Sir John Ambrose Fleming & The History of the Telephone

A look into the history of communication and the telephone could not be complete without a mentioning Sir John Ambrose Fleming. Everything computer related and radio related we use today, from the PC you are using to view this article to equipment used to run telephone answering services to modern day cellular phones can be traced back to his invention of the vacuum tube which was an essential element in the first primitive computer. Born in Lancaster and educated at University College School, John Ambrose Fleming started school at the age of ten, previously being taught by his mother. Fleming took an interest in geometry. It was while at school that he had decided he wanted to become an engineer. As a child, he built model boats and engines and took up a love for photography. His family was not wealthy and because of his ambitious future, he had to come up with his own financial means. While working, he became a chemistry student at the Royal College of Science and later at Cambridge. Fleming graduated with a degree in chemistry and physics. Later, he became the first Professor of Physics and Mathematics at the University of Nottingham. He married Clara Ripley in 1887 then later married Olive May Franks.

After working as a professor for only a year, Fleming took up a job as electrician of the Edison Electrical Light Company. There he advised workers on lighting systems and alternating current systems. In 1884, Fleming became the Chair of Electrical Technology at University College London, but he was not thrilled with the job.

In 1904, Fleming invented the two-electrode vacuum-tube rectifier, called the oscillation valve. This invention is often considered to have been the beginning of electronics because this was the first vacuum tube. This invention was used in radio receivers and radars for many years after.

At the age of 77, Fleming retired. But in 1933 he was awarded the IRE Medal of Honor for "the conspicuous part he played in introducing physical and engineering principles into the radio art." Modern day telephone answering service and radio communications have roots with some great minds and their inventions including Fleming and his introduction of the Vacuum tube.