Visions of Electric Media : Television in the Victorian and Machine Ages Frontmatter Table of Contents List of Figures Introduction: The Lifespan of a Media Technology 1. The Telephonoscope: 2. The Far Sight Machine and the Kinetograph 3. Human Seeing Machines Interlude 4. The Illuminating Engineers 5. The Ikonophone Epilogue Bibliography About the Author Index Visions of Electric Media is an historical examination into the early history of television as it was understood during the Victorian and Machine ages. How did the television that we use today develop into a functional technology What did Victorians expect it to become How did the vision of television change once viewers could actually see pictures on a screen We will journey through the history of television: from the first indications of live communications in technology and culture in the late nineteenth century to the development of electronic televisual systems in the early twentieth century. Along the way we will investigate the philosophy folklore engineering practices and satires that went into making television a useful medium