Thunderstruck

Marconi arrives to a world of privilege in London. He is housed by his wealthy cousins, the Davis family. Cousin Jameson Davis helps Marconi rebuild and test his machine and encourages him to seek patent protection and a British sponsor. Davis arranges for Marconi to meet with William Preece, head electrician for the British Post Office and foe of Oliver Lodge. Marconi demonstrates his device for Preece, who understands the implications and promises the full weight of his office and staff in support of Marconi’s experiments. He also demonstrates his experiment for the British military, who are supportive. In September 1896, Preece introduces Marconi as the inventor of a new apparatus that transmits signals wirelessly. In the audience is Lodge, who had demonstrated the same technology in 1894. Marconi lives in fear of his apparatus being stolen, so he builds boxes around his machines to conceal his design, which does not help him convince skeptics.

By early 1897, Marconi is famous, but many in Britain distrust the Italian and cling to Lodge’s complaint that Marconi has invented nothing new and does not understand the physics. These claims are both true. Marconi is an inventor, not a scientist, and he knows his invention works.