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1914 (June 8) manuscript letter (British Association for the…
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Auction Location:
Melbourne
Date:
11-Dec-2017
Lot No.
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Description:
1914 (June 8) manuscript letter (British Association for the Advancement of Science.) to Charles Seymour 'Silas' Wright from William Henry Eccles (1875-1966) asking for assistance in facilitating some scientific equipment needed prior to leaving for Australia to conduct some experiments, '..I am getting makeshift apparatus constructed... for experiments and observations while at sea. Eccles was an advocate of Oliver Heaviside's theory that a conducting layer of the upper atmosphere could reflect radio waves around the curvature of the earth, thus enabling their transmission over long distances. Originally known as the Kennelly?Heaviside layer, this region of the earth's atmosphere became known as the Ionosphere. In 1912 Eccles suggested that solar radiation was responsible for the observed differences in radio wave propagation during the day and night. He carried out experiments into atmospheric disturbances of radio waves and used wave detectors and amplifiers in his work. Eccles invented the term 'diode' to describe an evacuated glass tube containing two electrodes, an anode and a cathode.
Estimate:
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Category:
Unclassified