The discovery of electromagnetic waves is one of the best examples of the importance of basic theoretical research for the development of technology. The existence of electromagnetic waves was predicted by Maxwell in the year 1856 and their experimental proof was carried out by Hertz, more than 30 years later.
Although little known, the priest Landell de Moura he was the first to make use of radio waves, that is, electromagnetic waves, to transmit sound information, from one place to another, without the use of wires or cables. The first public demonstration of voice transmission took place in 1901, in the city of São Paulo, covering a region of eight kilometers.
Until then, communications were made through the use of the wired telegraph, invented by Morse; the telephone, also wired, by Graham Bell; and Marconi's Morse code transmission. However, until Landell de Moura's demonstration, no one had been able to transmit the human voice using radio signals.
Father Landell applied for and obtained a patent, in 1901, for the development of equipment designed to carry out phonetic transmission at a distance, with or without the use of wire, through space.
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With no support from government entities and the Church, he headed for the United States, where he also got three patents: “Wave Transmitter”, precursor of the radio, “Wireless telephone” and “Telegraph wireless". After obtaining patents in the United States, he returned to Brazil, believing that he would then have some kind of support.
However, he failed to sensitize the Navy to use his findings in ship-to-ship communication. The lack of vision and, mainly, the lack of knowledge of what was being done by scientists in Europe and in the States United States ended the possibilities of the rapid development of a national technology, in the area of communications, at the beginning of the century.
Disillusioned, Father Landell de Moura abandoned his research and devoted himself solely to religious life. Immediately after their patents expired, the Americans commercially exploited these discoveries. The recognition of his work only came many years later, when Telebrás named its research center Father Landell de Moura. Furthermore, Brazilian radio amateurs have Landell de Moura as their patron.
By Domitiano Marques
Graduated in Physics
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SILVA, Domitiano Correa Marques da. "Landell de Moura, Brazilian physicist"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/fisica/landell-moura-fisico-brasileiro.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
