Marshall Brain

Behold, the long-distance radio. But where did it come from? Meet Ernst Alexanderson, born in Sweden in 1878. Electrified by a book called Alternating Current Phenomenon, the Swedish born Alexanderson became an engineer for the General Electric Company in Schenectady, New York. In 1904, Alexanderson began research on the Alexanderson alternator, the first radio technology that allowed long-distance communication of music and speech. At the time, the low-frequency of radio waves made it impossible to broadcast music or voices over a meaningful range, and messages could only be sent by Morse code. After two years of research, Alexanderson broadcast the first wireless transmission in December 1906 to an audience of very surprised sailors.

So how genius is this inventor? On the American Dream scale, he gets a four. He became the head of GE’s radio engineering department, continued to pepper his field with radio related inventions, and scored 345 patents during his lifetime. On the benefit to humanity scale he gets a five. Not content to study radio alone, he staged the world’s first television reception in 1927. On the ripple effect scale, he also gets a five. Although the name Alexanderson probably doesn’t ring a bell like Edison or Einstein, his inventions have transformed long-range communication.

Announcer

Let us know what you think. Email Genius@HowStuffWorks.com. Also be sure to check out our other HowStuffWorks podcasts on iTunes.