I was held captive by a book that is a generous tribute of a loving daughter to her Father, Guglielmo Marconi. Degna Marconi allows us an insight into a chapter in her family history, and introduces us to the science behind her Fathers' inventions, his passion, his single-mindedness, his genius.
Marconi grew up in Bologna, at the center of his Mother's world. Without formal schooling, bright and gifted Guglielmo was allowed to develop at his own pace. Inspired by a book on Benjamin Franklin, his imagination was fired up, and he started experimenting with electricity and passing signals across distances. Later as a young adult in Great Britain, Marconi together with a small group of dedicated and passionate men and scientists made his ideas a working reality. The rest is history, and we all are beneficiaries.
Last summer when I stayed at Cape Cod, I took a detour and a walk at South Wellfleet. Marconi Station is no longer there, but the display tells us of messages that were relayed for the first time over great distances, between Great Britain and America. One of the early demonstrations of importance of communicating over long distances was when the signals were received, informing the world of the tragedy of the maiden voyage of Titanic.
While most of us still grapple with understanding the way signals travel, the ideas and inventions of Guglielmo Marconi have become a life transforming reality. As a mother living in Melbourne, Australia, with a daughter in New York, and a daughter in London, I bow to the genius of Marconi. His work made it possible for us to remain close, it made the "tyranny of distance" more bearable.
This book is more interesting than any fiction. Degna Marconi writes with literary skill that is outstanding.
We are closer to understanding Guglielmo Marconi, the man, when we read his own words: "genius is gift of work continuously applied"
Recommended reading!

Review: My father, Marconi

What magnificant reading this is! This book is a must for those who would agree that a good biography is incomparably more valuable than even a great work of fiction. Degna Marconi has succeeded in recording her father's life with both scrutiny and filial affection. She has maintained a very high level in every aspect: what she tells us about scientific evolution in its historical context is witty, precise and fascinating whereas her personal touch never errs on the side of biased family pride. She is as good an author as her father was a man of science!
This portrait of Marconi and his times at the beginning of the era of global communication is all the more interesing right now a hundres years after it all began.
"My father, Marconi" should be on the shelf of anyone who prefers reflection to mere consuption.

Susanne Regehr

If I had to pick the one book (and there are many out there) that best describes Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of wireless communication, this would definitely be it. This book, written by Marconi's eldest daughter, Degna, is one of the best biographies I have ever read, in part because of the enormous charisma of the subject and in equal part because of the obvious respect and affection with which he is treated by Degna Marconi.
With only a vague idea of who Marconi was and fearing a book filled with technical jargon I picked up this book with a little suspicion at first. What a wonderful surprise! Degna Marconi's story was engaging from the first few paragraphs and rivetting up until the end. I quickly became engrossed in this fascinating story of a young man who, instead of going to university, spends his days experimenting with sending radio signals across his parents' garden, using homemade equipment and information gathered from scientific magazines, and then his tireless struggle to improve and promote his inventions which takes him first to London, then Canada, and the U.S. Degna Marconi presents the historical and scientific facts in a clear and concise manner without sacrificing detail. The work is both rewarding for those interested in science as well as those of us after a good read. Indeed, the charm of this book is that it reads like a real page turning novel. Loads of little anecdotes and commentaries colour the story without obscuring it. The reader gets a wonderful insight into a world of wealth and luxury, cut-throat competition and scientific innovation.
The book describes the novelty and excitement of Marconi's first experiments and then moves on to describe Marconi's struggles to patent his inventions, circumvent his ever more numerous competitors and expand the range and use of his technology. In fact, Marconi emerges not only as a brilliant scientist but above all as an energetic and resourceful entrepreneur. This account of Marconi's work to establish radio as a practical and useful alternative to other more established technologies (such as the telephone) is thrilling to read and is as relevant today as it was 100 years ago. I especially enjoyed reading about the heroic radio operator who continued sending S.O.S. signals from the sinking Titanic and about Marconi's long, lonely and often frustrating struggle to establish radio contact across the Atlantic.
Marconi's private life was no less exciting and tumultuous. The book's description of Marconi's love of the beautiful Beatrice O'Brien, his efforts to win over the undecided Beatrice and their wedding is entertaining and often humorous. The strain of Marconi's ever increasing work and fame on his family, the tragic divorce that neither he nor Beatrice really wanted and Marconi's complicated relationship with his children, especially his son Giulio, are all described with subtle and touching insight. Degna Marconi is also able to convey Marconi's charm and subtle sense of humour. Highly recommended.

Who invented the wireless radio? Well as we are taught in history class Marconi did. Now what else do we know about him? More or less very little, that was until now. This book is an exceptional look into one of this century greatest men.

Written by Marconi's wife, this book is more than a simple biography, it is a love story, and it is a romance novel and most importantly it is history lesson all rolled into 370 plus pages of one of the best books I have ever read or reviewed.

The books tells more than the life work of the "man who gave voice to silence", it shows another side, this side history books never record. The book includes letter, pictures and even a listing of his honors.

Here is a book that should be on the must read list for those interested in history. I was truly impressed by the way the author makes the man come to life and shows his triumphs and his failures. Excellent reading for one and all!

This book made me realize that radio is not just about playing music. It is about sending and reciving waves to make the public happy.

This book focuses on the history of radio from 1899 to 1954 and thus has nothing to do with RCA's CED VideoDisc system, but one of the key figures in the account is David Sarnoff, so a lot of the early history of RCA is covered. In addition to Sarnoff, the book focuses on the technical radio pioneers Edwin Howard Armstrong and Lee de Forest. In some respects this book is a reflection on the development of the modern computer, as parallels can be drawn between these radio pioneers and computer industry figures Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Larry Ellison.

Read some years ago & book now lost. Fascinating in that it vividly displays the genius, sometimes luck, unstinting effort, inspiration, and often the "happy" accident that is part of basic effort when one breaks ground in a new quest in pursuit of a dream. Much of this history could not be repeated in our 2000 world because those opportunities no longer exist. An example is Sarnoff's success in getting meaningful work at the tender age he did in the story! Mankind's unflagging quest goes on but in different ways. The first way of making news available at the instant it occurs certainly shrunk the world. The process continues. Recommended highly for the radio buff of any age!