![]() |
Science Fiction
Dictionary Latest By
"I was wholly addicted to watching Kojack, for as long as it was on television."
|
![]() |
![]() This is probably the first mention of a device for sending a signature (or other created graphic image) via telephone in fiction; it is the essence of a fax machine.
Gernsback did not invent the fax machine, or even the idea of sending an image using a telephone. In 1862 the Italian physicist Giovanni Casellie built the pantelegraph which was used by the French Post and Telegraph agency between Paris and Marseilles from 1856 to 1870. The word is a combination of "pantograph" and "telegraph." A pantograph is a device that has a simple physical connection between a pointer and a drawing pen on a piece of paper. By altering the linkage between the pointer and the pen, the scale of the drawing could be increased or decreased. The pantograph dates from 1630. Thomas Jefferson thought they were cool; he built one into Monticello.
The telautograph machine itself was invented by Elisha Gray in 1888 and was displayed at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. It's purpose was to send handwriting via telegraph lines. See a good article on it at Telautograph Forerunner to Modern Fax.
The first instance of a photograph being sent electronically was in 1902 using a process called telephotography. Find out more at Invention of the Fax Machine
The essential business purpose of a facsimile (or fax) machine is to send a piece of paper with a legal signature. Electronic signatures have made slow progress; it is still a problem with electronic medical records, among other uses. Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
resources: Telautograph-related
news articles:
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
|
![]() |
Science Fiction
Timeline
Lightyear 0 World's First Production-Ready Solar Car
'It could maintain a steady six miles per hour...'
AI Robots Excel At Trash Sorting And Recycling
'Then they press one of these here thirteen buttons...'
Could Increased Space Rocketry Damage The Ozone Layer?
'...without burning a single hydrocarbon molecule to injure the diseased atmosphere any further.'
Festo BionicSwift Bird Robots Described In 1930
'Bird-like robots now descended from the ceiling of the theatre...'
Robotics Jobs In The Food Industry
'The efficient robot waiter of the Sky Club had cleared away the remnants of an epicurean meal.'
Prototype 3D Printer Could Print Arteries In Seconds
'...in the tank the new body and the new mind and memory and life has taken almost instant form.'
China Wants 'Hard Kill' Capability To Counter Starlink Satellites
'pirate three-vee satellites sanded out of orbit...'
Low-Cost Gel Pulls Water From Atmosphere Like Star Wars Vaporator
'The atmosphere yielded its moisture with reluctance. It had to be coaxed down...'
|
![]() |
![]() |
Home | Glossary
| Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact
Us | FAQ | Advertise | ![]() Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™ Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved. |
![]() |