Sir John Ambrose Fleming was born on November 29, 1849, and died on April 18, 1945. He was a British electrical engineer and physicist. He is famous for inventing the vacuum tube radio transmitter, which was used to make the first transatlantic radio transmission. He also developed the right-hand rule, a concept used in physics.

Biography

John Ambrose Fleming was born on 29 November 1849 in Lancaster, England. He was the oldest of seven children of James Fleming, a Congregational minister, and Mary Ann White. He was baptized on 11 February 1850.

Through his mother, Fleming was the nephew of Ellen Ranyard (née White), who founded The London Bible and Domestic Female Mission, and Edward White, a Free Church minister.

Between 1853 and 1854, the Fleming family moved to North London. At first, his mother taught him. In 1863, he enrolled at University College School, where he developed an interest in engineering. Because he could not afford the fees to become an apprentice engineer, he chose to teach science instead.

In 1867, Fleming joined University College London, where he studied under Augustus De Morgan, Alexander Williamson, and George Carey Foster. However, in 1868, he paused his studies due to financial difficulties. He worked for four months at a shipbuilders’ drawing office in Dublin before finding a job at a City stockbroker’s office. He continued his studies part-time and graduated with a B.Sc. in 1870.

After graduating, Fleming became a science teacher at Rossall School, as recommended by Edward Frankland. In 1872, he enrolled at the Royal College of Science, where he studied chemistry under Frankland. There, he first examined Alessandro Volta’s battery, which became the subject of his first scientific paper. His paper was the first presented at the inaugural meeting of the Physical Society of London in 1874.

That same year, Fleming returned to teaching and was appointed Science Master at Cheltenham College. In 1877, he enrolled at St John’s College, Cambridge, to study the Natural Science Tripos. From January 1878 until May 1879, he attended the final lectures of James Clerk Maxwell. In the summer of 1879, he earned a D.Sc. from the University of London. In early 1880, he graduated with First Class Honours from St John’s College, where he became a Fellow in 1883.

Fleming worked for one year at Cambridge University as a demonstrator of mechanical engineering before becoming the first Professor of Physics and Mathematics at University College Nottingham. He left after less than a year. In 1882, he became an electrician at the Edison Electric Light Company, advising on lighting systems and the new Ferranti alternating current systems.

In 1885, Fleming became head of the newly established Department of Electrical Technology at University College London. Although this offered great opportunities, he later wrote in his autobiography that the only equipment provided to him was a blackboard and a piece of chalk. In 1897, the Pender Memorial Committee donated £5,000 to the Department, which was used to create the Pender Laboratory and the Pender Chair, which Fleming accepted.

In 1926, Fleming retired from University College London. He remained active, supporting the development of television and serving as the second President of the Television Society. His work in electronic communications and radar was important in helping win World War II.

Inventions

In 1899, Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of radiotelegraphy, decided to try sending radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean. This required using much stronger transmitters than the small 200–400 watt devices he had used before. Marconi hired Fleming, an expert in power engineering, to design a new radio transmitter. Fleming created the world's first large radio transmitter, a complex spark-based device powered by a 25 kW alternator driven by a combustion engine. This machine, built in Poldhu, Cornwall, sent the first radio message across the Atlantic on December 12, 1901.

Although Fleming designed the transmitter, the director of the Marconi Company required him to agree that the main credit for the success would go to Marconi. As a result, the worldwide praise for this achievement was given to Marconi. He only mentioned Fleming and other employees, saying Fleming had helped with the "power plant." Marconi did not give Fleming 500 shares of Marconi stock as promised, which made Fleming upset. Fleming kept quiet about this during Marconi's life but later said Marconi had been "very ungenerous."

In 1904, Fleming worked for the Marconi Company to improve radio reception across the Atlantic. He invented the first vacuum tube, a two-electrode diode, which he called the "oscillation valve." He received a patent for this invention on November 16. However, the Supreme Court of the United States later canceled the patent because of an improper disclaimer and because the technology was already known when the patent was filed.

This invention of the vacuum tube is often seen as the start of electronics. Fleming's diode was used in radios and radar for many years until it was replaced by solid-state technology more than 50 years later.

In 1906, American inventor Lee De Forest added a control grid to Fleming's valve, creating an amplifying vacuum tube called the Audion. Fleming claimed De Forest had broken his patents. De Forest's tube became the triode, the first electronic amplifier. The triode was important for long-distance telephone and radio communications, radars, and early electronic computers. A long legal battle over these patents occurred, with both sides winning at different times.

Personal life

Fleming was born with hearing loss. He attended scientific meetings and debates with an assistant who took notes.

On June 11, 1887, Fleming married Clara Ripley (born in 1856 or 1857–died in 1917). On July 27, 1928, he married Olive May Franks (born in 1898 or 1899) of Bristol.

Fleming was a noted photographer, painted watercolors, and enjoyed climbing the Alps.

Fleming retired to Sidmouth around 1926. He died there on April 18, 1945, at the age of 95.

Fleming was a Christian creationist who opposed evolution. He served as President of the Victoria Institute from 1927 to 1942.

In 1932, Fleming, along with Douglas Dewar and Bernard Acworth, helped start the Evolution Protest Movement. Fleming left much of his money to Christian charities, especially those that helped the poor.

Commemoration

In 1941, the London Power Company honored Fleming by naming a new 1,555 GRT coastal collier SS Ambrose Fleming. In 1971, the Greater London Council placed a blue plaque for Fleming at 9 Clifton Gardens, Maida Vale, London.

Collections

In 1945, Fleming's wife gave his library and papers to University College London. His library has about 950 items, including first editions of books by well-known scientists and engineers like James Clerk Maxwell, Oliver Lodge, James Dewar, and Shelford Bidwell. His collection includes 521 volumes and 12 boxes. These contain his lab notebooks, lecture notes, patent details, and letters.

Publications

• A book titled "Electric Lamps and Electric Lighting," which includes four lectures about electric illumination given at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in 1894. It has 228 pages and an OCLC number 8202914.
• A book titled "The Alternate Current Transformer in Theory and Practice," published in 1896 by "The Electrician" Printing and Publishing Company.
• A book titled "Magnets and Electric Currents," published in 1898 by E. & F. N. Spon.
• A book titled "A Handbook for the Electrical Laboratory and Testing Room," published in 1901 by "The Electrician" Printing and Publishing Company.
• A book titled "Waves and Ripples in Water, Air, and Aether," published in 1902 by MacMillan.
• A book titled "The Principles of Electric Wave Telegraphy," published in 1906 by Longmans Green in London, with 671 pages.
• A book titled "The Propagation of Electric Currents in Telephone and Telegraph Conductors," published in 1908 by Constable, with 316 pages.
• A book titled "An Elementary Manual of Radiotelegraphy and Radiotelephony," published in 1911 by Longmans Green in London, with 340 pages.
• A book titled "On the power factor and conductivity of dielectrics when tested with alternating electric currents of telephonic frequency at various temperatures," published in 1912 by Gresham, with 82 pages and an ASIN: B0008CJBIC.
• A book titled "The Wonders of Wireless Telegraphy: Explained in simple terms for the non-technical reader," published in 1913 by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge.
• A book titled "The Wireless Telegraphist's Pocket Book of Notes, Formulae and Calculations," published in 1915 by The Wireless Press.
• A book titled "The Thermionic Valve and its Development in Radio Telegraphy and Telephony," published in 1919.
• A book titled "Fifty Years of Electricity," published in 1921 by The Wireless Press.
• A book titled "Electrons, Electric Waves and Wireless telephony," published in 1923 by The Wireless Press.
• A book titled "Introduction to Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony," published in 1924 by Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons Ltd.
• A book titled "Mercury-arc Rectifiers and Mercury-vapour Lamps," published in 1925 by London. Pitman.
• A book titled "The Electrical Educator" (3 volumes), published in 1927 by The New Era Publishing Co Ltd.
• A book titled "Television," published in 1928 by Television Press in London.
• A book titled "Memories of a Scientific life," published in 1934 by Marshall, Morgan & Scott.
• A book titled "Mathematics for Engineers," published in 1938 by George Newnes Ltd.
• A book titled "Physics for Engineers," published in 1941 by George Newnes Ltd.
• A book titled "The Evidence of Things Not Seen," published in 1904 by the Christian Knowledge Society in London.
• A book titled "Evolution or Creation?" published in 1938 by Marshall Morgan and Scott, with 114 pages and an ASIN: B00089BL7Y.