Posted on 08/19/2006 8:14:35 AM PDT by Borges
Not all that obscure. When I was an Electronics Engineering major at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, way back in 1963, Farnsworth came and gave a talk in our little auditorium. Afterwards, he hung around and chatted with individual students. I've known who he was since the 50s.
Each state can have two statues of famous citizens from their state in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol in DC.
Idaho has Philo.
"And the deeper our immersion becomes, the less likely it seems we'll poke our heads above the surface and see there must have been life before someone invented TV."
Until we actually had TV, life was the same as before TV was invented. I remember life without TV quite well. The writer's the fish here.
Hero. But he would never have thought Shepard Smith would abuse his great invention.
Little did he realize the abuse to which his device would be put. If he had, he would have swallowed a .38.
Farnsworth is in a limited club of innovators who got edged out by businessmen. Tesla, Westinghouse, IBM.
you're kidding right??? without that TV in front of you... you wouldn't be able to make that post let alone have FreeRepublic.
P.T. Farnsworth, U.S. Patent 1773980: Television system (filed Jan. 7, 1927)
P.T. Farnsworth, U.S. Patent 2089054: Incandescent light source
P.T. Farnsworth, U.S. Patent 2184910: Cold cathode electron discharge tube
P.T. Farnsworth, U.S. Patent 2221374: X-ray projection device
P.T. Farnsworth, U.S. Patent 2263032: Cold cathode electron discharge tube
P.T. Farnsworth, U.S. Patent 3258402: Electric discharge device for producing interaction between nuclei
P.T. Farnsworth, U.S. Patent 3386883: Method and apparatus for producing nuclear fusion reactions
P.T. Farnsworth, U.S. Patent 3664920: Electrostatic containment in fusion reactors
I am not kidding in the least. I do not have a TV, and haven't had one for decades: I used to have a TV once [for about 2 months], saw the kind of crap which was shown - and immediately got rid of that TV by donating it. May Farnsworth's name remain forgotten, or be held in abhorrence and detestation.
Almost happened to Alexander Graham Bell as well.
Sarnoff was a real bastard. He also did a job on Edwin Armstrong, the inventor of FM, and a number of other extremely important concepts that underly every aspect of wireless technology today. Armstrong eventually committed suicide after years of battling Sarnoff's lawyers. He should have died a rich man, instead he died a pauper.
I disagree most strenuously!
Much science came about from his inventions. (That includes his invention of TV)
Graham Bell was smart enough to keep in touch with research professionals such as Michelson/Morley. Thus he was an insider and could count on support from some businessmen. Westinghouse was brilliant but didn't play the business game right.
May I assume you also ride a horse to work every day?
"Sarnoff was a real bastard."
He was a real survivor, too.
Sarnoff started as commercial manager at RCA (same as his final post at Marconi) and continued his rise through the ranks. He had the prescience to sell all his stock in June 1929, while RCA chairman Owen D. Young lost millions in the crash of October 1929. Sarnoff went on to head RCA.
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