Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton | |
|---|---|
 Alan Campbell-Swinton | |
| Born | 18 October 1863 Albyn Place, Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 19 February 1930 (aged 66) |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Fettes College, Edinburgh |
| Occupation | Electrical engineer |
| Known for | The first man to provide the theoretical basis for a completely electronic television system |
| Notes | |
Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1915 | |
Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton FRS (18 October 1863 – 19 February 1930) was a Scottish consulting electrical engineer, who provided the theoretical basis for the electronic television, two decades before the technology existed to implement it.[1] He began experimenting around 1903 with the use of cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) for the electronic transmission and reception of images.[2] Campbell described the theoretical basis for an all electronic method of producing television in a 1908 letter to Nature. Campbell-Swinton's concept was central to the cathode ray television because of his proposed modification of the CRT that allowed its use as both a transmitter and receiver of light.[1] The CRT was the system of electronic television that was subsequently developed in later years, as technology caught up with Campbell-Swinton's initial ideas. Other inventors would use Campbell-Swinton's ideas as a starting-point to realise the CRT television as the standard, workable form of all electronic television that it became for decades after his death. It is generally considered that the original credit for the successful theoretical conception of using a CRT device for imaging should belong to Campbell-Swinton.[1][3]
- ^ a b c Oakes, Elizabeth (2009), A to Z of STS Scientists. Infobase publishing, pp. 51.
- ^ Burns, R. W. (1998). Television: An International History of the Formative Years. The Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE) (History of Technology Series 22) in association with The Science Museum (UK). p. 123. ISBN 978-0-85296-914-4.
- ^ "David Sarnoff Library - Television". www.davidsarnoff.org. Retrieved 25 June 2021.