Who Made the First Radar?

Who made the first radar?  The first radar was technically discovered in the late 1800s by German scientist Heinrich Hertz, who showed through a variety of experiments that radio waves were reflected off of metal.

Although Heinrich Hertz's radar wasn't exactly the way we know radars today, his work was the scientific basis behind radar, and can arguably be called the date of its invention.

What Did Hertz Discover?

So, why is Hertz just one answer to the question of who made the first radar?

• In Hertz's original experiments, he discovered what were essentially radio waves – the idea that electrical current radiates electromagnetic waves, which, when the current is moved rapidly, oscillate out from it into surrounding space at various frequences.
• Today these waves are, in fact, referred to as radio waves, but they were first known as Hertzian waves in honor of Hertz.

Thus, Hertz can be credited with making the first radar, although there have been some significant changes and advancements in the technology. 

Advances in Radar Technology

There are some other people too, who could also be viewed as alternative answers to the question of who made the first radar.

• In the early 1900s, Scottish physicist Sir Alexander Watson-Watt first used these radio waves to develop a simple detection system for thunderstorms, thus effectively creating the radar in the sense that it is known and used today.

• Watson-Watt began working with the same technologies in the 1930s at the British National Physical Laboratory. He designed his first radar device in 1917, and in 1935 he had officially advanced the science to the point where radar could be used to locate aircraft. His devices combined atmospheric factors, radiation and electromagnetic detection to locate things unseen by the eye. Radar was officially patented in Britian in 1935.

So, now you know who made the first radar and who helped to advance radar technology.