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Philo  T.  Farnsworth
the  inventor  of  television

Short Profile Links Books About Philo T. Farnsworth Television History Motion Pictures, Videos, Plays

Farnsworth first demonstrated electronic scanning televison devices to news media in 1928,
and to the public at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia on August 25, 1934.

          Philo Taylor Farnsworth was born on 19 August 1906 on a farm near Beaver, Utah to a family of Mormons [L.D.S.]. When the family moved to Rigby, Idaho, Philo found a stash of technology magazines in the attic of the new house and became fascinated with electronics and electrical power. He invented the principle involved in scanning television while plowing a field – row after row after row, back and forth and back again &ndsh; at the age of 14; by the age of 21 he had produced his first working model. He attended Brigham Young University in Utah, and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy. After returning to Idaho, he married Elma 'Pem' [1908-2006] Gardner and moved to the San Francisco area. He found funding for his experiments, formed a partnership with George Everson called Crocker Research Laboratories, and operated research facilities in Idaho and San Francisco and Los Angeles.
          Earlier experiments & patents for television were electro-mechanical, and Farnsworth is credited with the invention of a working technology involving electronic scanning for both pickup and display. On 23 September 1927, Farnsworth's Image Dissector camera tube transmitted its first image, a simple straight line, at his laboratory at 202 Green Street in San Francisco. {Legend has it that Fransworth's response was "God damn! It works!"}
          He first demonstrated the electronic scanning televison devices to news media in 1928, showing the image of a dollar sign. Newly-hired R.C.A. scientist Vladimir Zworykin [1889-1982] visited Farnsworth under false pretenses in 1930, and later incorporated Farnsworth's principles in R.C.A.'s Iconoscope/Kinescope equipment, leading to lengthy patent court cases. In 1931, R.C.A. president David Sarnoff offered to buy Farnsworth's patents for $100,000, but was refused; Farnsworth joined the Philco company in June of that year and moved his laboratory to Philadelphia, along with his wife and two children. Farnsworth suffered setbacks – his son died in 1932, the British chose the R.C.A. technology. R.C.A.'s patents on television and radio tubes limited Fransworth's saleability, and Philco was pressured to sever ties with Farnsworth in 1934.
          Farnsworth's first public demonstration was at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia on 25 August 1934. He formed a company and by 1936 was transmitting regular experimental programs. He sold his patents to R.C.A. for a million dollars in 1939. (Sarnoff's strategy of tying Farnsworth's patents up with long court cases delayed Farnsworth's window of opportunity to get fair payment for his work: ZFarnsworth should have recieved a much larger price). The World's Fair of 1939 featured demonstrations of R.C.A.'s television, and TV receivers went on sale to the public later that year.

          Farnsworth switched his attention to nuclear fusion, and was issued patents in 1966 & 1968. The Farnsworth-Hirsch Fusor has not evolved into a power source, as intended, but is currently produced commercially as a practical source of neutrons. I.T.T. owned the Farnsworth company at the time, and dropped electronic research in 1967. Farnsworth moved to Brigham Young University and worked independently, but had used up all his savings (from the tv patent sale) by 1970; the I.R.S. seized the company's assets in February 1971. Farnsworth caught pneumonia and died on 11 March 1971 {officially of emphysema} in Salt Lake City at age 65. His widow strove to secure his place in history until her death in April 2006.
          Controversy continues over who really is the 'father of television', fed by the Zworykin-Sarnoff-R.C.A. contingent, but Farnsworth has been enshrined in many ways as the visionary that he was. Several plaques have been installed; three identical statues of him were placed at the Utah State Capitol {dedicated in May 1990}, in the National Statuary Hall in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building, and outside the county courthouse in Beaver, Utah (his birthplace); the Boy Scouts of America delivered a posthumous Eagle Scout Award to his widow in 2006; the U.S. issued a 20¢ postage stamp honoring Farnsworth in September 1983; and Rigby, Idaho maintains the Farnsworth TV & Pioneer Museum, under the motto 'The Birthplace of TV'.

Links
Philo T. Farnsworth Archives official website
Philo T. Farnsworth credits at Internet Movie Database
Philo T. Farnsworth entry at Wikipedia
Paul's 'FarnoVision' site
Paul's Fusor Research site
National Inventors Hall of Fame entry
Farnsworth Collection at University of Utah
listed in 1999 on Time Magazine's 100 Scientists & Thinkers

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Books About Philo T. Farnsworth

	"Philo Farnsworth and The Television" [ages 6-12; 2006] by Ellen Sturm Niz, illustrated by Keith Tucker Capstone Press 9¼x7¼ hardcover [7/2006] for $16.67
	"The Boy Who Invented Television: A Story of Inspiration, Persistence & Quiet Passion" [2004] by Paul Schatzkin Tanglewood Books 9x6 pb [9/2004] for $16.95
	"Philo T. Farnsworth: The Life of Television's Forgotten Inventor" [ages 9-12; 2003] by Russell Roberts Mitchell Lane Publrs 9½x7½ pb [7/2003] for $12.21
	"The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit & The Birth of Television" [2002] by Evan I. Schwartz Harper 8x5½ pb [5/2003] for $11.66 HarperCollins 8¾x5½ hardcover [5/2002] out of print/used
	"The Boy Genius and The Mogul: The Untold Story of Television" [2002] by Daniel Stashower Broadway 9½x6½ hardcover [4/2002] for $24.95
	"Philo T. Farnsworth: The Father of Television" [2001] by Donald Godfrey Univ UT Press 9¼x6½ hardcover [7/2001] for $30.00
	"Philo Farnsworth and The Invention of Television" [ages 4-6; 2000] by Russell Roberts Mitchell Lane Publrs 9½x6¾ pb [9/2000] for $13.22
	"TV's Forgotten Hero: The Story of Philo Farnsworth" [ages 9-12; 1996] by Stephanie Sammartino McPherson CarolRhoda Books 9¼x7¼ hardcover [10/96] for $30.60
	"Distant Vision: Romance & Discovery On An Invisible Frontier" [1990] by [Philo's widow] Elma G. Farnsworth Pemberly Kent Publrs 9¼x6¼ hardcover [8/90] out of print/rare
	"The Story of Television: The Life of Philo T. Farnsworth" [1949] by George Everson book not available at either Amazon or B&N (10/2006)

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Television History

more links & books & information on the
History of Radio & Television Page at Magic Lantern

	"The Television History Book" [2004] by Michele Hilmes British Film Institute 9½x7¼ pb [3/2004] for $27.95 British Film Institute 10x7½ hardcover [3/2004] out of print/rare
	"Tube: The Invention of Television" [1996] by David E. Fisher & Marshall Jon Fisher Harvest Books 9x6 pb [11/97] out of print/used Counterpoint hardcover [9/96] out of print/many used
	"Please Stand By: A Prehistory of Television" [1994] by Michael Ritchie Overlook 9¼x7 pb [9/95] for $15.95 Overlook hardcover [9/94] out of print/many used
	"The Great Television Race: A History of The American Television Industry, 1925-1941" [1982] by Joseph H. Udelson Univ AL Press 9¼x6 pb [11/90] for $18.95 Univ AL Press 9¼x6 pb [6/89] for $35.00
	"All About Television" Magazine [1927] published by sci-fi publisher Hugo Gernsback [1884-1967], with its [prescient] cover showing a family sitting around a TV set watching football

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Motion Pictures, Videos, Plays
Philo T. Farnsworth credits at Internet Movie Database

"The Farnsworth Invention" play on Broadway [2007] Started as a movie script by Aaron Sorkin, turned into a play which began previews on 15 October 2007 at the Music Box Theatre on 45th Street in New York City; listed on TIME Top Ten Best Theater Shows of The Year (12/2007) Written by Aaron Sorkin; original music by Andrew Lippa; directed by Des McAnuff; choreo- graphed by Lisa Shriver; starring Hank Azaria {as David Sarnoff} & Jimmi Simpson {as Philo} play credits at Internet Broadway Database play official website

"Big Dream, Small Screen: The Story Behind The Television - A Biography of Philo T. Farnsworth" [P.B.S./American Experience airdate 10 Feb 1997] Written & directed by David Dugan PBS Home Video color VHS [4/97] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb P.B.S./American Experience program site

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