History Research

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Marconi Death Ray: Not Only an Italy-Vatican Tale

Received: 17 February 2016    Accepted: 01 March 2016    Published: 12 March 2016
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Abstract

Guglielmo Marconi has long been regarded as one of the greatest personalities of the history of science and technology of the twentieth century. A writer, citied in the text, has called him “The father of radio, the great grandfather of TV and the great, great grandfather of the Internet” (at least of Wi-Fi). Many things, both positive and negative, have been said about him. Perhaps the most famous story about him concerns his “death ray,” a formidable weapon, operating by radio waves, able to kill a great many people and to destroy tanks, airplanes, and ships. According to serious historians, these are purely tales. This, however, is not the author’s views. Starting with what is known, and given the evidence of some recent particle-beam weapons tests and some elements of the story that have gone unknown until today, the author has deduced that Marconi could have had a clear idea of how to make a particle-beam weapon without even trying to build one.

DOI 10.11648/j.history.20160401.11
Published in History Research (Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2016)
Page(s) 1-5
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

History of Physics, Guglielmo Marconi, Radio Technology, Italian Scientist, History of Arms

References
[1] www.wikipedia issue “death ray”.
[2] William J. Fanning Jr.” Death ray and the popular media: 1876 1939”, Mac Farland and Co, 2015, pagg. 49-76.
[3] http://www.pbs.org/tesla/res/res_art11.html.
[4] R. Mussolini, “Mussolini privato”, Milano, Rusconi Editore, 1973. pag 111.
[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIxugT-QiEI.
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgUnDeED9MM.
[7] http://www.popsci.com/chinese-soldiers-have-laser-guns.
[8] http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a16044/russian-anti-drone-microwave-gun/.
[9] Landini, “Cinque anni a bordo dell'Elettra con marconi”, Torino, Società Editrice internazionale, 1939.
[10] Ibid, p.10.
[11] Ibid, p.59.
[12] Ibid, p.60.
[13] Ibid, p. 73.
[14] Fossani, “Mussolini si confessa alle stelle”, Roma, Latinità, 1952.
[15] R. Chiaberge, “Wireless”, Milano, Garzanti, 2013, pp. 288-289.
[16] D. M. Paresce, “Marconi mio padre”, Roma, Di renzo editore, 2008.
[17] G. Nascia, “la guerra senza radar”,, Amazon Media EU, 2014.
[18] V. Cantoni, “Storia delle telecomunicazioni “, Vol1, Firenze University press, 2011, pag 161.
[19] www.iw2en.com/app/download/.../Archivio%2520Marconi.pdf?t...
[20] W. P. Jolly,” Marconi”, Stan and Day, 1972, pag 266.
[21] W. P. Jolly,” Marconi”, Stan and Day, 1972, pag 267.
[22] Ibid, pp.150-152.
Author Information
  • Pubblic Instruction Department, I. C. “Largo Oriani”, Rome, Italy

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    Carlo Artemi. (2016). Marconi Death Ray: Not Only an Italy-Vatican Tale. History Research, 4(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20160401.11

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    Carlo Artemi. Marconi Death Ray: Not Only an Italy-Vatican Tale. Hist Res. 2016;4(1):1-5. doi: 10.11648/j.history.20160401.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.history.20160401.11,
      author = {Carlo Artemi},
      title = {Marconi Death Ray: Not Only an Italy-Vatican Tale},
      journal = {History Research},
      volume = {4},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-5},
      doi = {10.11648/j.history.20160401.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.history.20160401.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.history.20160401.11},
      abstract = {Guglielmo Marconi has long been regarded as one of the greatest personalities of the history of science and technology of the twentieth century. A writer, citied in the text, has called him “The father of radio, the great grandfather of TV and the great, great grandfather of the Internet” (at least of Wi-Fi). Many things, both positive and negative, have been said about him. Perhaps the most famous story about him concerns his “death ray,” a formidable weapon, operating by radio waves, able to kill a great many people and to destroy tanks, airplanes, and ships. According to serious historians, these are purely tales. This, however, is not the author’s views. Starting with what is known, and given the evidence of some recent particle-beam weapons tests and some elements of the story that have gone unknown until today, the author has deduced that Marconi could have had a clear idea of how to make a particle-beam weapon without even trying to build one.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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    AB  - Guglielmo Marconi has long been regarded as one of the greatest personalities of the history of science and technology of the twentieth century. A writer, citied in the text, has called him “The father of radio, the great grandfather of TV and the great, great grandfather of the Internet” (at least of Wi-Fi). Many things, both positive and negative, have been said about him. Perhaps the most famous story about him concerns his “death ray,” a formidable weapon, operating by radio waves, able to kill a great many people and to destroy tanks, airplanes, and ships. According to serious historians, these are purely tales. This, however, is not the author’s views. Starting with what is known, and given the evidence of some recent particle-beam weapons tests and some elements of the story that have gone unknown until today, the author has deduced that Marconi could have had a clear idea of how to make a particle-beam weapon without even trying to build one.
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