I've been very interested in electrical engineering and radio
recently. I've been trying to learn how radio waves tie into
electrical engineering. How do we create them? How do we receive them?
I've read the howstuffworks article as well as some Wikipedia pages on
the matter, but still do not know exactly how they "work".

For example, a very simple 1 MHz AM transmitter is described here:
http://sci-toys.com/scitoys/scitoys/radio/am_transmitter.html

I am referring to the image here:
http://sci-toys.com/scitoys/scitoys/radio/xmitter_schematic.gif

I understand that the top left pin of the crystal oscillator is the
input for some voltage. So assuming that I provide a steady +5 volts
on that pin, what will I see on the output pin (top right)? Will I see
a 1 MHz wave with a peak voltage of +5 volts? Or will it have an RMS
voltage of 5 volts?

How is the radio wave generated in this case? If I stick an
appropriately sized antenna on the output pin, how is the radio wave
generated? Why is it generated? Is it because of the oscillating
potential difference across the output pin and ground?

What governs the output power of the radio wave? How do we generate a
more "powerful" signal? Assuming the photon theory of electromagnetic
radiation (if that is the correct theory to use here), does the output
power refer to the number of photons emitted/time? If so, how do we
increase the power? And why are the photons emitted in the first
place?

On the receiving end, assuming a properly sized antenna, how is the
radio wave "received"? When a radio wave strikes the antenna, what
happens? If I were to have a long, straight piece of wire and clip two
terminals of a sensitive oscilloscope to each end of that wire, will I
be able to see the wave (assuming a powerful enough transmitter)? If
not, why not?

I know bits and pieces of things but I'm still not able to see the big
picture here. I can only understand this stuff if I know the
fundamentals on a very low level.

I'm really trying to learn this stuff, and I have searched in several
books and on the Internet, but it is proving to be a difficult task to
find this information. I know you guys are the best people to ask. So
here I am.
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