2026-10-08 — World Radio History (worldradiohistory.com)

File: W. A. Atherton, From Compass to Computer: A History of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (1984), https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/From-Compass-to-Computer-Atherton-1984.pdf — downloaded by curl, saved as research/files/Atherton-1984-From-Compass-to-Computer.pdf. Passage (chapter on radio, "Some baffling observations were made long before Hertz"): Edison's 1875 etheric force "was disproved the next year by Elihu Thomson ... An account of Thomson's work was written up by his older colleague E. J. Houston. Thomson used a Rühmkorff coil to produce his sparks. One side of the spark gap was grounded and the other was connected to a large tin still insulated from ground, which (intentionally or not) acted as an antenna. His receiver was a small spark gap between two graphite pencil points, one of which was connected to a large brass knob. Sparks were obtained with this receiver up to at least 30 m from the transmitter." [web] Also seen in results: Yates, Everyman's Guide to Radio, citing Thomson, "A Short Story in Wireless", The Electrician vol. 89 pp. 242-243 (1 Sept 1922). Bearing: priority 3 — a mainstream engineering history reads the grounded-pole plus large-conductor connection (Houston's arrangement) as a ground-plus-antenna spark transmitter. This is the author's characterization; it credits Thomson, not Houston. Result: positive.