A Radio Pioneer

Lee De Forest
Schematic diagrams and scientific notes
on hotel stationery,
ca. 1915
Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4
Holograph manuscript
Manuscript Division (127.1)

The prolific American inventor Lee De Forest (1873-1961) is one of several pioneers of radio development. De Forest experimented with receiving long-distance radio signals and in 1907 patented an electronic device named the audion. Until this time, the radion was considered little more than "wireless telagraphy," since it sent Morse code (dots and dashes) instead of conveying actual sound. De Forest's new three-electrode (triode) vacuum tube boosted radio waves as they were received and made possible what was then called "wireless telephony," which allowed the human voice, music, or any broadcast signal to be heard loud and clear. Shown here are examples of De Forest's schematic diagrams and notes scribbled hurriedly on hotel stationery around 1915.