TV's Forgotten Hero: The Story of Philo Farnsworth »

A biography of the persistent experimenter whose interest in electricity led him to develop an electronic television system in the 1920s.

Children's Literature

Young Philo Farnsworth was fascinated by electricity and loved to tinker with the generator at his uncle's ranch in Idaho. By age fourteen his tinkering and inventiveness led him to the idea of a television system that would transmit an image line by line. During the 1920's his own television system became a reality when Philo found financial backing in California. But with the delay caused by World War II and with the expiration of patent dates in the 1940's, Farnsworth Television did not have the funds to make a name for itself and compete with large companies like RCA. Accompanied by many authentic photographs, a bibliography, and an index, this well-written biography has an excellent balance of information on Philo's personal life, professional life, and explanation of theories on television. Although his name is virtually unrecognizable to the general public, television would not be what it is today without Philo Farnsworth's curious mind and inventiveness.