John ambrose fleming autobiography of a face

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Very Happy Thought
Nonagenarian
Consultant

You probably would not think of building a radio detector from a light bulb, but that is what Ambrose Fleming did in 1904.

The result was what he called the 'oscillation valve', now better known as the thermionic diode.

John ambrose fleming autobiography of a face

It was only two years later when Lee De Forest added a third electrode to make the first primitive triode. These two classic inventions led to a fight between the two inventors, but they also led to the now-vast, worldwide industry we call electronics.

The story begins with that great American inventor, Thomas Edison. In 1883, he probed inside an incandescent light bulb, first with a wire and then with a metal plate.

Autobiography of a face synopsis

He found that if this electrode was connected to the positive end of the filament via a galvanometer then a current was detected. If it was connected to the negative end, no current flowed. A little later, using a s