Fax Machines & Facsimiles Canon ÔFax L-700Õ fax machine, 1997

Fax Machines & Facsimiles Canon ÔFax L-700Õ fax machine, 1997. A fax (or facsimile) machine reads an image from one piece of paper, then sends the image over a telephone line, where another fax machine receives it and prints out an exact copy. The Scottish clockmaker Alexander Bain (1810-1877) invented the earliest form of this machine in 1842. His invention Ôfor electric printing and signal telegraphsÕ evolved from the new telegraph technology. Then, in 1902, Dr Arthur Korn (1870-1945) invented the photo-electric system, which was the forerunner of the modern fax machine. For many years, facsimile machines were expensive, cumbersome and difficult to use. It was not until the 1970s, when Japanese companies entered the market, that smaller and more efficient fax machines entered the market. ©SSPL/Science Museum