Crucible of Communications: How Amateur Radio Launched the Information Age and Brought High Tech to Life: Part 1: The Birth and Breadth of the Ham Radio Hobby Invited Article

The hobby of amateur radio, or 'ham radio' as it is commonly known among its 3 million global practitioners, has been at the vanguard of electrical and computer engineering since a young Italian inventor, Guglielmo Marconi, first demonstrated wireless at his summer home in Bologna in 1894. Ever since that fateful discovery, amateur radio has played vast and vital roles in capturing the imagination of inventors, spawning new technologies, fueling the global engineering work force, and fostering friendship and international goodwill. This three-part series of articles chronicles the historical evolution of amateur radio, and shows the astounding impact that the ham radio hobby has made on both the engineering profession and the world.