Smyrna times., 1951-01-04
NEW ALMANAC
ON RADIO-TV
Dunlap's Radio and TelevisiOn
Almanac Tells Story of
Electricity to Radar
TELEVISION AGE

y
quity. In "a B. C., Thales of Mile.
tus noticed the phenomenon of fric-
tional electricity. The Greeks, Of
course, had a word for it-"elek-
tron"-which they used as a name
for amber because of its sunny
luster. The gap in years and
knowledge, from Thales to Ben
Franklin to Marconi and finally to
the scientists who perfected radio
and television, is a vast one. II
has been spanned in chronological
book form by Orrin e. Dunlap, Jr
vice president of the Radio Cor
poration of America and former
radio editor of 'The New York
Times" 'Dunlap's Radio & Tele-
vision Almanac" published today
by Harper & Bros, of New York,
provides the most detailed and
authoritative report ever compiled
on the history of electronics, radio
and television. Here. in 211 fact
crammed pages, are the men,
events, inventions and dates that
stand forth on the calendar of cleo
tronics. The book tells chronology
ically of all the "firsts" in the his
tory of radio and television. Mr..
Dunlap, a senior member of the In
stitute of Radio Engineers and the
author of a dozen previous books
on radio and electronics, gathered
his material over a twenty-eight
year period. Rather than trust his
memory or library files, he kept
diary from day to day for his own
use. These personal records, me-
hiculously complied, form the basis
of the Almanac's report on the
great eras of radio and television.
development. This calendar of
history highlights such milestones
las the first wireless signal trans
mitted by Guglielmo Marconi on
mis- fathers estate at Pontecchio,
Italy. 1t records the development
bf radio through World War 1, the
beginnings of the broadcasting era
from 1920 to 1929, the great ad-
vances of radio and television in
the sos and the electronic achieve
ments of the second world war 1t
also peers into the future of this
prodigious industry. AS the cal
endar turned to 1850" Mr.. Dun
Dap said, "television was a great
industry; millions of people were
looking in as the scientists con-
tinued to triumph not only in
monochrome pictures, but in color.
These modern Rembrandts made a
pallet of the sky and spread cleo
Aronic pigments on fourescent can
vases. New corridors in the radio
spectrum were opened as gallery
of pictures that everyone might
see." BY listing important radio
events, Mr.. Dunlap provides a his
tory in capsule form of the great
events of the radio age. The fire.
side chats of President Roosevelt,
EIitler's ''Blood and Steel" address,
es to the German Reichstag, the
Coronation of Pope Plus XII and
other landmarks of the era are
brought to life again through the
Almanac. The historian of sports
will find, in Mr.. Dunlap's log of
famous radio broadcasts, a re-
counting of legendary ring bat
tiles. The first radio-reported box
ing match Johnny Dundee versus
Johnny Ray-was broadcast April
IL, 1921 over Station KDKA from
Pittsburg, Pa. There was a Demp-
SeJ-SdI pSllIlcl poIthS,
from Boyles Thirty Acres in Jer-
sey City; the Firpo-Willard battle,
and-most famous of all-the
Dempsey-Firpo fight in New York,
broadcast by WIZ, on September
IA, 1928. Supplementing the text
are 80 pages of pictures They in
clude portraits of the great scient-
ists-Samuel Morse, Thomas Edi-
son. Alexander Graham Bell. They
show the first radio broadcast by
president Warren G. Harding, the
first telecast by President Franklin
ID. Roosevelt. Mr.. Dunlap's book
promises to pe an essential adjunct
to libraries, technical schools and
eIectronic classes. 1t also, in tell
ing of great events and great peo-
pile, provides lively reading for the
aayman interested in the Twentieth
Century's most fascinating field
the science of electronics.
Modernizing With Glass