Oliver J Lodge: Difference between revisions

Oliver J. Lodge
Oliver J. Lodge
Born	June 12, 1851; Penkhull, Staffordshire, England
Died	August 22, 1940 (aged 89); Wilsford cum Lake, Wiltshire, England
Residence	Lake, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
Nationality	English
Known for	Relativity, Aether, Philosophy of Science, Radio, Psychical research
	Scientific career
Fields	Physicist, Inventor

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Latest revision as of 16:13, 20 July 2026

Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge (12 June 1851 – 22 August 1940) was an English physicist, inventor, and writer. He was a pioneer of radio and wireless telegraphy, a leading advocate of the aether theory, and later a prominent figure in psychical research and spiritualism. He served as the first Principal of the University of Birmingham and was knighted in 1902.

Biography

Education

Lodge was born on 12 June 1851 in Penkhull, Staffordshire, England. He was educated at Adams Grammar School in Newport, Shropshire, before studying at the University of London, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1875 and a Doctor of Science (DSc) degree in 1877.

Career

Lodge held the post of Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics at Bedford College, London, from 1879 to 1881. In 1881 he was appointed the first Professor of Physics and Mathematics at University College Liverpool, a position he held until 1900. In 1900 he became the first Principal of the newly established University of Birmingham, serving in that role until his retirement in 1919.

Scientific contributions

Lodge is notable for his work on the aether, a now deprecated theory, which had been postulated as the wave-bearing medium filling all space. He transmitted radio signals on August 14, 1894, at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Oxford University,^[6] one year before Marconi but one year after Tesla. Lodge improved Edouard Branly's coherer radio wave detector by adding a "trembler" which dislodged clumped filings, thus restoring the device's sensitivity. He held patents on "syntonic" (tuning) methods for wireless telegraphy, which the Marconi Company purchased in 1912. Lodge also carried out scientific investigations on lightning, the source of the electromotive force in the voltaic cell, electrolysis, and the application of electricity to the dispersal of fog and smoke.

Psychical research

Lodge is also remembered for his studies of life after death. He first began to study psychical phenomena (chiefly telepathy) in the late 1880s. After his son, Raymond, was killed in World War I in 1915, Lodge visited several psychics and wrote about the experience in a number of books, including the best-selling "Raymond, or Life and Death" (1916). Altogether, he wrote more than 40 books, about the afterlife, aether, relativity, and electromagnetic theory.

Honors

Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), 1887
Rumford Medal of the Royal Society, 1898
Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD), University of Glasgow, 1901
Knight Bachelor, 1902
Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, 1919
Faraday Medal, 1932

Dissident Works:

The Ether of Space, 1909.
Ether and Reality: A Series of Discourses on the Many Fuctions of the Ether of Space, 1925. (German trans. Der ?ther und die Wirklichkeit, 1928.)
Relativity: A Very Elementary Exposition, 1925.
A Century's Progress in Science, 1927.
Beyond Physics: Or, The Idealisation of Mechanism, 1930.
Past Years, 1931.
My Philosophy, 1933.

Books

1930/1931 - "Beyond Physics: Or, The Idealisation of Mechanism" (Read in full)
1926 - "Relativity: A Very Elementary Exposition" (Read in full)
1925/1930/2006 - "Ether & Reality: A Series of Discourses on the Many Fuctions of the Ether of Space" (Read in full)
1909/2003/2007 - "The Ether of Space" (Read in full)

External links

Oliver Lodge at Wikipedia

[6

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 | alt = Oliver J. Lodge
 | birth_date = {{birth date|1851|06|12|mf=y}}
-| death_date = {{birth date|1940|08|22|mf=y}}
+| birth_place = Penkhull, Staffordshire, England
-| fields = [[Physicist]], [[Inventor]]
+| death_date = {{death date and age|1940|8|22|1851|6|12}}
+| death_place = Wilsford cum Lake, Wiltshire, England
 | residence = Lake, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
 | nationality = English
-| known_for = [[Relativity]], [[Aether]], [[Philosophy of Science]]
+| fields = [[Physicist]], [[Inventor]]
+| known_for = [[Relativity]], [[Aether]], [[Philosophy of Science]], Radio, Psychical research
 }}
-Oliver Joseph Lodge  Lodge is notable for his work on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminiferous_aether aether], a now deprecated theory, which had been postulated as the wave-bearing medium filling all space. He transmitted radio signals on August 14, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1894 1894], at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Oxford University,<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Lodge#cite_note-5 [6]]</sup> one year before [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guglielmo_Marconi Marconi] but one year after [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla Tesla]. Lodge improved [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edouard_Branly Edouard Branly]'s coherer radio wave detector by adding a "trembler" which dislodged clumped filings, thus restoring the device's sensitivity. Lodge also carried out scientific investigations on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning lightning], the source of the electromotive force in the voltaic cell, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolysis electrolysis], and the application of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity electricity] to the dispersal of fog and smoke.
+'''Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge''' (12 June 1851 – 22 August 1940) was an English physicist, inventor, and writer. He was a pioneer of radio and wireless telegraphy, a leading advocate of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminiferous_aether aether] theory, and later a prominent figure in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parapsychology psychical research] and spiritualism. He served as the first Principal of the University of Birmingham and was knighted in 1902.
+==Biography==
+===Education===
+Lodge was born on 12 June 1851 in Penkhull, Staffordshire, England. He was educated at Adams Grammar School in Newport, Shropshire, before studying at the University of London, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1875 and a Doctor of Science (DSc) degree in 1877.
+===Career===
+Lodge held the post of Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics at Bedford College, London, from 1879 to 1881. In 1881 he was appointed the first Professor of Physics and Mathematics at University College Liverpool, a position he held until 1900. In 1900 he became the first Principal of the newly established University of Birmingham, serving in that role until his retirement in 1919.
+==Scientific contributions==
+Lodge is notable for his work on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminiferous_aether aether], a now deprecated theory, which had been postulated as the wave-bearing medium filling all space. He transmitted radio signals on August 14, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1894 1894], at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Oxford University,<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Lodge#cite_note-5 [6]]</sup> one year before [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guglielmo_Marconi Marconi] but one year after [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla Tesla]. Lodge improved [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edouard_Branly Edouard Branly]'s coherer radio wave detector by adding a "trembler" which dislodged clumped filings, thus restoring the device's sensitivity. He held patents on "syntonic" (tuning) methods for wireless telegraphy, which the Marconi Company purchased in 1912. Lodge also carried out scientific investigations on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning lightning], the source of the electromotive force in the voltaic cell, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolysis electrolysis], and the application of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity electricity] to the dispersal of fog and smoke.
+==Psychical research==
 Lodge is also remembered for his studies of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_after_death life after death]. He first began to study psychical phenomena (chiefly [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telepathy telepathy]) in the late 1880s. After his son, Raymond, was killed in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I World War I] in 1915, Lodge visited several psychics and wrote about the experience in a number of books, including the best-selling "Raymond, or Life and Death" (1916). Altogether, he wrote more than 40 books, about the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterlife afterlife], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aether_theories aether], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_relativity relativity], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic electromagnetic] theory.
+==Honors==
+* Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), 1887
+* Rumford Medal of the Royal Society, 1898
+* Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD), University of Glasgow, 1901
+* Knight Bachelor, 1902
+* Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, 1919
+* Faraday Medal, 1932
 '''Dissident Works:'''
@@ Line 31: / Line 58: @@
 * 1925/1930/2006 - "[[Ether & Reality: A Series of Discourses on the Many Fuctions of the Ether of Space]]" ([http://www.amazon.com/Ether-Reality-Sir-Oliver-Lodge/dp/1430441844/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220815777&sr=1-1 Read in full])
 * 1909/2003/2007 - "[[The Ether of Space]]" ([http://www.amazon.com/Ether-Space-Oliver-Joseph-Lodge/dp/140218302X/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1220814015&sr=11-1 Read in full])
+==External links==
+* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Lodge Oliver Lodge] at Wikipedia
 [[Category:Scientist|Lodge Oliver]]
+[[Category:Philosophy of Science]]