> During the time he was there the school (UCL) held a party to
> celebrate the 50th anniversary of the invention of the thermionic
> tube which had occurred there.
I assume this refers to Ambrose Fleming's 1904 "oscillation valve" ? Hardly a
new invention, the effect had been demonstrated years earlier by Edison and was,
in fact, known as "The Edison Effect". Fleming's great contribution was
recognizing what it could be used for : making a more sensitive radio frequency
detector. (Edison was only looking for a better light bulb.) Unfortunately, it
was soon eclipsed by crystal detectors that were much easier to make and didn't
require heaters, and so didn't see widespread usage until later, when de Forest
figured out that vacuum tubes could be made to amplify too.
Whew, talk about a mis-spent youth ! (mine, not Edison/Fleming/DeForest et al)
Randall
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