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1.
Feature
Story
/
•
(continued)
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TVInews
Report,
In the late
1960's, our
TVInews
reporter, Bob
Foster, was
invited by
Farnsworth's
sister to visit
the inventor at
his home. At
that time
Farnsworth was
a member of the
board of
International
Telephone and
Telegraph (ITT)
which had taken
over the
Capehart-Farnsworth
Company. Wrote
Foster, " ITT
was trying to
acquire the
American
Broadcasting
Company (ABC).
•••
'When
we get ABC,'
Farnsworth told
me, 'I think it
will make for a
better
television
network.'
Nobody at ABC
was very
anxious for the
merger. It was
being forced to
merge with ITT,
but Farnsworth
was pretty sure
that the deal
would go
through any
day. However,
it turned out
that the
Federal
Communications
Commission
(FCC) would not
permit the
merger because
of ITT's
foreign
interests."
•••
Foster
continued, "It
was very
difficult to
get Farnsworth
to talk at all
about
television. He
had been
immersed in
television from
the time he was
fifteen and he
wanted to work
on different
projects. 'I
have put
television
behind me. I
would like to
go on to other
things.
•••
My legal
battles to get
recognition
took a lot out
of me.' As we
talked,
Farnsworth told
how
disappointed he
was with what
had been done
with the
medium. 'I, of
course, knew in
the early days
of television
that it would
become an
entertainment
medium, but I
have been
disappointed
that television
has not
concentrated
more on
education,
culture, and
news.'"
•••
"Farnsworth
said at the
time that if it
had not been
for the
remarkable
memory of
Justin Tolman,
his chemistry
teacher at
Rigby (Idaho)
High School, he
would never
have won his
patent suit.
'He was able to
produce notes
he had made
when I
described to
him my ideas on
an all
electronic
television
system in
detail in1922
when I was only
fifteen years
old. If it
hadn't been for
Mr. Tolman, I
probably would
have been
denied the
credit, and the
financial
rewards that
went with it,
for the
invention of
the television
tube.'"
•••
Turning away
from the past,
Farnsworth
explained to
Foster, " I'm
working right
now on the use
of high energy
sources in the
southern Utah
area, around
St. George, to
develop a low
cost water
desalination. I
fear for the
state of our
water. There
are just too
many chemicals,
due to our new
technologies,
in the water we
must use for
drinking and
irrigation."
•••
Foster wrote, "
He wanted to
locate his
experiments in
St. George
because of the
availability of
low cost
electric power
from the Hoover
and Glen Canyon
dams, and was
trying to buy
land to build a
laboratory. He
became deeply
interested in
fusion (a
system of
producing
energy from
salt water).
•••
'He was
hung up on that
subject, and he
used all of his
savings trying
to form a new
company,' his
sister, Mrs.
Player, told
me. 'He had
been granted a
pension, a
handsome one by
ITT, but when
he decided to
form a new
Farnsworth
company, ITT
became annoyed
with the idea
and when he
persisted, they
took his
pension away
from him.'
•••
Other
family members
further
elaborated, 'He
hired some of
his people from
his ITT
laboratory in
Fort Wayne.
They came to
Utah, but found
that Philo was
chasing a
dream, and when
he went broke,
they were
forced to
return to their
old jobs in
Fort Wayne.'"
It wasn't long
after he
returned to
Salt Lake City
and bought a
home that he
died on March
11, 1971.
•••
Although there
is no inventor
single-handedly
responsible for
television,
Farnsworth
played an
extremely
important part
in its history.
As long as he
received his
due credit, he
was content to
share the
limelight with
his fellow
inventors,
Vladimir
Zworykin and
John Logie
Baird.
•••
Despite the
fact that
millions of
people the
world over
watch the
invention that
grew from the
works of these
three
instrumental
men, few will
know their
names. Yet
their work
lives on, and
sometimes
tributes to
their memories
can be found,
like the small
postage stamp
issued four
years ago by
the U.S. Post
Office
commemorating
the life and
work of Philo
T.
Farnsworth.
•••
Sources :
Everson, George
The Story of
Television
•••
Foster, Bob
"Philo T.
Farnsworth's
Role in the
History of
Television"
German
physicist
Heinrich Hertz
first discovers
Radio Waves.
Proves
Maxwell's
theory that
electricity can
travel through
the atmosphere
in waves. He
transmitted an
electrical
spark which was
heard in a
receiving
circuit a few
meters away,
thus the term
Hertzian Wave.
Hertz
demonstrated
that the
velocity of
radio waves
equaled the
speed of light.
The unit of
frequency was
named in his
honor.
Philo
Farnsworth was
born to Lewis
and Serena
Farnsworth on
August 19, 1906
in Beaver City,
Utah. His
parents'
families were
pioneers who
had travelled
across the
United States
on wagon trains
to Utah to help
found the
Mormon
religion. In
order to
broaden their
children's
educational
backgrounds,
Philo's parents
subscribed to
technical
magazines which
so much
stimulated
their son's
interest that
at the age of
six, he
declared he
wanted to
become an
inventor.
•••
At twenty,
Farnsworth
started working
as an office
boy for George
Everson, (
later his
biographer) who
was head of the
Community Chest
Drive in Salt
Lake City. He
mentioned his
ideas about
television to
Everson who
became enthused
by the young
man's genius
and rounded up
a group of San
Francisco
backers who put
up $25,000. Six
years later, in
the summer of
1928,
Farnsworth
demonstrated
for his backers
his "image
dissector"
camera tube
which offered a
150 line
picture
scanning at
thirty times a
second.
•••On
January 7,
1927,
Farnsworth
filed for his
first patent
application.
This was the
beginning of a
continuous
series of
patent
applications
which he had to
file in order
to protect each
improvement on
his invention.
With this
initial
application,
came his first
time-consuming
and financially
draining battle
with big
business. Radio
Corporation of
America (RCA),
working under
Vladimir
Zworykin's
guidance
towards a
solution for
electronic
television was
shocked by
Farnsworth's
application and
filed suit in
order to try to
bring
Farnsworth's
dissector tube
under their
dominion.
Everson and the
San Francisco
backers rallied
to Farnsworth's
aid, raising
money from
every source
available to
them, knowing
that if the
suit were lost
Farnsworth's
efforts and
dreams would
also be lost.
•••
Witnesses
came from all
over the
country to give
testimony. An
invaluable
witness was
Farnsworth's
high school
teacher, Mr.
Tolman, who had
been one of the
very first to
learn of the
boy's original
ideas on
television.
•••
Farnsworth
and Zworykin
were
exhaustively
grilled and the
meticulous
notebooks
Farnsworth had
kept for years
to protect his
inventions in
case of
potential
lawsuits were
pored over.
Finally, on
August 26, 1930
after many
gruelling
months of legal
battles and
financial
worries
(Farnsworth's
backers spent
over $30,000 on
the case), the
twenty-four
year old
Farnsworth was
issued patent
number
1,773,980 which
covered broadly
his system of
television and
reception.
•••
In may,
1931 David
Sarnoff,
president of
RCA paid a
visit to
Farnsworth's
San Francisco
lab to find out
whether
Farnsworth and
his backers
would consider
selling the
patent,
laboratory and
Farnsworth's
services for
$100,000. They
were refused
outright.
•••
In June, 1931,
Farnsworth and
his backers
entered into a
licensing
agreement which
gave the Philco
Company (the
largest
manufacturer of
radios at the
time) the
licensing
rights for
television
receiver sets.
This
necessitated a
move to
Philadelphia
for Farnsworth
and most of his
staff where
they occupied a
Philco
laboratory at
the Ontario and
C Street
plant.
•••
While working
at Philco,
Farnsworth
began to
develop his
"multipactor"
tube which had
the ability to
transmit
television
impulses and
could be used
as well as an
amplifier,
detector,
rectifier, and
multiplier
tube. It was
the first "cold
cathode" tube
and it was
hailed by
scientists and
engineers as a
major
breakthrough,
•••
In the summer
of 1934,
Farnsworth and
his men decided
to leave Philco
and establish
their own
separate
laboratory,
while remaining
in
Philadelphia,
which was then
the center of
the radio
industry. They
turned their
attention
towards
developing a
practical
demonstration
unit for
television.
•••
John Logie
Baird, a
Scotsman who
was the other
developer of a
workable
television
system based on
the revolving
disk, heard
about
Farnsworth and
invited him to
England. At the
Crystal Palace
in London
Farnsworth's
demonstration
(in which he
transmitted a
signal that was
picked up 25
miles away) was
such a success
that Parliament
voted to have
the British
Broadcasting
Company (BBC )
start
television
service for the
London area.
The Baird
Company and
Marconi EMI
were chosen by
the BBC to be
the suppliers
for
television.
•••
Following his
success in
England,
Farnsworth went
to Berlin to
make a
licensing
agreement with
Fernseh AG, who
worked closely
with the Baird
Company.
Fernseh was
headed by Dr.
Paul Goerz who
had been
appointed by
the German
Reich as the
co-ordinator
for radio and
television,
although he was
not a Nazi.
•••
During
Farnsworth's
German trip, a
disastrous fire
swept through
the Crystal
Palace and
destroyed all
of the Baird
equipment which
had been based
on Farnsworth's
work. It was a
huge
disappointment
for the
inventor who
returned sadly
to Philadelphia
with a
distorted piece
of melted
glass. This
represented all
that was left
of Farnsworth's
dissector tube
which would
have been used
in the camera
made ready for
the first
broadcast.
•••
For a long
time, Fernseh
had been
broadcasting
sports and news
events with a
mobile
television
truck. To do
this, the
Germans had
been using
scanning disk
cameras which
sometimes had
problems with
outdoor
pictures taken
in the
sunlight. By
utilizing
Farnsworth's
tubes they were
able to
overcome this
problem.
•••
After the
Farnsworth
company signed
the contracts
with Baird and
Fernseh,
American
Telephone and
Telegraph
(AT&T)
signed an
agreement on
July 22, 1937
giving
Farnsworth and
AT&T the
right to use
each other's
patents. These
three
agreements
helped solidify
Farnsworth's
reputation with
worldwide
recognition.
With the advent
of World War II
however,
Farnsworth's
close working
relationships
with the
Germans and the
British
dwindled as the
presidents of
both of these
companies were
called to serve
their
countries.
•••
For years
Farnsworth and
his partners
had refused to
get involved
with the
manufacturing
of television
sets, yet they
finally broke
this barrier
when they
bought the
Capehart
Company of Fort
Wayne, Indiana.
Up to that time
, Capehart had
been known best
for its large
coin music
boxes installed
in bars, dance
halls, and
restaurants.
02.
TIMELINE /
Philo T.
Farnsworth
(1906&endash;1971),
circa 1926.
•
1906
-
Philo
T. Farnsworth
(1906 - 1971),
Photo: circa
1926. Courtesy
Elma G.
Farnsworth.
Philo Taylor
Farnsworth
(August 19,
1906 - March
11, 1971) was
an American
inventor who
was the first
to demonstrate
and patent a
working
electronic
television
system
-
CLICK
FOR COMPLET
FARNSWORTH
TIMELINE 1906
TO
1971
•
CLICK
FOR NB
STUBBLEFIELD
TIMELINE 1888
TO 1928
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