connection, no matter how far apart they might be or by what they might
be separated. The possibilities of Guglielmo (William) Marconi's
invention are just beginning to be realised, and what it has already
accomplished would seem too wonderful to be true if the people of these
marvellous times were not almost surfeited with wonders.

It is of the boy and man Marconi that this chapter will tell, and
through him the story of his invention, for the personality, the
talents, and the character of the inventor made wireless telegraphy
possible.

It was an article in an electrical journal describing the properties of
the "Hertzian waves" that suggested to young Marconi the possibility of
sending messages from one place to another without wires. Many men
doubtless read the same article, but all except the young Italian lacked
the training, the power of thought, and the imagination, first to
foresee the great things that could be accomplished through this
discovery, and then to study out the mechanical problem, and finally to
steadfastly push the work through to practical usefulness.

It would seem that Marconi was not the kind of boy to produce a
revolutionising invention, for he was not in the least spectacular, but,
on the contrary, almost shy, and lacking in the aggressive enthusiasm
that is supposed to mark the successful inventor; quiet determination
was a strong characteristic of the young Italian, and a studious habit
which had much to do with the great results accomplished by him at so
early an age.

He was well equipped to grapple with the mighty problem which he had
been the first to conceive, since from early boyhood he had made