For better or worse, television has been the dominant medium of communication for fifty years. Yet it is a relatively recent invention, one that required passionate inventors, determined businessmen, government regulators, and willing consumers. This volume covers the history of television from nineteenth-century European conceptions of transmitting moving images electrically to the death of television as a discrete system in a digital age. Alexander B. Magoun highlights key events in the evolution of TV, as well as the dynamic individuals who ignited the industry, such as Vladimir Zworykin and David Sarnoff. He also covers the development of cable and satellite television, the use of television in wartime, and the tube's changing face. Based on the latest research, this crisply written, sometimes provocative survey includes a glossary, timeline, and bibliography for further reading.