, 1859 in the village of Turinsk in the Ural
Mountains. As a boy, Alex was intrigued by the many types
of iron mining and manufacturing machines he saw functioning
in the vicinity. He often spent his spare time building
small but quite sophisticated working models of the water
powered machines he had seen. Very early in his life, Alex
became interested in the study of natural science.
Popov's father was a priest who encouraged all seven of his
children to get a good education. Alexander completed his
elementary education in two years and then entered the
seminary at Perm. The seminary provided him with a good
education in the natural sciences and mathematics as well as
in theology. It was here that Alexander Popov became
fascinated by the study of physics.
After completing his seminary education, Popov enrolled in
the St. Petersburg University to continue his study of
physics. The curriculum at the University was modern and
emphasized heavily the practical applications of scientific
principles.
An Excellent Experimentalist. Alexander Popov excelled at
experimental work. He seemed to have a natural aptitude and
love for designing and building laboratory equipment. Popov
spent every available moment conducting experimental
investigations with the equipment he built. Scientific
knowledge concerning electricity was expanding rapidly in
the 1880's. This was the area of physics Popov knew he
wanted to pursue.
The superior experimental research talents of Alexander
Popov were readily apparent to the physics faculty at the
St. Petersburg University. Upon graduating in 1882, he was
offered the opportunity to stay on at the University as a
laboratory assistant. Alex readily accepted this position
because it enabled him to remain close to the laboratories
and the work he loved.
Funds for teaching and research at the University were
meagre, however. Popov, having a family to support,
accepted a more promising position in 1883 at the Russian
Navy's Torpedo School located at Kronstadt. The Kronstadt
naval base located on Kotlin Island in the Gulf of Finland
was the home of Russia's Baltic fleet.
The Torpedo School offered an outstanding program of study
in applied physics for naval electricians (electrical
engineers) and torpedo officers. It had the best scientific
library and physics laboratories in Russia. Here Popov
found the better environment for experimental research he
wanted and needed. His early laboratory investigations at
Kronstadt involved magnetic phenomena and electrical heating
effects in metals.
Electrical Sparks Interest Popov. In the late 1880's, the
use of electrical power on ships was beginning to be
introduced in Russia. A problem soon was noted when
electrical wiring was routed along the metal hulls of the
ships. Sparks which damaged the electrical insulation were
observed where they were least expected.
Popov determined that the sparking was due to large voltages
produced by unanticipated high frequency oscillations.
Today, we would identify resonance as the cause of the
sparking. At the time, however, the phenomenon of
electrical resonance was not understood.
These findings turned Popov's interests toward the practical
applications of high frequency currents and the invisible
electromagnetic waves produced by those currents. Very
quickly, Popov became aware that Hertzian wave theory might
well provide a means for finding solutions to many
electrical engineering problems.
Popov Visits Chicago. Alexander Popov's knowledge of
electrical progress being achieved throughout the world was
not limited to what he read in foreign journals. In 1893,
he was sent as the representative of the Torpedo School to
the Chicago World Exhibition where the latest developments
related to the generation, distribution, and utilization of
electrical energy were on display. While in the United
States, Popov also took the opportunity to visit factories
and laboratories where numerous other recent achievements in
the rapidly developing field of electrical technology could
be seen first hand.
Even among the most highly optimistic electrical visionaries
of the early 1890's, the idea that electromagnetic waves
might someday enable telegraphy without wires was little
more than a wild fantasy. After all, the electromagnetic
waves being generated at that time could be detected at
distances of only a few feet, not the many miles which would
be necessary to make wireless telegraphy a practical
reality. Fortunately, Popov was both a visionary and an
excellent experimenter who could not be discouraged easily
by seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Development of a Detector. By 1894, Popov had succeeded in
making a reliable generator of electromagnetic waves. The
receiving or detecting systems in common use, however, were
not at all satisfactory. The problem of finding a detector
which was both sensitive and reliable was one which plagued
all who experimented with Hertzian waves at that time.
Heinrich Hertz had used a wire loop resonator equipped with
an adjustable spark gap as a detector when he demonstrated
the existence of electromagnetic waves in 1888. Two years
later, the French scientist Edouard Branly observed that the
electrical resistance of fine metal particles decreased
dramatically when a spark discharge occurred nearby.
A non-conducting tube containing metal particles packed
between two electrodes came to be known as a "Branly tube"
detector. It was a much more sensitive detector than was
Hertz's wire loop. However, the metal particles in the
Branly tube had to be shaken or "tapped back" between each
electrical discharge in order to restore the detecting
ability of the tube.
Oliver Lodge, an English physicist, noticed in 1892 that the
contact between two small metal spheres, barely touching
each other, ordinarily was not sufficient to permit a
current to flow. However, when a spark discharge occurred
near them, the spheres became fused together and current
could easily flow through the junction. The spheres would
remain joined until lightly tapped.
Lodge called the phenomenon he had observed the "coherer"
effect. Initially, he was unaware that he was observing the
same effect noted by Branly. Like Branly, Lodge at first
saw no use for the effect. Very soon, however, Lodge
realized that the coherer effect both Branly and he had
observed could be utilized to detect the presence of the
electromagnetic waves produced by a distant spark discharge.
In 1894, Lodge publicly demonstrated to a group of noted
scientists the detection of electromagnetic waves by means
of a metal sphere coherer located a distance of 60 yards
from a transmitter. However, the idea that wireless
telegraphy might be possible never occurred at the time to
him or, apparently, to anyone else who witnessed his
demonstration.
It was obvious to Lodge that Branly's tube of metal filings
was a more convenient detection device than was his own
arrangement of metal spheres. Lodge somewhat improved the
coherer tube's operation as a detector by using as the metal
particles the relatively coarse chips produced when iron is
drilled.
Oliver Lodge also found that the amount of pressure exerted
by the electrodes on the metal particles affected the
coherer's performance. Loosely packed particles between
metal plugs in a glass tube 6 to 8 cm long and approximately
1 cm in diameter worked best for Lodge.
Lodge mounted the tube containing the metal particles on a
stand which also supported an electric bell. The bell was
activated when a Hertzian wave caused the coherer to
conduct. The mechanical vibrations from the bell traveled
through the stand and "decohered" the metal particles in the
coherer tube making them ready to detect the arrival of the
next electromagnetic wave.
The transmission of vibrations through the stand was not
always a reliable way to restore the detecting ability of
the coherer. Lodge later used a clock mechanism to provide
automatic and more dependable "tapping back" of the metal
particles.
Popov Further Refines the Coherer. Alexander Popov had read
in scientific journals of Lodge's work. Popov further
improved the sensitivity of the coherer tube and developed a
signal-actuated tapping mechanism for restoring its
detecting ability. He found through experimentation that
platinum foil electrodes together with iron powder of a
particular fineness resulted in increased sensitivity of his
coherer tube.
The "tapping back" arrangement Popov devised was comprised
of a relay and a doorbell mechanism. When the coherer tube
was made highly conductive due to the presence of a Hertzian
wave, a dc current sufficient to close the relay was caused
to flow. This closing of the relay, in turn, allowed
current to flow to the bell mechanism. The bell hammer
struck the bell on the first half of its cyclic motion and
gently struck or "tapped" the coherer tube on the second
half.
Tapping the coherer tube in this manner reliably "decohered"
the iron powder, causing its resistance to increase to its
original high level. This reduced the current through the
relay to the point where the relay contacts opened and the
bell mechanism was no longer activated. Thus, an
electromagnetic wave caused its own presence to be signaled
briefly by the bell and also made the coherer ready to
detect the next wave.
A Lightning Detector. Popov found that he could detect
distant atmospheric lightning discharges by connecting one
end of the coherer to a wire antenna and the other end to a
good earth ground. The coherer and the relay also were used
to activate a pen mechanism recording device. The pen made
a mark on a slowly rotating cylinder when a lightning
discharge occurred.
It was this lightning detection apparatus that Popov
demonstrated to the members of the Russian Physical and
Chemical Society on May 7, 1895. Later that same summer, he
set up his thunderstorm detecting and recording instrument
at the Institute of Forestry in St. Petersburg. With
Popov's equipment, lightning discharges occurring as far
away as 20 miles were detected.
During 1896, teaching responsibilities and the desire to
conduct experiments with the recently discovered Roentgen
rays (X-rays) kept Popov busy. He had little time to devote
to new electromagnetic wave experiments. However, it was
during this year that the demonstration resulting in the
transmission of the words "HEINRICH HERTZ" is reported to
have occurred.
Unfortunately, no recollections of this demonstration by
those in attendance were recorded until almost thirty years
had passed. The writing of these recollections in 1925
coincided with the first earnest attempts by the Soviet
Union to claim that Popov's use of electromagnetic waves for
signaling preceded that of Marconi.
News of Foreign Wireless Work Reaches Russia. Articles
appeared in Russian newspapers beginning in October of 1896
concerning experiments which were being conducted in other
countries with the goal of developing practical wireless
telegraphy. Upon reading these articles, Popov was both
surprised and somewhat annoyed by the way journalists were
treating this "news."
What was being reported with great interest by the press
were two announcements made at the recent meeting in
Liverpool, England of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science. The first announcement reported was
that J. C. Bose, whose laboratory was in Calcutta, had
demonstrated an instrument for the detection of Hertzian
waves.
A description of Bose's work already had appeared in the
scientific journals which Popov read regularly. Popov knew
that Bose's instrument was very similar to the one he
himself had been using for over a year at the Institute of
Forestry to detect lightning discharges. There was nothing
new in Bose's work as far as Popov was concerned.
The second announcement of interest at the Liverpool meeting
had been made by William Preece, chief engineer for the
British Post Office. He reported that a Mr. Marconi, from
Italy, recently had come to England and had succeeded in
sending telegraph signals a distance of one and one-quarter
miles without wires.
Popov Mystified. Alexander Popov could not understand why
so much attention was being given to this "Mr. Marconi."
For some time, Popov had maintained that wireless telegraphy
would one day be a reality.
The demonstration of his thunderstorm detecting instrument
to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society which occurred
on May 7,1895 had been described by Popov in the January
1896 edition of that organization's journal. At the end of
the article, Popov had stated: "In conclusion, I may
express the hope that my apparatus, when further perfected,
may be used for the transmission of signals to a distance by
means of rapid electric vibrations if only a source of such
vibrations can be found possessing sufficient energy."
In the process of developing his lightning discharge
detector, Popov very apparently had tried to send wireless
signals (but evidently not "messages") over extended
distances as early as 1895. He had found the range
attainable to be very limited. Popov incorrectly had
assumed that transmitter power, rather than receiver
sensitivity, was the important factor in establishing
wireless telegraphy.
Popov was somewhat irritated when he read of the attention
that was now being paid to Marconi's wireless telegraphy
achievements. He knew that his own earlier work was very
similar to that for which Marconi now was getting loud
acclaim. The feelings of irritation Popov felt, however,
were directed at himself, not toward Marconi. Popov knew he
should have pursued his own wireless work more vigorously
and with greater persistence.
Popov felt no personal resentment toward Marconi. In 1902
when Marconi visited Kronstadt, Popov met with him and the
two wireless pioneers had a very cordial discussion.
Marconi later received a silver samovar and a sealskin coat
from Popov as wedding presents. Popov was much too much of
a true scientist and a gentleman to harbor personal grudges
over the legitimate scientific successes of another.
Why Didn't Popov Act? It is claimed by his proponents that
Popov conceived of the principles of wireless and even
demonstrated it in rudimentary fashion prior to Marconi.
Why then is it that Popov, unlike Marconi, did not refine
and promote his concept?
Alexander Popov was first and foremost an academician, not
an entrepreneur. He loved to learn and he loved to help
others to learn. Knowledge and understanding of the
physical principles which governed the world in which he
lived was Popov's goal.
Popov believed in "science for the sake of science," not in
"science for personal profit." Limiting the ability of
others to make use of scientific discovery by filing for
protective patents was a concept foreign to Popov.
Personal modesty and a reserved nature also were strong
characteristics of Popov. He was reluctant to describe his
scientific achievements to others for fear he would be
thought of as a braggart and self-promoting. Popov
particularly was reluctant to describe to others an
accomplishment of his which was still in its preliminary
stages. The thought of orchestrating a scientific
demonstration in order to make headlines in the newspapers
and receive public recognition probably would have turned
Popov's stomach.
Marconi, on the other hand, truly was an entrepreneur. He
enjoyed the challenge of developing technology to produce
things the world needed and would buy. Obtaining patent
protection for the technology he developed was critically
important for protecting his investment of time and money.
Another important element for success as an entrepreneur is
getting public recognition for the product and the company
producing it. Marconi understood this well and acted
accordingly. He seldom missed an opportunity to have the
press report with large headlines a demonstration he had
given of his scientific achievements. Marconi understood
human nature as well as he understood technology.
While Popov thoroughly enjoyed his scientific research and
devoted countless hours to it, he did not approach it with a
sense of urgency. Developing wireless telegraphy was of
great interest to Popov but so were other scientific topics
such as the newly discovered Roentgen rays.
Marconi, in contrast, was single-minded in his determination
to develop wireless telegraphy into a commercially useful
technology. His goal was not merely to bring new scientific
knowledge to the world. Rather, Marconi sought to provide
the world with a new technology which would serve a need and
which would bring to him both fame and fortune. He had to
pursue his goal without delay lest someone else achieve it
first. Marconi not only believed that signalling without
wires was possible, he had the vision and will to make that
belief a reality.
Marconi's Technical Breakthrough. The differences in
attitudes and motivations between the two men were important
in determining the way each approached his work. However,
it probably was a key scientific observation made by Marconi
early in his work which ultimately enabled his continued
progress toward and success in perfecting wireless
telegraphy. Marconi had discovered that if both his
receiver and transmitter were each connected to earth
grounds and wire antennas, the distances over which
electromagnetic waves could be sent and detected increased
tremendously.
Popov, however, seemingly did not realize at first that the
earth ground and antenna connections which enabled his
receiver to function well when detecting lightning
discharges also were critically important to having his
transmitter function well. Without this realization, Popov
could not send electromagnetic waves over significant
distances. Perhaps this lack of success at transmitting
signals over significant distances helps explain why Popov
shifted his attention to other work during much of 1896.
The publicity accorded to Marconi abruptly shook Popov out
of whatever state of inaction he was in concerning his own
wireless telegraphy work. Popov now undertook a deliberate
effort to make his earlier wireless accomplishments better
known to other Russian scientists. He also resumed in
earnest his own work toward the development of a practical
wireless telegraphy system.
When specific details of Marconi's 1896 work were published
in 1897, it became apparent that Marconi's receiver was of
very similar design as that which Popov had used to detect
lightning discharges in 1895. However, there never was any
accusation on Popov's part that Marconi had "copied" his
receiver design. Unquestionably, Marconi knew nothing of
Popov's work.
The coherer was the only practical detector of Hertzian
waves then available and the published reports of its use as
such by Lodge were known to both Marconi and Popov. It is
not surprising, therefore, that both Popov and Marconi would
develop nearly identical receivers.
Popov's Convincing Demonstrations. Popov wanted to
demonstrate to the Russian Navy the value wireless could
have for communicating with and between ships. The Tsar's
admiralty responded slowly to his offers to demonstrate the
capabilities of wireless. By 1899, however, Popov had
successfully carried out demonstrations of wireless
telegraphy communications to a distance of 20 miles between
ships of the Black Sea fleet.
If the Russian Navy had any remaining doubts concerning the
value of wireless telegraphy, Popov dispelled them when the
battleship General-Admiral Apraksin ran aground on Gogland
Island in the Gulf of Finland in November of 1899. Efforts
to free the ship had to be started immediately.
The crew of the Apraksin was in no immediate danger but the
water in the Gulf was beginning to freeze. If the ship
survived without serious damage until spring, it likely
would be crushed by moving ice floes.
No direct means of communication existed between Gogland
Island and the mainland. Word of the Apraksin's predicament
had been relayed by another ship.
Because the Gulf of Finland was beginning to freeze over, it
was not possible to lay a submarine cable to communicate
with the ship and coordinate the effort to free it. Popov's
wireless equipment provided the only option.
Due to bad weather and bureaucratic red tape, the crew to
establish a wireless station on Gogland Island did not
arrive there until January of 1900. By February 5, however,
messages were being received reliably.
The wireless messages were relayed to Gogland Island by a
station some 25 miles away at Kotka on the Finnish coast.
Kotka was selected as the location for the wireless relay
station because it was the point closest to Gogland Island
served by telegraph wires connected to Russian naval
headquarters.
Lives Saved. A distress alert was one of the first wireless
message received on Gogland Island. An ice-floe with 50
Finnish fishermen on it had broken loose nearby in the Gulf
of Finland. Little time could be lost if these 50 lives
were to be saved.
The icebreaker Yermak which had brought supplies and was
trying to free the Apraksin was immediately ordered to go to
the aid of the stranded fishermen. Little more than 24
hours after the wireless message had been received, the
rescue of all 50 persons had been accomplished.
By the time the Apraksin was freed from the rocks at the end
of April, 440 official telegraph messages had been handled
by the Gogland Island wireless station. The indisputable
value of wireless telegraphy to any navy now should have
been clear to the Russian admiralty.
Popov continued his efforts to develop a wireless telegraphy
capability for the Russian Navy. Despite the seemingly
convincing demonstrations Popov had provided, the Tsar's
naval bureaucracy was not very receptive to innovation.
Prior to 1900, Popov had urged the Russian Navy to establish
a wireless equipment manufacturing facility and to begin the
training of wireless operators. His recommendations were
accepted in principle but were given only the minimum
financial support. The wisdom of Popov's recommendations
became evident, however, when the Russo-Japanese War seemed
imminent in 1904 and the Russian Navy had to purchase from
Germany the wireless equipment it needed.
Professional Recognition but an Untimely End. Popov's
outstanding capabilities as a teacher and scientist won him
a professorial appointment at the Electrotechnical Institute
in St. Petersburg in 1901. In September of 1905, he was
elected Director of that Institute.
Unfortunately, the political situation in Russia was very
unsettled in 1905. As the country moved dangerously close
to civil war, the Tsar's policies became more and more
reactionary. Popov, always a strong believer in the
principles of academic and political freedom, found the
oppressive climate in St. Petersburg a very difficult one in
which to function.
When Popov was ordered by the government to take repressive
measures against the growing student movement at the
Electrotechnical Institute, he became very upset. Popov's
health never had been robust due to the strenuous pace he
always had set for himself. The thought of having to take
measures against what he considered to be legitimate student
activities was too much. Popov fell seriously ill on
January 10, 1906 and died of a brain hemorrhage on January
13 at the age of 46.
BOOKS AND ARTICLES
"The Principles of Electric Wave Telegraphy;" by J.A.
Fleming, Longmans-Green & Co., London, 1906.
"My Father Marconi;" by Degna Marconi, Frederick Muller
Ltd., London, 1962.
"An Application of the Coherer;" by A. Popov, The
Electrician (London), vol. 40, pg. 235, December 10, 1897.
"Apparatus for the Detection and Registration of Electrical
Vibrations;" by A. Popov, The Electrical Review (London),
vol. 47, pg. 845, November 23, 1900.
"Alexander Popov - Inventor of Radio;" by M. Radovsky,
Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, 1957.
"Marconi, Popov and the Dawn of Radiocommunication;" by R.L.
Smith-Rose, Electronics and Power (London), vol. 10, pg. 76,
March, 1964.
"Popov and the Beginnings of Radiotelegraphy;" by Charles
Susskind, Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers,
vol. 50, pg. 2036, October, 1962.
The article has been
published in the August 1992 issue of the American journal "Popular
Electronics"