Temistocle Calzecchi-Onesti
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Temistocle Calzecchi Onesti (December 14, 1853 – November 25, 1922) was an Italian
physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...
and inventor born in
Lapedona Lapedona is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Fermo in the Italian region Marche, located about southeast of Ancona and about northeast of Ascoli Piceno. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,157 and an area of .All demo ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, where his father, Icilio Calzecchi, a medical doctor from nearby
Monterubbiano Monterubbiano is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Fermo, in the Marche region of Italy. It is on a hill from the Adriatic Sea. History In pre-historic times the area was inhabited by the Piceni (9th-3rd centuries BC). After the Roman co ...
, was temporarily working at the time. His mother, Angela, was the last descendant of the ancient and noble Onesti family. His first name is the Italian version of the
Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
general
Themistocles Themistocles (; grc-gre, Θεμιστοκλῆς; c. 524–459 BC) was an Athenian politician and general. He was one of a new breed of non-aristocratic politicians who rose to prominence in the early years of the Athenian democracy. A ...
. Calzecchi demonstrated in experiments in 1884 through 1886 that iron filings contained in an insulating tube will conduct an electric current under the action of an
electromagnetic wave In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) consists of waves of the electromagnetic (EM) field, which propagate through space and carry momentum and electromagnetic radiant energy. It includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, (visib ...
. This discovery was the operating principle behind an early
radio wave Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with the longest wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum, typically with frequencies of 300 gigahertz (GHz) and below. At 300 GHz, the corresponding wavelength is 1 mm (short ...
detector A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...
device called the
coherer The coherer was a primitive form of radio signal detector used in the first radio receivers during the wireless telegraphy era at the beginning of the 20th century. Its use in radio was based on the 1890 findings of French physicist Édouard Bran ...
, developed about 6–10 years later by
Oliver Lodge Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge, (12 June 1851 – 22 August 1940) was a British physicist and writer involved in the development of, and holder of key patents for, radio. He identified electromagnetic radiation independent of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, H ...
, Edouard Branly, and
Guglielmo Marconi Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi (; 25 April 187420 July 1937) was an Italians, Italian inventor and electrical engineering, electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegrap ...
, which was influential in the development of
radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
.


Life and work

Monterubbiano was his home, where he spent his youth, studied, and spent other periods of his life, and died. Calzecchi graduated from the University of Pisa after studying the physical sciences and mathematics, then devoted himself to teaching in high schools and then scientific research. On 6 December 1879 he was appointed Professor of Physics at the Istituto tecnico at
L'Aquila L'Aquila ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of both the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 70,967 inhabitants. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valle ...
. In 1883 he transferred to the Liceo Classico "A. Caro" in
Fermo Fermo (ancient: Firmum Picenum) is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche, Italy, in the Province of Fermo. Fermo is on a hill, the Sabulo, elevation , on a branch from Porto San Giorgio on the Adriatic coast railway. History The oldest hum ...
. In 1884 he began his studies of electrical resistance and conductivity of metal filings. In 1886, he founded a Physics Laboratory at the High School, including a meteorological observatory, at the expense of the City of Fermo and the Central Office of Meteorology and Geodynamics, organizing a weather information service for the region. In 1888 he moved to the Beccaria school in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
as a teacher of physics. In 1889 Calzecchi assisted the famous physicist
Galileo Ferraris Galileo Ferraris (31 October 1847 – 7 February 1897) was an Italian university professor, physicist and electrical engineer, one of the pioneers of AC power system and inventor of the induction motor although he never patented his work. Many ...
, testing the installation of electric lighting in Fermo. Meanwhile, the great physics discoveries of
Heinrich Hertz Heinrich Rudolf Hertz ( ; ; 22 February 1857 – 1 January 1894) was a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell's Maxwell's equations, equations of electrom ...
,
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mount ...
, Nicola Tesla and
Augusto Righi Augusto Righi (27 August 1850 – 8 June 1920) was an Italian physicist and a pioneer in the study of electromagnetism. He was born and died in Bologna. Biography Born in Bologna, Righi was educated in his home town, taught physics at Bologn ...
were made, including the transmission of telegraph signals without wires. Since 1884 Calzecchi had been researching the properties of metal powders, finding high electrical conductivity due to various excitations such as extra current, lightning, electrostatic induction, etc. Calzecchi's experiments with tubes of metal filings led to the development of the first radio wave detector, the
coherer The coherer was a primitive form of radio signal detector used in the first radio receivers during the wireless telegraphy era at the beginning of the 20th century. Its use in radio was based on the 1890 findings of French physicist Édouard Bran ...
, in 1890 by Edouard Branly. This unit consists of a glass tube containing powder and nickel silver with traces of mercury, placed between two steel electrodes in vacuum. When it is hit by electromagnetic fields, the high resistance of the powder becomes relatively low until it is "percussed"—that is, hit, to break the welded bonds between the particles. These studies by Calzecchi predate by nearly six years those of the French physicist Edouard Branly and Oliver Lodge in England, although they are largely credited with the discovery. At the time, Calzecchi saw this as an invention for detecting lightning and as a seismic detector, but a lively debate followed when Branly, Lodge and Marconi used the coherer for radio.


References


Temistocle Calzecchi Onesti
at radiomarconi.com

at browsebiography.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Calzecchi Onesti 1853 births 1922 deaths 20th-century Italian physicists 19th-century Italian inventors 19th-century Italian physicists