Nipkow, now considered the forefather of the television age, received little recognition for his contribution during his lifetime. Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi demonstrated a device that could transmit an audio signal in the late 1890s. Nipkow was born on August 22, 1860, in Lauenberg, Germany. Inspired by the work of Marconi, Nipkow began thinking about the challenge of transmitting a visual image while still a student in Germany. It was well known that any successful transmission device required three essential components: a device to translate the visual image into an electronic impulse, a second device to reassemble that impulse into an image, and a third device by which to transmit the impulse from the first device to the second. In 1884, even before completing his degree, Nipkow had developed and patented a transmissions system that achieved all three requirements.

Nipkow's television was based upon an ingenious device called a Nipkow disk...