Introduction: "The History and Evolution of the Microphone" is intended to provide a history of the development of the microphone from the first attempts to convert acoustic energy to electric energy, to the microphones produced up to about 1960. The microphones covered are primarily of the "BROADCAST" types. Consequently, after the 1930 to 1950's we are limited to the RCA and Western Electric models. The period between 1950 and 1960 cover a limited number of microphones compared to what was available during this period. This is due to the fact that many other companies were producing microphones of broadcast quality and competing for that market. Although some of the microphones are of foreign manufacture, this history is based primarily on microphones made in the USA. It was not intended for this book to be a technical manual on microphone design or placement of microphones for recording. However, some technical information is included in some instances to give a more complete story of what took place in those early years. It tends to lean toward the collector as a pictorial reference and collectors guide and also a nostalgic book for the many people whose careers involve the use of microphones.