John Logie Baird was one of the principal players in the early days of television. His invention, the photomechanical television, was the first to broadcast a live transmission. Born in Scotland in 1888, Baird received his education at the Royal Technical College and the University of Glasgow. Plagued by poor health, he was unable to serve in World War I and was ultimately forced to resign his position as an electrical engineer. He then decided to become a "professional amateur," and pursued many different interests and enterprises. However, after exhaustion led to a nervous breakdown, Baird chose to concentrate on electronics, especially following Guglielmo Marconi's demonstration of how radio waves could be used to carry an audio signal. Baird was certain that a similar process could transmit a visual signal, and he began working upon a design that would do so. At the heart of Baird's design was a...