Was it a Russian scientist or a Mormon farmer's son? Majority would guess that the individual with the doctorate would be the inventor of the television, not Philo T Farnsworth. Today RCA is paying royalties to the family of the little Idaho farmer who begain his sketching at the young age of 14.
Today's world is filled with discrimination. Just like the gatekeepers of media control what the public sees, as the public dictates what they want to see, that same public gives publicity to whoever they choose. The majority seems to always win. Who will choose the poor white man trying to make a living for his family? Who will give credit to the young kid over the wise man? Those in power, the gatekeepers, create a status hierarchy that Farnsworth was not at the top of. As we learn from sociology, those in power stay in power using oppression and subordination.
Farnsworth was a genius. He started with drawing and then decided to become an experimentor. His ability to excel in Physics and chemistry allowed the beinging of the televison to flicker in a lab with a single flash of light with the movement of electrons. However, after all this work, Sarnoff, the head of RCA took the credit for his invention. Farnsworth won the fight with RCA for the patent, but not the recognition. The individual in power keeps the member of the submissive class in check and didn't give it a second thought.
Too often in this world do we see another being discriminated against and we sit by and do nothing. To stand out away from the majority is a big task to overcome and many find it easier to be passive than proud. However, Farnsworth had the courage to be one man against a gigantic corporation. But he doesn't win the recognition for his invention. The majority does not let him because media had spoon fed them the information that Sarnoff is the inventor of electric television. Just like women not having equal rights as men, blacks the same as whites, young versus old, the minority is the outgroup. It is the outgroup that faces discrimination.
In an interview with "Pem" Farnsworth, she talks about her husbands life. As his partner by his side in the lab for 15 years, she wrote the book, Distant Vision, to capture his brillance. A genius until his death last year, he didn't even live to see a pocket calculator. His story is now being told through media again, but giving him the recognition he deserves. The American dream is to be free, have the opportunities to succeed at life, and watch a game of baseball. Is it too much to ask to allow the dreamer to win an inning or two?
2 comments:
I am pleased to see links to sites which have valuable material about Philo T Farnsworth, I would add
http://philotfarnsworth.com where you can see a list of books written about his man, and the invention of television and other devices.
RCA is NOT paying license fees, and Farnsworth died penniless. RCA said "we do not pay license fees, we collect them!" The courts eventually ruled for Farnsworth and RCA was ordered to pay a one time sum ... no license fees ... had that been the case, Farnsworth would have been a rich man. However, everyone looked at Farnsworth with some degree of admiration because no one had ever forced RCA to pay for any patents they decided to use (steal) You can read up on Edwin Armstrong who invented about everything used in commercial radio up to and including FM Stereo. Armstrong battled RCA all his life to get credit for his enormous contributions to radio technology. Defeated, Armstrong committed suicide. Read "A Man of High Fidelity" Lawrence Lessing.
PBS produced an excellent one hour show for the AMERICAN EXPERIENCE on PBS titled "Big Dream, Small Screen" which is outstanding entertainment because all of what it shows is real. If you get a chance to see that, make certain you see it, it is great work, it is factual, and it is a great piece of art as well. I gather that WGBH Boston, still has a few VHS tapes of the show, alas not available in DVD. There are books out there like "Distant Vision" by Elma G Farnsworth his widow, and "The Boy Who Invented Television" by Paul Schatzkin. There are more, see the list at
http://philotfarnsworth.com.
Kent M Farnsworth
David Sarnoff is clearly the villian in this saga. It continued to play out even a few years ago when Farnsworth was recognized at the Emmy's. They honored him and recognized Pem Farnsworth in the audience-- but then since NBC broadcast the Emmy's that year they had to recognize Sarnoff's grandon in the crowd. They still can't give Fansworth the credit that is truly his.
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