Drawing on a detailed survey of shareholders of the Marconi in 1897 and 1900, this lecture will trace an overall profile of the diverse categories of investors who dared to back this venture through it's experimental phase to becoming commercially viable. What were the economics of radio’s invention? How did wireless communication manage to get through the costly experimental phase and develop into a commercially viable technology? How did the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company not only survive, but also raise the stakes by attempting to establish a transatlantic connection?

Drawing on a detailed survey of the shareholders of the company in 1897 and 1900, Dr Anna Guagnini will trace an overall profile of the diverse categories of investors who dared to partake in this adventure. This lecture will throw new light on how financial backing was obtained in the face new challenges and divergent perspectives and expectations about the commercial future of the company.

Dr. Anna Guagnini is a Byrne Bussey Marconi Visiting Fellow at the Bodleian Libraries, and a former Research Fellow at Linacre College and at the University of Bologna.

The lecture is organised jointly by the Centre for the Study of the Book and the Oxford Centre for the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology.