Giovanni Caselli
Encyclopedia
Giovanni Caselli was an Italian physicist. He is the inventor of the pantelegraph
(a.k.a. Universal Telegraph or "all-purpose telegraph"), the predecessor of the modern fax machine. The world's first practical operating facsimile machine ("fax") system put into use was by Caselli.
Caselli was appointed a member dell'Ateneo Italian. Besides his interest in science and physics he studied to become a Catholic priest. In 1836 Caselli was ordained.
In 1841 he went to Parma
in the Province of Modena
to become a tutor for the sons of Count Marquis Sanvitale of Modena. In 1849 he participated in the riots and voted for annexation of the Duchy of Modena to the Kingdom of Sardinia
. Because of this he was forced out of Modena whereupon he returned to Florence. In that year he became a professor of physics at the University of Florence.
In Florence he studied physics under Leopoldo Nobili
. These studies involved electrochemistry
, electromagnetism
, electricity
and magnetism
. Caselli started a journal called "The Recreation" in 1851 which was about the science of physics written in laymen's terms.
and Frederick Bakewell
were also working on this technology. The major problem of the time was to get perfect synchronization between the transmitting and receiving parts so they would work together correctly. Caselli developed an electrochemical technology with a "synchronizing apparatus" (regulating clock) to make the sending and receiving mechanisms work together that was far superior to any technology Bain or Bakewell had.
The technology is relatively simple. An image is made using non-conductive ink on a piece of tin foil
. A stylus
, that is in the electrical circuit of the tin foil, is then passed over the foil where it lightly touches it. The stylus passes with parallel scans slightly apart. Electricity conducts where there is no ink and does not where there is ink. This causes on and off circuits matching the image as it scans. The signals are then sent along a long distance telegraph line. The receiver at the other end has an electrical stylus and scans blue dye ink on white paper reproducing the image line-by-line, a fac simile (Latin, "make similar") of the original image.
Caselli made a prototype of his system by 1856 and presented to Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany
, in a demonstration. The Duke was so impressed with Caselli's device that for a while he financed his experiments. When the Duke's enthusiam waned Caselli moved to Paris to introduce his invention to Napoleon III. Napoleon immediately became an enthusiatic admirer of the technology. Between 1857 and 1861 Caselli developed out his pantelegraph (a.k.a. "autotelegraph") in Paris under the guidance of French inventor and mechanical engineer Leon Foucault
.
In 1858 Caselli's improved version was demonstrated by French physicist Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel at the Academie of Science in Paris. Napoleon saw a demonstration of Caselli's pantelegraph in 1860 and placed an order for the service within the French national telegraph network that started the next year. Caselli had access to not only the French telegraph lines for his pantelegraph facsimile machine technology, but finances were provided by Napoleon. A test was done successfully then between Paris and Amiens
with the signature of the composer Gioacchino Rossini
as the image sent and received, a distance of 140 km. A further test was done then between Paris and Marseille
, a distance of 800 km, which was also successful. French law was enacted then in 1864 for it to be officially accepted. The next year in 1865 the operations started with the Paris to Lyon line and extended to Marseille
in 1867. Alexander Graham Bell
did not receive his telephone patent
(No. 174,465) by the U.S. Patent Office until 1876.
. Caselli's pantelegraph started out so successful that Napoleon awarded him the Legion of Honor. Parisian scientists and engineers started the Pantelegraph Society to share ideas and concepts about the pantelegraph.
The French Legislature and Council of State authorized a permanent line between Paris and Marseille. In England they authorized an experimental line between London and Liverpool for a four-month period. Napoleon bought Caselli's pantelegraph as a public service and put into place for the transmission of images from Paris
to Lyon
. It was in place until the defeat of Sedan in 1870. Russian Tsar Nicolas I put in an experimental service in place between his palaces in Saint Petersburg
and Moscow
between 1851 and 1855. In the first year of operation of the pantelegraph the system transmitted almost 5,000 faxes, with a peak of faxes being sent at the rate of 110 per hour. In spite of all this, the technology developed so slowly to make it fully reliable that it fell into oblivion. Caselli ultimately gave up on his invention and returned to Florence where he died. It was another 100 years before Caselli's technology became popular.
Pantelegraph
The pantelegraph was an early form of facsimile machine transmitting over normal telegraph lines developed by Giovanni Caselli, used commercially in the 1860s, that was the first such device to enter practical service, It could transmit handwriting, signatures, or drawings within an area of up to...
(a.k.a. Universal Telegraph or "all-purpose telegraph"), the predecessor of the modern fax machine. The world's first practical operating facsimile machine ("fax") system put into use was by Caselli.
Biography
At the beginning of his career he was studying literature, history, science and religion.Caselli was appointed a member dell'Ateneo Italian. Besides his interest in science and physics he studied to become a Catholic priest. In 1836 Caselli was ordained.
In 1841 he went to Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
in the Province of Modena
Province of Modena
The Province of Modena is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Modena.It has an area of 2,689 km², and a total population of 659,925 . There are 48 comuni in the province, see Comuni of the Province of Modena.At May 31, 2005, the main comuni by population...
to become a tutor for the sons of Count Marquis Sanvitale of Modena. In 1849 he participated in the riots and voted for annexation of the Duchy of Modena to the Kingdom of Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
. Because of this he was forced out of Modena whereupon he returned to Florence. In that year he became a professor of physics at the University of Florence.
In Florence he studied physics under Leopoldo Nobili
Leopoldo Nobili
Leopoldo Nobili, born in 1784 in Trassilico and died 5 August 1835 in Florence, was an Italian physicist who invented a number of instruments critical to investigating thermodynamics and electrochemistry....
. These studies involved electrochemistry
Electrochemistry
Electrochemistry is a branch of chemistry that studies chemical reactions which take place in a solution at the interface of an electron conductor and an ionic conductor , and which involve electron transfer between the electrode and the electrolyte or species in solution.If a chemical reaction is...
, electromagnetism
Electromagnetism
Electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature. The other three are the strong interaction, the weak interaction and gravitation...
, electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
and magnetism
Magnetism
Magnetism is a property of materials that respond at an atomic or subatomic level to an applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetism is the strongest and most familiar type of magnetism. It is responsible for the behavior of permanent magnets, which produce their own persistent magnetic fields, as well...
. Caselli started a journal called "The Recreation" in 1851 which was about the science of physics written in laymen's terms.
Pantelegraph
Pantèlègraph is a makeup word from "pantograph", a tool that copies words and drawings, plus "telegraph", an electromechanical system that sends messages through a wire over long distances. While Caselli was teaching physics at the University of Florence he devoted much of his research in the technology of telegraphic transmission of images as well as simple words. Alexander BainAlexander Bain (inventor)
Alexander Bain was a Scottish inventor and engineer who was first to invent and patent the electric clock. Bain installed the railway telegraph lines between Edinburgh and Glasgow.-Early life:...
and Frederick Bakewell
Frederick Bakewell
Frederick Collier Bakewell was an English physicist who improved on the concept of the facsimile machine introduced by Alexander Bain in 1842 and demonstrated a working laboratory version at the 1851 World's Fair in London.-Biography:Born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, he eventually moved to...
were also working on this technology. The major problem of the time was to get perfect synchronization between the transmitting and receiving parts so they would work together correctly. Caselli developed an electrochemical technology with a "synchronizing apparatus" (regulating clock) to make the sending and receiving mechanisms work together that was far superior to any technology Bain or Bakewell had.
The technology is relatively simple. An image is made using non-conductive ink on a piece of tin foil
Tin foil
Tin foil, also spelled tinfoil, is a thin foil made of tin. Actual tin foil was superseded by cheaper and more durable aluminium foil after World War II, and aluminium foil is sometimes confused with "tin foil" because of its similarity to the former material.-History:Foil made from a thin leaf of...
. A stylus
Stylus
A stylus is a writing utensil, or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example in pottery. The word is also used for a computer accessory . It usually refers to a narrow elongated staff, similar to a modern ballpoint pen. Many styli are heavily curved to be held more easily...
, that is in the electrical circuit of the tin foil, is then passed over the foil where it lightly touches it. The stylus passes with parallel scans slightly apart. Electricity conducts where there is no ink and does not where there is ink. This causes on and off circuits matching the image as it scans. The signals are then sent along a long distance telegraph line. The receiver at the other end has an electrical stylus and scans blue dye ink on white paper reproducing the image line-by-line, a fac simile (Latin, "make similar") of the original image.
Caselli made a prototype of his system by 1856 and presented to Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Leopold II of Tuscany was the last reigning grand duke of Tuscany ....
, in a demonstration. The Duke was so impressed with Caselli's device that for a while he financed his experiments. When the Duke's enthusiam waned Caselli moved to Paris to introduce his invention to Napoleon III. Napoleon immediately became an enthusiatic admirer of the technology. Between 1857 and 1861 Caselli developed out his pantelegraph (a.k.a. "autotelegraph") in Paris under the guidance of French inventor and mechanical engineer Leon Foucault
Léon Foucault
Jean Bernard Léon Foucault was a French physicist best known for the invention of the Foucault pendulum, a device demonstrating the effect of the Earth's rotation...
.
In 1858 Caselli's improved version was demonstrated by French physicist Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel at the Academie of Science in Paris. Napoleon saw a demonstration of Caselli's pantelegraph in 1860 and placed an order for the service within the French national telegraph network that started the next year. Caselli had access to not only the French telegraph lines for his pantelegraph facsimile machine technology, but finances were provided by Napoleon. A test was done successfully then between Paris and Amiens
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
with the signature of the composer Gioacchino Rossini
Gioacchino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs, and some instrumental and piano pieces...
as the image sent and received, a distance of 140 km. A further test was done then between Paris and Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, a distance of 800 km, which was also successful. French law was enacted then in 1864 for it to be officially accepted. The next year in 1865 the operations started with the Paris to Lyon line and extended to Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
in 1867. Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
did not receive his telephone patent
Invention of the telephone
The invention of the telephone is the culmination of work done by many individuals, the history of which involves a collection of claims and counterclaims. The development of the modern telephone involved an array of lawsuits founded upon the patent claims of several individuals...
(No. 174,465) by the U.S. Patent Office until 1876.
Later life
Caselli patented his pantèlègraphe in Europe in 1861 (E.P. 2532) and in the United States in 1863 (No. 37,563). Caselli demonstrated his pantelegraph successfully in 1861 at the Florence Exhibition to an audience which included King Victor Emmanuel, King of ItalyVictor Emmanuel II of Italy
Victor Emanuel II was king of Sardinia from 1849 and, on 17 March 1861, he assumed the title King of Italy to become the first king of a united Italy since the 6th century, a title he held until his death in 1878...
. Caselli's pantelegraph started out so successful that Napoleon awarded him the Legion of Honor. Parisian scientists and engineers started the Pantelegraph Society to share ideas and concepts about the pantelegraph.
The French Legislature and Council of State authorized a permanent line between Paris and Marseille. In England they authorized an experimental line between London and Liverpool for a four-month period. Napoleon bought Caselli's pantelegraph as a public service and put into place for the transmission of images from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
. It was in place until the defeat of Sedan in 1870. Russian Tsar Nicolas I put in an experimental service in place between his palaces in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
between 1851 and 1855. In the first year of operation of the pantelegraph the system transmitted almost 5,000 faxes, with a peak of faxes being sent at the rate of 110 per hour. In spite of all this, the technology developed so slowly to make it fully reliable that it fell into oblivion. Caselli ultimately gave up on his invention and returned to Florence where he died. It was another 100 years before Caselli's technology became popular.