Oscilloscope

Braun the inventor was initially skeptical about two great scientific discoveries. Hertz's discovery of electromagnetic waves was one; the other was Roentgen's discovery of rays which passed through matter - X-rays. "Roentgen has otherwise always been a sensible man," he said, "and it isn't even carnival time yet." However, he soon caught the "radiation fever" that followed the announcement, but instead of X-rays he chose to reexamine cathode rays.

It was known that cathode rays could illuminate a fluorescent screen in an evacuated tube that they could be formed into a beam, cast shadows, and be deflected by a magnet. But it was Braun who conceived an application for the phenomena. Gradually he arrived at a satisfactory design for a new tube. When a magnetic field coil was placed close to the body of his tube and the alternating mains current applied to it, the traditional spot of light on the screen became a wobbly, vertical line. When the line was viewed through a rotating mirror in front of the screen an apparent horizontal motion was added and the sine wave of the current could be seen. Braun invited his associates to meet the alternating current from the Strasbourg generating station "in person".

He announced his invention of the 15th February 1897 in a paper, "On a Method of Demonstrating and Studying the Time Dependence of Variable Cur-rents." It was also reported that the output of the Strasbourg station was a good sinewave, whereas that from an induction coil generator was awful, an epic demonstration of the value of the primitive oscilloscope. For the first time researchers could see what was happen­ing in electrical circuits. Two years later, horizontal beam deflection was introduced by Braun's assistant Jonathan Zenneck to replace the rotating mirror.

The oscilloscope was not patented; Braun wanted it to be freely available to benefit all researchers. A bigger prize awaited him, the Nobel, awarded for his later work on radio telegraphy.

Radio

Braun was introduced to wireless telegraphy when he joined a group per-fecting a telegraph which operated by conduction through water, a bid to avoid Marconi's patents. He then invented a new radio spark transmitter (loosely based on improvements he had made to the "water" transmitter) which not only broke Marconi's patent monopoly but gave an improved performance as well. After a demonstration in September 1898 the water telegraph was scuttled in favour of a radio telegraph using the new transmitter. A company was formed and became known as Telebraun. It was one of the forerunners of Telefunken.

By the turn of the century, a distance of 35 kilometres had been achieved and crystal rectifiers had been tested as detectors. By October 1900, the port of Cuxhaven had radiotelegraphic communication with lightships and pilot boats, and Heligoland was linked to the shore. Enquiries arrived from around the world.

However, Telebraun was broke and a rival German company, supported by AEG and based on Adolf Slaby's work, was well publicized. Braun's business colleagues finally allowed him to speak out on behalf of his inventions and publicity was gained which helped to secure financial backing. In December 1900, Telebraun became a subsidiary of Siemens.

Of all the radio pioneers, Braun was probably the one who best understood the science of radio. Marconi, by comparison, was an improver and inventor. Yet it was Marconi who grabbed the headlines and the impressive firsts. In 1902, a merger between the rival German groups was discussed but foundered, and patent suits began. The rivalry became of national concern. Even the Kaiser worried that, through Marconi, the British were gaining a stranglehold.

As a result of government pressure, the merger finally took place on the 15th May 1903. Germany's four main radio pioneers, Braun, Siemens, Slaby and Arco pooled their resources. The new company took its name from the first syllables of the merging companies: the Braun/Siemens Telebraun and the Slaby/Arco Funkentelegraphie - Telefunken. There were 33 employees.

Braun then turned to other problems: the effect of gravity on the growth of plant cells for example, but his reputation is founded on his three supreme contributions to our profession: the discovery of rectification, the invention of the primitive oscilloscope, and his contributions to radio telegraphy. It was this reputation that ensured him a respectful reception in the USA when he was trapped there, and died there, as an enemy alien. His wish to be buried in his native country was eventually honoured in 1921, when his ashes were interred in his parents' grave in his home town of Fulda. His wife, who had died during the war, was buried in Strasbourg which, by then, was once again French territory. They were survived by their four children.