In the book, Think and grow rich, by Napoleon Hill, there is an
anecdote about Marconi - the inventor of radio. After announcing that
he had created a means to transmit messages between people, across
thin air, Marconi's friends hauled him off to Mental institution to be
tested for insanity.

Is there any truth to this anecdote? 

I am looking for this or other examples of people being sceptical of new ideas...

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Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 16 Apr 2006 20:40 PDT

proffesor...

I have found no indication that the anecdote is based in truth.

The only reference I found to Marconi and 'insane' is this brief
entry on a page titled, 'Wireless Telegraphy to Radio' which is
© 2000 AD, Robert Lanigan-O'Keeffe, Sydney, Australia

"After his application to the Itallian Government was rejected,
 believing him to be insane, he took his equipment to England
 for the purpose of selling the concept to the Commercial centre
 of the world..."
http://home.iprimus.com.au/longhair1/h007.htm

Let me know your thoughts...

sublime1-ga

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Clarification of Question by proffesor-ga on 17 Apr 2006 03:58 PDT

In truth, Marconi is but one example of an idea that in its time was
so unique and far reaching that it was diffficult to intergrate into
the known reality, hence, people, many people would be sceptical. I
need either the particular reference showing "the world" not accepting
his theories, or some other anecdote to make my point. I have a hunch
that there is some truth to the Marconi story.

Nikola Tesla was thought to be insane. In the latter part of his life,
this may have been true. Nevertheless, Tesla is now regarded by many
as of the great minds of modern times.

No doubt about it that Tesla had some excellent inventions that were
very valuable in the development of electric power. These were also
recognized as such and contributed handsomely to Tesla's income and
his ability to find strong financial backers. It is also clear that he
had obsessive compulsive disorder. Like Howard Hughes, his early
career is marked by brilliance and great success, while his later life
is characterized by increasing isolation, eccentricity, and OCD.

any progress?