The Complete Radio Book (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1922. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... THE COMPLETE RADIO BOOK CHAPTER I COMMUNICATION, 'ANCIENT AND MODERN LIVING creatures existed on this planet for millions of years before they could express thought; before they could communicate with each other. As the ages rolled by, a few of the more progressive creatures became able to make barking sounds and gestures to make known the ideas they evolved in their sluggish minds. The desire to talk came with the first spark of intelligence, and, as time went on, this desire became so intense that nature satisfied it. With the evolution of man came the evolution of language. From the snarls and grunts of the early cave-man there developed the first human tongue. As men multiplied, and roving tribes came into being, necessity grew for communication over distances. The original means of communication that nature had provided for man became inadequate, since they were effective only over comparatively short ranges. Although men were separated, they still wanted to express their thoughts to each other. Probably the early uncivilized tribesmen did find some method of "talking" over considerable distances. What these methods may have been is a matter of conjecture. We do know, however, that many of the uncivilized tribes of to-day have developed ingenious methods of what might be called "wireless" communication. A traveler returning from the wilds of South America tells how the natives along the Amazon were apprised of his coming several hours before he reached the various villages. He discovered that an extremely novel method of relaying this information was used. The receiving and transmitting stations were simply large hollow logs. One end of a log was placed in the water and the other end beaten with a club. The vibrations that were set up in the log were imparte...