Alexander Meissner (September 14, 1883 – January 3, 1958) was an Austrian engineer and physicist. He was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and died in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. His field of interest was: antenna design, amplification and detection advanced the development of radio

telegraphy Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

. In March 1913 he discovered the principle of

positive feedback Positive feedback (exacerbating feedback, self-reinforcing feedback) is a process that occurs in a feedback loop where the outcome of a process reinforces the inciting process to build momentum. As such, these forces can exacerbate the effects ...

independently of

Edwin Armstrong Edwin Howard Armstrong (December 18, 1890 – February 1, 1954) was an American electrical engineer and inventor who developed FM (frequency modulation) radio and the superheterodyne receiver system. He held 42 patents and received numerous aw ...

, and by applying positive feedback to

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, thermionic valve (British usage), or tube (North America) is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied. It ...

amplifier An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It is a two-port electronic circuit that uses electric power from a power su ...

s, Meissner co-invented the

electronic oscillator An electronic oscillator is an electronic circuit that produces a periodic, oscillating or alternating current (AC) signal, usually a sine wave, square wave or a triangle wave, powered by a direct current (DC) source. Oscillators are found ...

,, in German. The patent does not mention Meissner; the patent was issued to the Gesellschaft für Drahtlose Telegraphie mbH (Corporation for Wireless Telegraphy). * See also: Meissner, Alexander.
"Production of waves by cathode ray tubes"
U.S. Patent No. 1,924,796. (filed: 16 March 1914; issued: 29 August 1933). which became the basis of radio transmission by 1920 and has innumerable uses today. The inductively-coupled oscillator circuit he invented is today known as the Meissner oscillator.

References

External links

* http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9051845/Alexander-Meissner 1883 births 1958 deaths Scientists from Vienna Austrian physicists Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{physicist-stub