1:31:50 > 1:31:57.
1:32:05 > 1:32:08Hello, and welcome to The Genius of Invention.
1:32:08 > 1:32:09I'm Michael Mosley.
1:32:11 > 1:32:15I'll be exploring some of the greatest inventions in history
1:32:15 > 1:32:18and the geniuses behind them.
1:32:18 > 1:32:22I'll be joined by industrial archaeologist Dr Cassie Newland
1:32:22 > 1:32:24and professor of engineering Mark Miodownik.
1:32:26 > 1:32:28And together, we'll be uncovering the story of invention
1:32:28 > 1:32:31and Britain's role in shaping the modern world.
1:32:39 > 1:32:43We are absolutely surrounded by images.
1:32:43 > 1:32:45The fact that you can see me now
1:32:45 > 1:32:47without my actually having to stand in front of you
1:32:47 > 1:32:51is thanks to some brilliant but eccentric inventors.
1:32:51 > 1:32:53In this programme,
1:32:53 > 1:32:55we'll be getting to know some of the giants of innovation
1:32:55 > 1:32:59who had the vision and passion to freeze time through photography,
1:32:59 > 1:33:02bring those photos to life with the magic of the moving image,
1:33:02 > 1:33:05and then transmit them across the world.
1:33:12 > 1:33:17The invention that paved the way for photography was the camera obscura,
1:33:17 > 1:33:19a device that's over 1,000 years old.
1:33:19 > 1:33:21It's a simple box with a lens
1:33:21 > 1:33:24that projects an image onto a glass screen.
1:33:24 > 1:33:27Artists used it to draw accurate scenes from life
1:33:27 > 1:33:30by tracing around the projected image.
1:33:30 > 1:33:34But that required patience and a skilled hand.
1:33:34 > 1:33:40What was needed was a simpler way to capture images and preserve them.
1:33:40 > 1:33:46One man who was obsessed with this idea was Frenchman Nicephore Niepce.
1:33:46 > 1:33:49He's become known as the father of photography
1:33:49 > 1:33:52because he captured the first ever image from life.
1:33:52 > 1:33:57It's called a heliograph, which literally means "sun writing".
1:33:57 > 1:33:59All photos, films, television
1:33:59 > 1:34:03can be traced back to this view from Niepce's house in France
1:34:03 > 1:34:05taken in 1826.
1:34:05 > 1:34:07It changed everything.
1:34:07 > 1:34:09Niepce was a printmaker
1:34:09 > 1:34:13and regularly used a camera obscura to help him create images
1:34:13 > 1:34:15but his drawing skills were poor
1:34:15 > 1:34:19so he became determined to find a faster, more accurate way
1:34:19 > 1:34:21of capturing images from life.
1:34:22 > 1:34:24He did all sorts of strange things
1:34:24 > 1:34:27like trying to introduce new gases like hydrogen
1:34:27 > 1:34:29actually into the camera obscura.
1:34:29 > 1:34:33It didn't make any difference, but he tried anything to see if it worked.
1:34:33 > 1:34:36I think it was a matter of money,
1:34:36 > 1:34:40just finding something that was industrially more efficient.
1:34:40 > 1:34:43Others had tried and failed to fix images.
1:34:43 > 1:34:44In the 1790s,
1:34:44 > 1:34:48the British scientist Thomas Wedgwood used an earlier discovery,
1:34:48 > 1:34:51that silver nitrate and silver chloride darken
1:34:51 > 1:34:54when exposed to light to make sun prints
1:34:54 > 1:34:57but he couldn't fix them and his images turned black.
1:34:57 > 1:35:00Niepce's knowledge of light-sensitive chemicals
1:35:00 > 1:35:02from his printmaking days
1:35:02 > 1:35:05had shown that asphalt, which hardens when exposed to sunlight,
1:35:05 > 1:35:09might hold the secret to permanent pictures.
1:35:09 > 1:35:12After six years of trial and error, his persistence paid off.
1:35:12 > 1:35:15He finally cracked the formula.
1:35:15 > 1:35:18Essentially, asphaltum, which is the stuff we get on the roads,
1:35:18 > 1:35:21it was called at the time Bitumen of Judaea,
1:35:21 > 1:35:24is dissolved in a thinner,
1:35:24 > 1:35:28lavender oil or turpentine,
1:35:28 > 1:35:31and you get exactly the right consistency.
1:35:31 > 1:35:34That is then coated onto a piece of metal
1:35:34 > 1:35:36and then exposed to light
1:35:36 > 1:35:38in a camera obscura,
1:35:38 > 1:35:41and that produces the image on the plate.
1:35:41 > 1:35:42Niepce discovered that
1:35:42 > 1:35:46the areas where the paste was exposed to light turned hard,
1:35:46 > 1:35:49and the dark areas stayed soft and could be washed away,
1:35:49 > 1:35:52leaving a permanent image directly from nature.
1:35:52 > 1:35:57And so, using ordinary ingredients, he did something extraordinary.
1:35:57 > 1:35:59He created a light-sensitive mixture
1:35:59 > 1:36:01and after an eight-hour exposure,
1:36:01 > 1:36:04achieved the world's first photographic image.
1:36:04 > 1:36:07It was blurred and indistinct,
1:36:07 > 1:36:10but Niepce's photograph promised that our visual history,
1:36:10 > 1:36:14from our personal lives to the great events of the future,
1:36:14 > 1:36:16could be recorded forever.
1:36:27 > 1:36:30Today we're bombarded with images everywhere we go
1:36:30 > 1:36:32but it wasn't always like this.
1:36:32 > 1:36:35The first ever photograph was taken in 1826
1:36:35 > 1:36:38by Frenchman Nicephore Niepce
1:36:38 > 1:36:41and it was an astonishing breakthrough.
1:36:41 > 1:36:43But other inventors were hot on his heels.
1:36:43 > 1:36:47To find out what happened next, I went to Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire.
1:36:54 > 1:36:57Like most breakthroughs, the birth of photography
1:36:57 > 1:37:00reveals as much about the inventors as their inventions.
1:37:01 > 1:37:05Niepce was secretive, and for years, guarded his process.
1:37:05 > 1:37:07It might have stayed that way
1:37:07 > 1:37:10but for the persistence of a flamboyant lighting designer
1:37:10 > 1:37:12called Louis Daguerre.
1:37:12 > 1:37:17Daguerre persuaded a reluctant Niepce to share his secrets
1:37:17 > 1:37:22and in 1829, they signed a formal agreement to work together.
1:37:22 > 1:37:25Unfortunately, Niepce then died.
1:37:25 > 1:37:26Now, this left Daguerre,
1:37:26 > 1:37:31who had no scientific training, to go on working alone.
1:37:34 > 1:37:36But Daguerre continued experimenting,
1:37:36 > 1:37:39this time using silver-coated copper plates
1:37:39 > 1:37:42sensitised with iodine which were exposed in his camera.
1:37:42 > 1:37:45The story goes that having broken a thermometer,
1:37:45 > 1:37:48the mercury vapour caused a beautiful, sharp image
1:37:48 > 1:37:52to develop on the plate, which he fixed with salt solution.
1:37:52 > 1:37:57Daguerre had finally achieved what so many before him had failed to do.
1:37:57 > 1:38:00He'd captured and permanently fixed an image.
1:38:01 > 1:38:05The announcement that Daguerre had perfected a process
1:38:05 > 1:38:08came in January 1839.
1:38:08 > 1:38:11And, of course, with typical brashness,
1:38:11 > 1:38:13he named the method after himself.
1:38:15 > 1:38:19The French government rewarded Daguerre with a pension for life
1:38:19 > 1:38:22and made the process free across France.
1:38:22 > 1:38:25Daguerre from day one was the centre of the universe.
1:38:25 > 1:38:28The Daguerreotype, Daguerromania,
1:38:28 > 1:38:31you know, it took hold of the world.
1:38:31 > 1:38:33But in a small corner of Britain,
1:38:33 > 1:38:35this announcement was unhappily received.
1:38:35 > 1:38:38News of Daguerre's breakthrough was a horrible shock
1:38:38 > 1:38:42to the owner of this place, Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire.
1:38:42 > 1:38:46I imagine gentleman scholar William Henry Fox Talbot
1:38:46 > 1:38:48pacing around agitatedly
1:38:48 > 1:38:51as he read about it in a French newspaper.
1:38:51 > 1:38:54This was such a shock because Fox Talbot
1:38:54 > 1:38:57had been working on his own photographic technique for five years
1:38:57 > 1:39:02and he had no idea that Daguerre was about to unleash this bombshell.
1:39:05 > 1:39:08Unlike his rival, Talbot was a keen scientist
1:39:08 > 1:39:11and had produced an entirely different method,
1:39:11 > 1:39:13using paper instead of metal plates.
1:39:13 > 1:39:16Will you take your coat off, sir?
1:39:16 > 1:39:19- OK.- It's important that you remain completely motionless.
1:39:19 > 1:39:21'With just a minute's exposure,
1:39:21 > 1:39:24'small particles formed a faint image on the paper
1:39:24 > 1:39:26'which could be developed and fixed.'
1:39:28 > 1:39:31One, two, three.
1:39:31 > 1:39:34'He named his process the Calotype.
1:39:36 > 1:39:38'But Talbot, a perfectionist,
1:39:38 > 1:39:40'thought his invention wasn't ready to be unveiled.
1:39:40 > 1:39:42'So he kept it to himself.'
1:39:44 > 1:39:45So you have these two great rivals.
1:39:45 > 1:39:49- Yes.- And what is the critical difference between their processes?
1:39:49 > 1:39:51They're almost like day and night.
1:39:51 > 1:39:53I mean, a Calotype, you hold it up and you look
1:39:53 > 1:39:56and you see that dark is light and light is dark.
1:39:56 > 1:39:59It's obviously reversed, it's a negative.
1:39:59 > 1:40:01From that, you can make as many prints
1:40:01 > 1:40:03that look exactly like this as possible.
1:40:03 > 1:40:06You can make 100, you can make 1,000.
1:40:06 > 1:40:09With a Daguerreotype, it's on a metal plate.
1:40:09 > 1:40:12The plate that goes in the camera is the plate you take home.
1:40:12 > 1:40:15And it's a one-off, direct, positive image.
1:40:15 > 1:40:18Do you think it's because of their different personalities
1:40:18 > 1:40:21that their inventions kind of emerged in different ways?
1:40:21 > 1:40:23Daguerre was a well-known man about town.
1:40:23 > 1:40:25He loved going to parties,
1:40:25 > 1:40:28he loved entering parties walking on his hands.
1:40:28 > 1:40:31He was an artist who came late to science.
1:40:31 > 1:40:35Talbot, on the other hand, was awkward in crowds,
1:40:35 > 1:40:37awkward in public situations.
1:40:37 > 1:40:40He was the scientist who took a scientific approach
1:40:40 > 1:40:42to the invention of photography.
1:40:42 > 1:40:46Although Talbot couldn't match his rival's quality one-offs,
1:40:46 > 1:40:50he had moved photography into the world of printing and reproduction -
1:40:50 > 1:40:51a huge step forward.
1:40:53 > 1:40:56There you go. So that's the paper.
1:40:56 > 1:40:57Thank you.
1:40:57 > 1:40:59'But instead of being celebrated,
1:40:59 > 1:41:03'Talbot was condemned for being too slow off the mark.
1:41:03 > 1:41:05'Under pressure to make up for his earlier mistake,
1:41:05 > 1:41:10'he quickly published and slapped a tight patent on his invention.'
1:41:10 > 1:41:12Now, that is rather good, actually.
1:41:12 > 1:41:15I'm beginning to see it now.
1:41:15 > 1:41:18The issue was about priority.
1:41:18 > 1:41:22He wanted to show that he had also perfected a method
1:41:22 > 1:41:24at the same time, if not before.
1:41:24 > 1:41:28That was all purely a matter for him of his scientific integrity,
1:41:28 > 1:41:32of how his colleagues in the scientific world viewed him.
1:41:33 > 1:41:37But vociferous opponents claimed Talbot was trying to profit
1:41:37 > 1:41:40from a process that was not even his own invention,
1:41:40 > 1:41:42merely an advance on the work of others.
1:41:42 > 1:41:46He was vilified and received nothing but abuse.
1:41:46 > 1:41:48That's the irony of history.
1:41:48 > 1:41:51Sometimes, the real heroes of invention
1:41:51 > 1:41:53aren't necessarily the ones who are celebrated.
1:41:55 > 1:41:59There are so many heroes in that wonderful fertile period
1:41:59 > 1:42:03of exploration in photographic methods who are still unsung.
1:42:05 > 1:42:08Daguerre became rich and famous.
1:42:08 > 1:42:10And when he died in 1851,
1:42:10 > 1:42:13his technique was still the most popular.
1:42:13 > 1:42:16Talbot - well, he got terrible press
1:42:16 > 1:42:18and was always seen somehow as second rate.
1:42:18 > 1:42:20And that is terribly unfair
1:42:20 > 1:42:23because it's his invention of the negative
1:42:23 > 1:42:28which would form the backbone of photography up to the digital age.
1:42:40 > 1:42:43Photography was born in the early 19th century
1:42:43 > 1:42:47when scientists solved the mystery of how to capture and fix an image.
1:42:47 > 1:42:50The next stage would be to bring it to life
1:42:50 > 1:42:52and create motion pictures.
1:42:52 > 1:42:53But when the breakthrough came,
1:42:53 > 1:42:56it was from people who were much more interested
1:42:56 > 1:42:59in trying to understand movement rather than recreate it.
1:43:01 > 1:43:05And all it begins with this man, Eadweard Muybridge.
1:43:05 > 1:43:07He had been asked to find out if
1:43:07 > 1:43:11a horse's feet all left the ground at once when it was galloping,
1:43:11 > 1:43:13and he did it with this machinery.
1:43:13 > 1:43:16It's a row of cameras operated by tripwires.
1:43:17 > 1:43:20The horse gallops towards the tripwires
1:43:20 > 1:43:24and as it hits them, every camera in the row takes a picture.
1:43:24 > 1:43:26What it produces is a set of photographs
1:43:26 > 1:43:28which quite clearly demonstrate
1:43:28 > 1:43:31that a horse's feet do leave the ground,
1:43:31 > 1:43:34but more importantly, when you project them back
1:43:34 > 1:43:37at the magic rate of at least 12 frames per second,
1:43:37 > 1:43:40they fool the human brain into thinking it's seeing motion.
1:43:42 > 1:43:44It was the beginning of moving pictures
1:43:44 > 1:43:48but it would take the creation of an important new material before
1:43:48 > 1:43:53cinematography could take off, as Mark Miodownik has been finding out.
1:43:55 > 1:43:59Although early experimenters had made great strides studying movement,
1:43:59 > 1:44:02they could go no further with the existing materials.
1:44:02 > 1:44:05Glass plates were heavy and fragile
1:44:05 > 1:44:06and paper tore easily.
1:44:06 > 1:44:10Neither met the demands of capturing the moving image.
1:44:10 > 1:44:14As a scientist and a massive film fan, I've always been fascinated
1:44:14 > 1:44:16by the role of materials in the making of movies.
1:44:16 > 1:44:20And it was, of course, a substance, not a technology,
1:44:20 > 1:44:23that created the movie industry in the first place.
1:44:23 > 1:44:26And that substance is this -
1:44:26 > 1:44:27celluloid.
1:44:29 > 1:44:32Like many wonder materials, celluloid was originally conceived
1:44:32 > 1:44:34for a very different purpose.
1:44:34 > 1:44:36It was developed in 1870
1:44:36 > 1:44:41as a substitute for ivory in billiard balls by American John Wesley Hyatt.
1:44:41 > 1:44:45But it was its versatility that ensured its continued use.
1:44:45 > 1:44:47Throughout the 1870s, it was used widely
1:44:47 > 1:44:49for a whole range of applications.
1:44:49 > 1:44:52You could buy celluloid shirt collars,
1:44:52 > 1:44:54shirt cuffs,
1:44:54 > 1:44:55even celluloid false teeth.
1:44:57 > 1:44:59It was the British manufacturer John Carbutt
1:44:59 > 1:45:03who discovered that this colourless, light, durable plastic
1:45:03 > 1:45:06had a more illuminating purpose -
1:45:06 > 1:45:08photography.
1:45:08 > 1:45:11He coated thin sheets with photographic emulsion
1:45:11 > 1:45:14and used them instead of glass plates.
1:45:14 > 1:45:17But it was only when Kodak boss George Eastman produced
1:45:17 > 1:45:19celluloid in rolls for his new stills camera
1:45:19 > 1:45:22that its potential for film-makers was unleashed.
1:45:23 > 1:45:27'They had seen how roll film revolutionised stills photography
1:45:27 > 1:45:29'and realised it might also unlock
1:45:29 > 1:45:32'the secrets of capturing motion.'
1:45:32 > 1:45:35And celluloid rolls drove early film pioneers
1:45:35 > 1:45:38to design new camera technology
1:45:38 > 1:45:41that took advantage of this wonderful, flexible plastic.
1:45:43 > 1:45:48It would influence the design of the film camera for years to come.
1:45:48 > 1:45:51The perforations and sprocket rollers enabled the film
1:45:51 > 1:45:53to flow through the camera.
1:45:53 > 1:45:56A spinning shutter allowed for rapid exposures,
1:45:56 > 1:45:59and a claw mechanism ensured the film could be moved and stopped
1:45:59 > 1:46:03for each frame up to 20 times a second.
1:46:03 > 1:46:06The claw, which was really the Lumieres' contribution,
1:46:06 > 1:46:09was inspired by the sewing machine.
1:46:09 > 1:46:14It's very interesting that you are taking an idea from one application
1:46:14 > 1:46:15and putting it into another
1:46:15 > 1:46:19and this is the way that advances happen.
1:46:20 > 1:46:24In 1895, the film-making pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumiere
1:46:24 > 1:46:26introduced their Cinematographe -
1:46:26 > 1:46:28a camera and projector in one,
1:46:28 > 1:46:31and unveiled the world's first cinema performance
1:46:31 > 1:46:33of moving pictures on celluloid.
1:46:33 > 1:46:37It's to a paying audience, only about 30, 35 people,
1:46:37 > 1:46:38but within a week or so,
1:46:38 > 1:46:41they're having 2,000 people a day coming through the doors.
1:46:41 > 1:46:43As other experimenters rushed
1:46:43 > 1:46:46to exploit the union of machines and materials,
1:46:46 > 1:46:48the film industry was born.
1:46:48 > 1:46:52Some of the results of those pioneering experiments are housed
1:46:52 > 1:46:55in the British Film Institute's master film store in Warwickshire.
1:46:55 > 1:46:58At this former nuclear defence facility, they have
1:46:58 > 1:47:02one of the largest collections of early celluloid nitrate films
1:47:02 > 1:47:03in the world.
1:47:03 > 1:47:06- Hello.- Do you want to come this way?
1:47:06 > 1:47:08What would it have been like going to an early cinema?
1:47:08 > 1:47:09What would we have seen?
1:47:09 > 1:47:13The birth of cinema, you're talking about minute or less for most films.
1:47:13 > 1:47:16They kind of slowly build up in length,
1:47:16 > 1:47:20so by 1905, our most popular film hit was Rescued By Rover,
1:47:20 > 1:47:23that ran to six and a half marvellous minutes.
1:47:25 > 1:47:28The film was so popular that the negatives were worn out
1:47:28 > 1:47:31because so many prints had to be struck from it.
1:47:31 > 1:47:34What happened at the end of the life of these films?
1:47:34 > 1:47:36Most of them were simply chucked out.
1:47:36 > 1:47:39I think it's important to remember that then
1:47:39 > 1:47:42they were not seen as art or culture in any way, shape or form,
1:47:42 > 1:47:45they were purely product, and, actually, a lot of them
1:47:45 > 1:47:49were just melted down to get the silver content out of them.
1:47:51 > 1:47:55It's not just their historical value that demands such high security.
1:47:55 > 1:47:59There was a dangerous flaw in the properties of early celluloid film -
1:47:59 > 1:48:00flammability.
1:48:02 > 1:48:04'And this demonstration reveals
1:48:04 > 1:48:07'why the invention of cinema itself was under threat.'
1:48:07 > 1:48:09- OK?- Yeah, we're getting there.
1:48:09 > 1:48:11Are you ready? Let's go for it!
1:48:21 > 1:48:24It's the sense, that's a tiny bit of a reel,
1:48:24 > 1:48:25just imagine a whole archive.
1:48:29 > 1:48:32Reports of cinema fires ignited fears about public safety,
1:48:32 > 1:48:35and in 1909, the Cinematograph Act was passed,
1:48:35 > 1:48:38requiring the careful handling of film.
1:48:38 > 1:48:42But it would take another 40 years before the development
1:48:42 > 1:48:46of non-flammable celluloid, appropriately called "safety film".
1:48:46 > 1:48:49Celluloid reigned supreme for over 100 years,
1:48:49 > 1:48:51and even in our digital age,
1:48:51 > 1:48:54it remains a symbol for the magic of the moving image.
1:48:56 > 1:48:59At its heart, cinema consisted of images
1:48:59 > 1:49:01that were projected onto a screen.
1:49:01 > 1:49:05And you need a material, and that material was celluloid.
1:49:05 > 1:49:08So, without the invention of celluloid, there would have
1:49:08 > 1:49:11been no moving pictures and no cinema as we know it today.
1:49:22 > 1:49:25Still photographs were familiar to our Victorian forebears
1:49:25 > 1:49:30and by the 1920s, cinema was a popular form of entertainment.
1:49:30 > 1:49:33Radio took off soon afterwards.
1:49:33 > 1:49:36The next step was to try and bring the two together,
1:49:36 > 1:49:38send moving pictures over the airwaves,
1:49:38 > 1:49:40but how was this to be done?
1:49:40 > 1:49:44Answering that question would lead to the invention of television.
1:49:47 > 1:49:52By the 1930s, there had been over 50 serious proposals for television.
1:49:52 > 1:49:54The competition was international
1:49:54 > 1:49:57with inventors working in 11 different countries.
1:49:57 > 1:50:01From the start, ideas for how television would work
1:50:01 > 1:50:03broadly fitted into two camps -
1:50:03 > 1:50:06mechanical techniques and electronic techniques.
1:50:06 > 1:50:09It was a race that could have only one winner.
1:50:10 > 1:50:14Mechanical television was first out of the blocks
1:50:14 > 1:50:18thanks to an obsessive Scottish engineer, John Logie Baird.
1:50:18 > 1:50:22Baird had been a prolific, largely unsuccessful, inventor
1:50:22 > 1:50:24since childhood.
1:50:24 > 1:50:25But it was here in Hastings
1:50:25 > 1:50:28that he had the idea that would change his life.
1:50:28 > 1:50:30Why not convert pictures into signals
1:50:30 > 1:50:33and send them through the air?
1:50:33 > 1:50:36Baird actually didn't invent any of the component parts
1:50:36 > 1:50:38that went together to make television
1:50:38 > 1:50:40but his strength lay in the fact
1:50:40 > 1:50:43as an inventor, that he could look at these disparate inventions
1:50:43 > 1:50:49and pluck together the bits that he needed to get what he wanted.
1:50:52 > 1:50:55Baird created his first prototype using a combination
1:50:55 > 1:50:59of recycled parts and four key inventions from other people.
1:51:01 > 1:51:03So this is what he started with.
1:51:03 > 1:51:04He got a hatbox,
1:51:04 > 1:51:06cut some holes in it,
1:51:06 > 1:51:08made it spin to scan the image.
1:51:08 > 1:51:13The thing he made it spin with was this, an adapted fan engine.
1:51:13 > 1:51:16And then he wanted to focus the image,
1:51:16 > 1:51:19so he used the lens from a bicycle lamp.
1:51:19 > 1:51:23Next, he takes that image
1:51:23 > 1:51:26and he passes it through this.
1:51:26 > 1:51:28This is a selenium cell,
1:51:28 > 1:51:31which he got from a local army surplus store
1:51:31 > 1:51:33and that creates an electrical signal.
1:51:33 > 1:51:35Electrical signal goes into this,
1:51:35 > 1:51:37which he also bought from an army surplus store,
1:51:37 > 1:51:38this is an amplifier
1:51:38 > 1:51:40and that creates a bigger signal,
1:51:40 > 1:51:42which then passes into this,
1:51:42 > 1:51:44a neon lamp which glows,
1:51:44 > 1:51:47depending on the signal it gets.
1:51:47 > 1:51:51And that, in turn, is projected through another spinning disc.
1:51:51 > 1:51:54He mounts this whole ramshackle device onto what's called
1:51:54 > 1:51:58a "coffin board", which was used by local undertakers
1:51:58 > 1:52:00to carry dead bodies on.
1:52:02 > 1:52:04Despite appearances,
1:52:04 > 1:52:09this homespun equipment was about to make history.
1:52:09 > 1:52:11- Hi there.- Hi. Good to meet you.
1:52:11 > 1:52:14So he's got this idea, he's got all these bits of apparatus.
1:52:14 > 1:52:15Did it really work?
1:52:15 > 1:52:19Originally, he could show just basically a black cross,
1:52:19 > 1:52:21it was a bit flickery and a bit wobbly,
1:52:21 > 1:52:24and he could just about, with some special focusing,
1:52:24 > 1:52:26just about get a white blob of a face
1:52:26 > 1:52:29with a blob for each of the eyes and a third blob for the mouth.
1:52:29 > 1:52:32He said if the person spoke, you could just see the bottom blob
1:52:32 > 1:52:35wiggling a little bit but he knew, "This is going to work."
1:52:37 > 1:52:40But as a lone inventor, Baird needed support.
1:52:40 > 1:52:42He placed an advert in The Times
1:52:42 > 1:52:45and later met businessman Wilfred Day,
1:52:45 > 1:52:47who sent him funds and equipment.
1:52:47 > 1:52:50He rented a studio in this Hastings arcade
1:52:50 > 1:52:54and threw himself into achieving that elusive clear picture.
1:52:54 > 1:52:57On one occasion, he actually blows himself up.
1:52:57 > 1:53:00He's joining all these batteries up, not a good idea,
1:53:00 > 1:53:02and he gets a 1,200-volt shock.
1:53:02 > 1:53:05And he's found, with burns, on the other side of the lab.
1:53:05 > 1:53:08And the landlord here, not very happy,
1:53:08 > 1:53:12and eventually tells Baird he's got to go.
1:53:13 > 1:53:16So, in 1924, Baird moved to London
1:53:16 > 1:53:19and set up a lab in an attic studio in Soho.
1:53:19 > 1:53:22He was using better amplifiers, better valves.
1:53:22 > 1:53:25He was putting more light on the subject - in fact, he was putting
1:53:25 > 1:53:29so much light on the subject that he actually set fire to someone's hair
1:53:29 > 1:53:32and after that, no-one would sit in front of his camera.
1:53:32 > 1:53:35So he bought an old ventriloquist's dummy's head
1:53:35 > 1:53:38which he called Stooky Bill,
1:53:38 > 1:53:42and Stooky Bill would sit under these very hot, bright lights
1:53:42 > 1:53:44for hours on end without complaining.
1:53:46 > 1:53:51But finally, after months of frustration, his hard work paid off.
1:53:51 > 1:53:55On 2nd October, 1925, he finally managed to get
1:53:55 > 1:53:58the image of Stooky Bill transmitted across the room.
1:53:58 > 1:54:02It was blurry, it was out of focus,
1:54:02 > 1:54:05but it was a recognisable face.
1:54:16 > 1:54:19In 1925, inventor John Logie Baird
1:54:19 > 1:54:22transmitted an image of a puppet called Stooky Bill.
1:54:22 > 1:54:24It travelled only a short distance
1:54:24 > 1:54:28and was hopelessly poor quality by today's standards,
1:54:28 > 1:54:30but it was the beginning of television.
1:54:30 > 1:54:32Baird's company quickly took off.
1:54:32 > 1:54:35By 1932, they could transmit pictures
1:54:35 > 1:54:38down 400 miles of telephone cable
1:54:38 > 1:54:40between London and Glasgow
1:54:40 > 1:54:42but they were still using wires.
1:54:44 > 1:54:48What Baird really wanted to do was broadcast over the airwaves.
1:54:48 > 1:54:53To do that, he needed a transmitter, which meant working with the BBC.
1:54:53 > 1:54:56Dr Cassie Newland has been to where it all began.
1:55:00 > 1:55:03All inventions if they are to change our lives,
1:55:03 > 1:55:06need to find supporters beyond the workshop.
1:55:06 > 1:55:09For television, that meant attracting an audience.
1:55:12 > 1:55:17In 1932, Baird began test transmissions from Broadcasting House.
1:55:17 > 1:55:20But he soon had competition from a rival system -
1:55:20 > 1:55:25electronic television, led by the powerful corporation EMI.
1:55:25 > 1:55:29The government had to select the best invention.
1:55:29 > 1:55:32They asked the BBC to conduct an extraordinary experiment
1:55:32 > 1:55:35in which mechanical and electronic television
1:55:35 > 1:55:37would compete head-to-head.
1:55:37 > 1:55:39And this is the site of the battle -
1:55:39 > 1:55:43Alexandra Palace in North London, which, in November, 1936,
1:55:43 > 1:55:47would play host to the world's first television talent contest.
1:55:47 > 1:55:51A former Victorian entertainment venue, the site had the height
1:55:51 > 1:55:55and range for the transmitter and space for two separate studios.
1:55:55 > 1:55:59Baird Television Ltd's mechanical system was given Studio B,
1:55:59 > 1:56:04while in Studio A were the newcomers, now called Marconi-EMI.
1:56:04 > 1:56:08Their system employed electronic technology, which had been
1:56:08 > 1:56:12proposed by Scottish scientist AA Campbell-Swinton in 1908
1:56:12 > 1:56:15based on the recently-invented cathode ray tube.
1:56:17 > 1:56:2076 years ago, this studio would have been full
1:56:20 > 1:56:24of the people and equipment of the Marconi-EMI team.
1:56:24 > 1:56:26Both teams were given six months to prove themselves.
1:56:26 > 1:56:31At the end of the contest, the best system would be awarded
1:56:31 > 1:56:33the coveted contract to broadcast to the nation.
1:56:33 > 1:56:36The loser would go home with nothing.
1:56:37 > 1:56:41Transmission started on 2nd November, 1936.
1:56:41 > 1:56:46The opening ceremony was broadcast twice, first with the Baird cameras,
1:56:46 > 1:56:50and then again on the Marconi-EMI system.
1:56:50 > 1:56:51SHE SINGS
1:56:51 > 1:56:55To the viewer at home, the picture quality was evenly matched,
1:56:55 > 1:56:58but Baird knew he had a battle on his hands.
1:56:58 > 1:57:03The mechanical systems Baird was using had been refined
1:57:03 > 1:57:09over 10, 12 years and had got as far as they could possibly go,
1:57:09 > 1:57:12whereas the EMI electronic system was still in its infancy.
1:57:14 > 1:57:17Despite this, EMI's Emitron camera
1:57:17 > 1:57:20showcased the latest advances in electronics.
1:57:21 > 1:57:24The camera pointed towards the host and the picture
1:57:24 > 1:57:28focused onto a light-sensitive plate inside a cathode ray tube.
1:57:29 > 1:57:32The plate was then scanned using a beam of electrons,
1:57:32 > 1:57:37which was directed in lines across the image by electromagnets.
1:57:37 > 1:57:40This produced a series of electrical signals
1:57:40 > 1:57:41which were sent to a transmitter.
1:57:41 > 1:57:45The brighter the area on the picture, the stronger the signal.
1:57:45 > 1:57:49At the other end, another cathode ray tube converted the signal
1:57:49 > 1:57:51back into an electron stream.
1:57:51 > 1:57:55This was directed in parallel lines onto a fluorescent TV screen,
1:57:55 > 1:57:58and the successive scans built up as a picture.
1:57:59 > 1:58:02EMI had three cameras in the studio
1:58:02 > 1:58:05and you could take a picture from any one of the three cameras.
1:58:05 > 1:58:07You could put the camera on wheels,
1:58:07 > 1:58:11it was relatively light, and you could wheel it around the studio.
1:58:11 > 1:58:14It was television as we understand it today.
1:58:15 > 1:58:19Under pressure to match the quality of this slick new system,
1:58:19 > 1:58:22Baird devised an incredibly complicated technology
1:58:22 > 1:58:24based on celluloid.
1:58:24 > 1:58:29They filmed what happened in the studio on film.
1:58:29 > 1:58:32The film came straight out of the bottom of the camera,
1:58:32 > 1:58:36into developer, into fixer, and then into water,
1:58:36 > 1:58:38and while still wet and underwater,
1:58:38 > 1:58:40about 54 seconds later,
1:58:40 > 1:58:43it was scanned to produce a television picture.
1:58:45 > 1:58:49Baird's system, while offering good picture quality, was flawed.
1:58:49 > 1:58:51The cameras couldn't move,
1:58:51 > 1:58:54the developing process required dangerous chemicals,
1:58:54 > 1:58:55and it wasn't live.
1:58:55 > 1:58:57It soon became clear
1:58:57 > 1:59:00that Baird's mechanical system had reached the end of the road,
1:59:00 > 1:59:03whereas for electronic television, it was just the beginning.
1:59:03 > 1:59:06Marconi-EMI offered superior performance
1:59:06 > 1:59:08and were improving every day.
1:59:08 > 1:59:11As one of the producers said, "It was like using Morse code in one room
1:59:11 > 1:59:14"when you knew next door you could telephone."
1:59:16 > 1:59:20It is in the nature of invention that first is not always best.
1:59:20 > 1:59:23The incremental improvements and adaptations of rival systems
1:59:23 > 1:59:27can take an invention further than the original inventor ever could.
1:59:27 > 1:59:32After three months, Marconi-EMI was declared the winner.
1:59:32 > 1:59:34Baird had lost out.
1:59:36 > 1:59:40In defence of Baird, to say that his system failed
1:59:40 > 1:59:44is rather like saying that Trevithick's first steam locomotive
1:59:44 > 1:59:48in the streets of Cornwall failed, and therefore
1:59:48 > 1:59:52he has nothing to do with the history of the motorised vehicle.
1:59:52 > 1:59:55If you go back to the beginning of any invention,
1:59:55 > 1:59:58it bears no resemblance to the state it's now in.
1:59:58 > 1:59:59That shouldn't really
1:59:59 > 2:00:01detract from the fact
2:00:01 > 2:00:05that he was the person who proved to everyone that it could be done.
2:00:10 > 2:00:14Television is now the most popular form of entertainment in the world.
2:00:14 > 2:00:17You can get it via cable, satellite, the internet,
2:00:17 > 2:00:19or on your mobile phone.
2:00:19 > 2:00:22Thousands of channels at the touch of a button,
2:00:22 > 2:00:25and it's all thanks to geniuses of invention,
2:00:25 > 2:00:28their failures as well as their successes.
2:00:51 > 2:00:53Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd