author
Shelford Bidwell
1848–1909
An English physicist and inventor, he is best remembered for early experiments that helped point toward the fax machine. Trained as a barrister but drawn to science, he spent much of his career exploring electricity, light, and new ways to transmit images.
1 Audiobook
Curiosities of Light and Sight
by Shelford Bidwell
About the author
Born in Thetford, Norfolk, on March 6, 1848, he studied at Caius College, Cambridge, and was later called to the bar. Science gradually became the stronger pull, and he built a reputation as an inventive experimenter rather than a conventional lawyer.
His name is most often linked with telephotography — an early method for sending pictures electrically — and with research involving selenium and light-sensitive effects. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and he also served as president of the Physical Society, showing the respect he earned among British scientists of his time.
He died on December 18, 1909. Today he is remembered as one of those curious, practical minds whose experiments helped bridge the gap between Victorian science and technologies that later became everyday tools.