Last Lone Inventor a Tale of Genius Dece

One of the most life-altering inventions of our time — for better or worse — is the television. Yet little is known about the man who can be credited with creating the workable system of image projection that meant that sound and vision could be transmitted to individual homes, a discovery that changed the course of our lives.

Philo T. Farnsworth grew up on a farm in Utah, fascinated by anything scientific, especially the newest invention on the market, radio. He'd heard about the attempts to find a way to bring images into the home in the same way radio had brought sound, but so far no one had been able to accomplish this magical feat. As a teenager, plowing his father's fields one day, he had a vision that showed him the way to make ?television? work. A few years later, after a stint in the army, he raised money to buy his own lab and make this vision a reality. But fate brought him to the attention of David Sarnoff, whose RCA labs were laboring, unsuccessfully, to design a box that would show transmitted images. Like he had done with Armstrong who had discovered the F.M. radio wavelength, Sarnoff found a way to steal Farnsworth's design and the two ended up in patent court. The Last Lone Inventor tells the story of the strugle between two titans, one a genius inventor and the other, a genius businessman, and how this fight symbolized a turning point in the culture of creativity.

Vividly written and based on original research, including interviews with surviving Farnsworth family members, The Last Lone Inventor tells the story of the struggle between two utterly mismatched but equally determined adversaries, one a genius inventor and the other, a diabolically clever businessman, and how this fight symbolized a turning point in the culture of innovation.

"For pop history chroniclers, the story of Philo T. Farnsworth is almost too good to be true. He conceived the idea of the television tube at age 14 in 1921, was quashed by David Sarnoff's RCA and died embittered, forgotten and with only a microscopic fraction of the wealth that the device generated for others. Schwartz (Digital Darwinism) sticks closely to this version of events, but the slant is justified." Publishers Weekly

"Compelling....Strong, dramatic prose." Kirkus Reviews

"A lively and engaging account." Library Journal

Journalist Schwartz tells the story of Philo T. Farnsworth's invention of television technology and the schemes of the president of RCA to steal the patent rights from him. Schwartz paints Farnsworth as a brilliant but naive throwback to an earlier breed of inventor who didn't understand that a new corporate world of science had gained ascendancy.
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In a story that is both of its time and timeless, Evan I. Schwartz tells a tale of genius versus greed, innocence versus deceit, and independent brilliance versus corporate arrogance. Many men have laid claim to the title "father of television," but Philo T. Farnsworth is the true genius behind what may be the most influential invention of our time.

Driven by his obsession to demonstrate his idea,by the age of twenty Farnsworth was operating his own laboratory above a garage in San Francisco and filing for patents. The resulting publicity caught the attention of RCA tycoon David Sarnoff, who became determined to control television in the same way he monopolized radio.

Based on original research, including interviews with Farnsworth family members, The Last Lone Inventor is the story of the epic struggle between two equally passionate adversaries whose clash symbolized a turning point in the culture of creativity.

Evan holds a B.S. in computer science from Union College in Schenectady, New York, and lives with his family in Brookline, Mass. He is a former editor at BusinessWeek, and has written for The New York Times, WIRED, and MIT's Technology Review. His other books include Webonomics and Digital Darwinism.