Available now at a book store near you
(or you can just order it right
here)
The Last Lone Inventor
A Tale Of
Genius
Deceit
and the
Birth of Television
by Evan Schwartz
In a story that is both of its time and
timeless, Evan I. Schwartz tells a tale of genius and
greed, innocence and deceit, and corporate arrogance
versus independent brilliance. In other words, the very
qualities that have made this country -- for better
or for worse -- what it is.
Many men have laid claim to the title "The Father
of Television" but Philo T. Farnsworth is the true
genius behind what may be the most influential invention
of our time. Farnsworth may have ended up a footnote
in history, yet he was the first to demonstrate an electronic
process for scanning, transmitting and receiving moving
images, a discovery that changed the way we live.
Growing up on a small farm in Idaho, Farnsworth was
fascinated by anything scientific, especially the newest
thing on the market -- radio. Wouldn't it be even more
miraculous to project images along with the sound? Driven
by his obsession, Farnsworth found a local philanthropist
willing to fund his dream. By the age of twenty, in
1926, Farnsworth was operating his own laboratory above
a garage in San Francisco and filing his first patent
applications. The resulting publicity brought him to
the attention of David Sarnoff, the celebrated founder
of the NBC radio network, whose own RCA laboratories
soon began investigating -- without much success --
a way to transmit a moving image. Determined to control
television the way he monopolized radio -- by owning
all the royalty producing patents--Sarnoff, from the
lofty heights of his office in a New York skyscraper,
devised a plan to steal credit for Farnsworth's designs.
Vividly written, and based on original research, including
interviews with surviving members of the Farnsworth
family THE LAST LONE INVENTOR is the story of the epic
struggle between two equally passionate adversaries
and how their clash symbolized a turning point in the
culture of creativity.
The
Last Lone Inventor will be available in bookstores
by May, 2002. You can pre-order your copy from Amazon.com
- just click on the logo
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"Farnsworth
is probably the most influential unknown person
in the past century, and Evan Schwartz tells the
fascinating inside story of howthis eccentric
loner invented television and fought corporate
America."
--
Walter Isaacson, chairman, CNN
"THE
LAST LONE INVENTOR is the 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.
I found it more fun than fiction." -
James Bradley Author, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
"The
authors decision to focus on the battles
between Farnsworth and Sarnoff not only makes
for compelling biography, but also vividly captures
Americas 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 Schwartzs strong, dramatic prose
ensures that a more general audience will appreciate
it."-- KIRKUS Reviews
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