William Eccles

William Henry Eccles was a British physicist who pioneered in the development of radio communication. Eccles was an early proponent of Oliver Heaviside’s theory that an upper layer of the atmosphere reflects radio waves, thus enabling their transmission over long distances. He also suggested in 1912 that solar radiation accounted for the differences in wave propagation during the day and night. He experimented with detectors and amplifiers for radio reception and studied atmospheric disturbances of radio reception. His writings include Handbook of Wireless Telegraphy (1915) and Continuous Wave Wireless Telegraphy (1921).