ABOUT THIS BOOK

Philo T. Farnsworth (1906–1971) has been called the "forgotten father of television." He grew up in Utah and southern Idaho, and was described as a genius by those who knew and worked with him. With only a high school education, Farnsworth drew his first television schematic for his high school teacher in Rigby, Idaho. Subsequent claims and litigation notwithstanding, he was the first to transmit a television image.

Farnsworth filed ten patents between 1927 and 1929 for camera tubes (transmitting), circuitry, and the cathode ray tube (viewing). After his early years as an inventor in San Francisco, he worked as an engineer, doing battle with RCA in the 1930s over patent rights, formed the Farnsworth Television Company in the 1940s, and worked for IT&T after their purchase of the Farnsworth enterprises. Every television set sold utilized at least six of his basic patents.

Because of endless legal wrangling with RCA over patent rights, he received very little financial reward for his television patents. Donald Godfrey examines the genius and the failures in the life of Philo Farnsworth as he struggled to be both inventor and entrepreneur.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Curtis Martin is a research archaeologist for Grand River Institute and Dominquez Archaeological Research Group, Inc., both in Grand Junction, Colorado. He is the Principal Investigator for the Colorado Wickiup Project, which received the 2014 Governor’s Award in recognition of the project.

REVIEWS

"Godfrey has done both the inventor and all historians of television a considerable service."—Christopher H. Sterling, George Washington University

"A major work about a major television inventor."—Albert Abramson, author of The History of Television, 1880–1941

"It is a must read for those involved in early television broadcasting and for those with a passion for reading interesting biographies, corporate histories, or compelling stories about real people, their inventions and creations."—Tim Larson, University of Utah

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

List of Illustrations

Foreword: Rescuing a Television Pioneer

Sterling, Christopher H.

Preface

Acknowledgments

1.
Youthful Genius: 1906–1926

2.
The Experimentation Stage of Farnsworth's Career: 1926–1931

3.
Implementation—TV Station and Public Demonstration: 1931–1934

4.
Farnsworth versus RCA: 1932–1939

5.
Farnsworth Television Incorporated: 1935–1938

6.
Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation: 1938–1942

7.
Farnsworth Television and Radio, Wartime Success: 1939–1948

8.
Farnsworth Television, the Final Decades: 1949–1971

9.
The Farnsworth Legacies

Appendix A.
U.S. Patents Issued to Philo T. Farnsworth

Appendix B.
The Chronology of “Firsts”

Appendix C.
Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation Transactions on the New York Stock Exchange

Appendix D.
The History of Farnsworth Wood Products

Appendix E.
A History of Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation: 1942–1948

Appendix F.
ITT-Farnsworth Division Management History

Appendix G.
ITT Capehart-Farnsworth History

Appendix H.
Farnsworth Electronics History

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

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