'Italian Navy' detector, 1899-1901
- Made:
- 1899-1901 in Unknown place
- maker:
- Unknown
- inventor:
- Jagadish Chandra Bose





Carbon-mercury-iron semiconductor diode detector, of the type invented by J C Bose in 1899, modified version, unknown maker, 1899-1901. Known as the ‘Italian Navy coherer’, used by G Marconi in Newfoundland to receive the first wireless communication across the Atlantic, December 1901.
This may be the detector which received the 'S' signals in Newfoundland in Marconi's Atlantic wireless telegraphy experiment in December 1901. The originator of the device was (Sir) Jagadis Chandra Bose (1858-1937), professor of physical science, Presidency College, Calcutta, India. It received the name 'Italian Navy coherer' because the principle of Bose’s invention became known in 1899 or 1900 to technical experimenters in the Italian Navy who made unimportant modifications to it. Having done so, they became curiously reluctant to acknowledge the true inventor of the device. Marconi, too, was reluctant to identify precisely the apparatus employed in Newfoundland, suggesting instead that several different types of coherer were used. The fact that it was the Italian Navy detector only emerged gradually in a series of vague statements made by Marconi and others during 1902 and 1903.
On display
Science Museum: Information Age Gallery: Cable
If you are visiting to see this object, please contact us in advance to make sure that it will be on display.
Details
- Category:
- Radio Communication
- Object Number:
- 1923-434/14
- Materials:
- brass (copper, zinc alloy), glass and metal (unknown)
- type:
- coherer
- taxonomy:
-
- component - object
- radio receiver
- credit:
- Donated by the Institution of Electrical Engineers
Cite this page
Rights
We encourage the use and reuse of our collection data.
Data in the title, made, maker and details fields are released under Creative Commons Zero
Descriptions and all other text content are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence
Download
Download catalogue entry as json
View manifest in IIIF viewer
Add to Animal Crossing Art Generator
Download manifest IIIF
Our records are constantly being enhanced and improved, but please note that we cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information shown on this website.