Marconi's achievement: A systems outlook: Yet another jewel in Marconi's crown was his ability to formulate an objective, to translate theory to practice, to develop a system

Marconi's many successes have been attributed to his outstanding experimental ability, to his perseverance, to the courage he displayed in the face of numerous and considerable obstacles, to the enthusiasm he instilled in his assistants, and to his capability as an industrialist. All this is true, but it is not the whole story. The effective mobilization of such great human qualities, of so much energy, was possible because Marconi had in mind a clear objective. His goal — one he considered important enough to warrant the devotion of a lifetime's intellectual, moral, and material resources — was the creation of a system: wireless telegraphy.