John Logie Baird

by Kamm, Antony

• ISBN13: 9781901663761
• ISBN10: 1901663760
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-09-01
• Publisher: Natl Museums of Scotland

Summary

In January 1926 John Logie Baird was the first to publicly demonstrate real television. He is also attributed with many other pioneering developments, including the first transatlantic transmission, the first working video recording system, fibre optics, infra-red scanning and facsimile transmission. During his lifetime and since, Baird has been praised and he has been reviled. This thoroughly researched and balanced biography, written in part by Baird's son, takes a fresh look at Baird's life -- his struggles with ill-health and lack of funding, his long-term romance, and the facts behind his own autobiographical memoir, published in 1988. Special treatment is also given to Baird's troubled relationship with the BBC, in particular the role played by the corporation's director general Sir John Reith, and the background to the boardroom coup which resulted in Baird being relieved of his duties as managing director of the company which he had founded. By reviewing existing sources and examining fresh evidence, the authors present a readable and faithful account of Baird's astonishing life, and throw new light not only on Baird himself but on many of those associated with him. Much of the documentation from family and other archives, and many of the photographs, have never before been published. Technical details are described in non-technical language, supported by diagrams.

Author Biography

Antony Kamm is a former lecturer in publishing studies at the University of Stirling.

Table of Contents

List of Plates
List of Text Figures
Acknowledgments
Genealogical Chart
Helensburgh Days 1888-1919	p. 1
Entrepreneur with Problems: Trinidad and London 1919-1923	p. 18
The Beginning of Television: Hastings and Other Places 1923-1924	p. 30
Serendipity in Soho 1924-1925	p. 55
Vision on 1926	p. 60
Hands across the Sea 1927-1928	p. 85
Sound and Vision 1929-1930	p. 118
Meeting Difficulties, January to October 1931	p. 151
New York, and Marriage 1931-1932	p. 176
Baird and his Company, October 1931-May 1932	p. 196
Baird and the BBC, March 1932-June 1933	p. 209
Crescent Wood Road 1933	p. 252
The Baird Company 1933-1939	p. 265
Crescent Wood Road 1933-1939	p. 299
Carrying on: Bude and London 1939-1942	p. 317
The End of the Road: Bude, London, and Bexhill 1943-1946	p. 341
Epilogue 1946-2002	p. 365
John Logie Baird and the Supernatural	p. 382
Postscript: The Manuscripts of Sermons, Soap and Television: A Brief Account	p. 389
Reference Notes	p. 393
Index	p. 450
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