Lee de Forest was one of several scientists who contributed to the development of radio . A controversial and litigious man who seemed nearly as much concerned with fame as with science, de Forest is generally credited with the invention of the triode, or three-electrode vacuum tube, which he called the Audion. This tube made possible the amplification of electrical energy by introducing a third element into the existing two-electrode vacuum tube, allowing control over the flow of electrons, or ions, through ionized gas in the tube. De Forest's invention paved the way for radio signals to be received through the airwaves, without wires.

De Forest was born August 26, 1873, the son of the Reverend Henry Swift De Forest (he retained the capital D in his name, while his son preferred the lowercase) and the former Anna Robbins. His father, president of Talladega College in Alabama, had hoped that his...