John Logie Baird
NYSSPE’s Engineer of the Week features John Logie Baird, born on August 14, 1888 in Helensburgh, Scotland. He was an engineer and an innovator known for being one of the inventors of the mechanical television.
While working with his television experiments, Baird was credited for producing the first live, moving, greyscale television image from reflected light. He followed with many demonstrations to the public regarding how his technology worked. In 1927, Baird transmitted a long-distance television signal between London and Glasgow and demonstrated the first color transmission in 1928. After making significant contributions to the mechanical television systems he moved onto the electronic televisions. He invented the “Telechrome” around 1940 which was a total electronic system.
Baird was an intelligent businessman and left his mark being named one of the 10 greatest Scottish scientists in history. He is also listed in the National Library of Scotland’s Scottish Science Hall of Fame. Baird passed away in June of 1946.
