Who was Oliver Lodge?
Scientist who worked on the propagation of electromagnetic
waves and telegraphy.
Date and Place of Birth:
12th June 1851, "The Views", Penkhull,
Staffordshire, England. (House lived in later by Stanley Matthews).
Family Background:
Eldest son of Oliver Lodge and Grace Heath.
Education:
Newport Grammar School, Shropshire. University
College London and the Royal College of Science, London.
Chronology/Biography of Sir Oliver Lodge:
1881: Lived at 17
Parkhurst Road, Islington, London. Became Professor of Physics at
the University of Liverpool.
1887: Elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society of London.
1890: Completed
his time as Physics Professor at the University of Liverpool.
1893: Discredited
the ether theory prevalent with the Victorians which had said that
a substance called ether must be necessary to carry waves.This thus
paved the way for Einstein's Theory of Relativity.
1894: Perfected
a radio wave detector named "The Coherer". Became the
first man to transmit a message by wireless signal at a meeting
of the British Association at Oxford. He also invented the spark
plug for the motor car.
1898: Awarded the
Rumford Medal from the Royal Society.
1900: Chosen as
the first Principle of the New Birmingham University.
1902: Received a
Knighthood.
1915: Death of his
son Raymond. In later life, although he was a practicising Christian
he took a major interest in psychic phenomenon with his friend Arthur
Conan Doyle. Much of this work proved controversial but he remained
undaunted.
Written Works:
- 1897: "Signaling
across Space without Wires".
- 1909: "The
Ether of Space"
- 1916: "Raymond".
- 1924: "Making
of Man".
- 1925: "Talks
about Wireless".
- 1931: "Past
Years" (autobiography).
- 1933: "My
Philosophy".
Marriage:
22nd August 1877 to Mary Marshall, from Brampton
House, Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Staffordshire.
Date and Place of Death:
22nd August 1940, Normanton House, Lake, near
Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.
Age at Death:
89.
Site of Grave:
Close to the South East wall of St. Michael’s
Church, Wilsford (Lake), Wiltshire.
Places of Interest:
BIRMINGHAM:
University of Birmingham.
