Before he was 30, Guglielmo Marconi entered the limited ranks of scientists whose reputations have spread beyond the confines of their community. An amateur, Marconi accomplished the first transatlantic transmission of radio waves without ever having received any academic degrees in physics. Although unquestionably gifted in that field, Marconi expressed his true genius in assembling the backing, the information, and the engineers he needed to pursue his vision of linking the globe in a network of radio waves. With the advantages of ready money, social access, and entrepreneurial drive, Marconi realized his dream. He received many honors and awards from governments, academic institutions, and scientific associations, but undoubtedly the principal one was the 1909 Nobel Prize in physics, which he shared with Karl Ferdinand Braun for their advancement of radio technology. It would not be accurate to the scientific record to call Marconi the father of radio. However, he greatly...