The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit, and the Birth of Television FROM THE PUBLISHER
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.
SYNOPSIS
PerfectBound e-book exclusive extras.
"[T]he fascinating true story of the epic tussle between the Lone Inventor and the Mega-Mogul over the most influential invention of all time. This is a riveting American classic of independent brilliance versus corporate arrogance." -- James Bradley (Flags of Our Fathers)
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
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. While there are
other contenders to the title "Father of Television," Schwartz�s cogent
and elegant book persuasively argues Farnsworth�s case and describes the
heartbreak that defined his life. As Schwartz notes, Farnsworth �wholly
underestimated what he was up against,� i.e. corporate-controlled
innovation. Patent law is at the heart of the book, as it both affords
Farnsworth his crack at immortality and provided RCA with myriad
legalistic stratagems to expand its monopoly. A number of patent rulings
went in Farnsworth�s favor, but that made remarkably little difference
to RCA�s eventual control of the medium. Given his adversary,
Farnsworth's na�vet� and some horrendous luck made his defeat virtually
inevitable. Apparently intent on distorting the historical record to
craft his own image for posterity, Sarnoff may one day be remembered --
thank in part to books like this -- primarily as the executive who
crushed Farnsworth.
Library Journal
This is a lively and engaging account of the conception and invention of both television and the system of network broadcasting in the United States. Schwartz (Digital Darwinism, Webonomics) tells the stories of Philo T. Farnsworth, who essentially invented television before he was 30, and David Sarnoff, the founder of NBC, who essentially invented the business of broadcasting before he was 30. These two men were at tremendous odds with each other for decades, and the nature of their conflict helped determine the shape of the U.S. broadcasting industry. While many other works document the beginnings of broadcast media, they tend to be overviews, offering less of a personal story. This book complements D. Godfrey and C. Sterling's Philo T. Farnsworth: The Father of Television, which takes a drier, more academic approach to the inventor's life and work and should be of interest to academic libraries, particularly those with a technology or engineering department. Schwartz's well-researched biography is sure to appeal to anyone who has ever dreamed of coming up with "the next big thing." Recommended for public libraries and academic or special libraries with a media or technology focus. Andrea Slonosky, Long Island Univ., Brooklyn Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Hot on the heels of Daniel Stashower's The Boy Genius and the Mogul (p. 241), another account of the competition between inventor Philo Farnsworth and RCA head David Sarnoff to develop television and introduce it to the American consumer. Unlike mystery-writer Stashower, Schwartz comes at this story with a journalism background, as a former Business Week editor and author of Digital Darwinism (not reviewed), an analysis of the impact of technology on business. He casts the history as a struggle between Farnsworth, a romantic and independent young genius, and Sarnoff, a Russian immigrant determined to make his mark in America. Schwartz depicts Farnsworth as an Edison-like genius who, plowing his father's field at age 14, dreamed up a device that would magnetically manipulate electrons in a cathode ray tube. Sarnoff, on the other hand, imagined the impact that broadcasting moving pictures could have on the US as he climbed up the RCA corporate ladder and began hiring and funding teams of prominent scientists and engineers to pursue his vision. The narrative recounts the two men's courtroom and media struggle as Farnsworth futilely fended off Sarnoff's attempts to wrest control of television away from him. While he lost the legal battle over Farnsworth's patent, Sarnoff's ability to manipulate the media eventually enabled him to claim the title of "father of television" in the eyes of the American public. Farnsworth, the real inventor of TV, according to Schwartz, lapsed into relative obscurity until researchers revisited this dramatic story after his 1971 death. The author's decision to focus on the battles between Farnsworth and Sarnoff not only makes for compelling biography, but alsovividly captures America's 20th-century transformation from an independent, frontier culture to a modern, media-driven society. A natural for those interested specifically in inventors and business history-and Schwartz's strong, dramatic prose ensures that a more general audience will also appreciate it. (16 b&w photos)
Home
