Lee de Forest’s early work on wireless telegraphy
The scientific and technical research of the American radio engineer Lee de Forest at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries is considered. De Forest’s scientific quest to find an appropriate device to replace an unreliable coherer is shown. His developments in the field of electrolytic detectors are considered in detail. Attention is paid to the commercialization of de Forest's projects and the activities of companies for their implementation. A legal dispute between Fessenden and Forest over the priority of inventing an original electrolytic detector design is noted. Various scientific theories are presented, including de Forest, explaining the principle of the electrolytic detector. In this context, a report by de Forest at the International Electrical Congress in St. Louis in 1904 is analyzed.