Nipkow and Sutton
One of the most interesting examples of the attempts to see by radio was made the subject of a patent by Nipkow in 1884. The proposed transmitter consisted of a selenium cell and an objective lens, with a spirally perforated disc rotating between the cell and lens “to dissect the scene.”
The receiving device employed the polarizing light valve used by Major George O. Squire, and Professor A. C. Crehore, to measure the flight of gun shells at Fort Monroe, Virginia, in 1895.
The Nipkow scheme was preceded by Shelford Bidwell’s device for “the telegraphic transmission of pictures of natural objects,” described inTelegraphic Journal1881, Vol. 9, page 83; and later almost exactly duplicated by M. Henri Sutton, and rather fully described inLumiere Electrique, Vol. 38, page 538, 1890.
[Machines]