The Boy Who Invented Television: A Story of Inspiration, Persistence, and Quiet Passion [Paperback]

Paul Schatzkin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0976200007 | ISBN-13: 978-0976200000 | Publication Date: September 23, 2004

While the great minds of science, financed by the biggest companies in the world, wrestled with 19th century answers to a 20th century problem, Philo T. Farnsworth, age 14, dreamed of trapping light in an empty jar and transmitting it, one line at a time, on a magnetically deflected beam of electrons. Philo Farnsworth was a self-educated farm boy from Rigby, Idaho, when he first sketched his idea for electronic television on a blackboard for his high school science teacher. Six years later, while competitors still struggled with mechanical television systems, Farnsworth successfully demonstrated his invention. He was 21. In 1930, Farnsworth was awarded the fundamental patents for modern television. He spent the next decade perfecting his invention, fighting off challenges to his patents by the giant Radio Corporation of America and defending his vision against his own shortsighted investors who did not share his larger dream of scientific independence. The Boy Who Invented Television traces Farnsworth's "guided tour" of discovery, describing the observations he made in the course of developing his initial invention, and revealing how his unique insights brought him to the threshold of what might have been an even greater discovery-clean, safe, and unlimited energy from controlled nuclear fusion.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

At the tender age of 14 and with very little previous knowledge of electronics, Philo T. Farnsworth brought together the building blocks for the television medium, which turned 75 on September 7. Schatzkin, a Farnsworth scholar, focuses on the boy genius's life story, showing us who and what influenced him. Drawing on 20 years of research (including interviews with Farnsworth's family and confidants), he details the funding of various television experiments, patent protection efforts, and technological developments. This joins a number of other recent biographies on Farnsworth, most notably Evan Schwartz's The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit, and the Birth of Television, which focuses on his battle with David Sarnoff over the organization of television, and Donald Godfrey's more general Philo T. Farnsworth: The Father of Television. On its own, Schatzkin's book is a great biography of a gifted inventor and of value to anyone seeking an accessible tour of Farnsworth's life and challenges. Recommended, particularly for academic libraries with broadcasting and media collections.
David M. Lisa, Wayne P.L., NJ
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Booklist

Philo T. Farnsworth had one of his first insights into electronic television's design while watching a horse-drawn mower on a farm. It is remarkable enough that a boy should have such an inspiration, let alone that so primitive a technology would influence so advanced an instrument. But such insights occurred regularly throughout his life to a man not only obsessed with transmitting pictures over wireless airwaves but also one possessing a mind able to absorb and resolve every sort of theoretical and technical issue. Schatzkin, although clearly in awe of his subject, finds room to document some of Farnsworth's less amiable characteristics, such as his bouts of drinking and depression, his neglect of wife and family, and his persistent rivalry with RCA's Samoff, who was equally committed to developing television. Schatzkin keeps the pace moving quickly and doesn't let himself get bogged down in the scientific details. The result is a readable, if not particularly analytical, biography of the man whose invention truly revolutionized the world. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Tanglewood Books (September 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976200007
• ISBN-13: 978-0976200000
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,203,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Turn off the TV and read this book, October 16, 2002

By 

Ted Paone (Cedar Park, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Boy Who Invented Television: A Story of Inspiration, Persistence and Quiet Passion (Paperback)

The story of television known to most people is a lie. An example of corporate greed kept down the inventor of electronic TV and stifled the potential of one of the greatest minds of the 20th century. Philo Farnsworth is one amazing man and this book fills us with the excitement of his life and discoveries. Whether it was author Paul Schatzkin style or Philo's adventures, I was drawn to keep reading this book long after I should have been asleep.
The triumphs are all marked as well as the tribulations as Philo struggled against the odds as a "lone inventor". You get a sense of how advanced he was in his thinking and how his love of Pem brought him back on track after his disappointments. Philo's life is an inspiration and I feel that Paul Schatzkin captured it well in this book. I fully recommend it to anyone interested in human nature.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For television buffs who want to learn how it all began, November 14, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Boy Who Invented Television: A Story of Inspiration, Persistence and Quiet Passion (Paperback)

The Boy Who Invented Television is the astonishing biography of Philo T. Farnsworth, who at age 14 dreamed of trapping and transmitting light, and while plowing on his father's farm looked at the parallel rows he had been making and conceived of a practical and effective way to wirelessly beam information from one point to another which concept resulted in his 1930 fundamental patent for modern television. Farnsworth's struggle against challenges from the Radio Corporation from America, his fight to protect his vision from reticent investors, and his work that would forever change the world and modern communications, is presented in a highly readable narrative enhanced with black-and-white photographs. The Boy Who Invented Television is very highly recommended reading -- especially for television buffs who want to learn how it all really began!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Portrait of a Reluctant Genius, September 10, 2002

By 

Todd Hawley (San Francisco CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Boy Who Invented Television: A Story of Inspiration, Persistence and Quiet Passion (Paperback)

One of the inventions of the twentieth century that had the greatest impact on how we live was television. And yet very few really know who was the "father of television?" I certainly didn't until I read this book. None other than Philo T Farnsworth was the man who at age 14 first thought up the ideas in a sketch that would later lead to the invention of the "boob tube" we know and love today. This book (a project some 25 years in the making as the author describes it), describes Philo's struggles with bringing his invention to fruition, his battles with RCA over patents relating to his invention, and his lack of deserved recognition, and later his frustrating attempts to harness fusion energy as a source of electrical power.

One thing I wondered about as I read the book was how many other inventors through time have faced the same struggles that Philo did, and how some of them dealt with that struggle. I can only imagine the stress and strain Philo went through and what he might think of how his invention is being used today, some 75 years after his first experiments.

Hopefully this book will help in recognizing the man who invented an appliance we all take for granted in today's world.