Online Encyclopedia
Philo Farnsworth
Philo Taylor Farnsworth (August 19 1906 – March 11 1971) was an American inventor.
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Biography
Farnsworth developed the vacuum tube television display, an idea he conceived at age 14 and developed at age 21. Patent battles and the outbreak of World War II meant that he was never able to profit from his invention and he remains a forgotten figure overshadowed by inventors such as John Logie Baird who invented an electromechanical version of TV in Britain. The cathode ray tube developed from Farnsworth's work was used in all television sets until the late 20th century and the advent of plasma screens and other variants. However, the commercial power of RCA made them circumvent Farnsworth patents and the inventor did not profit.
The Farnsworth-Hirsch Fusor, or simply fusor, is an apparatus designed by Farnsworth to create nuclear fusion. Unlike most controlled fusion systems, which slowly heat a magnetically confined plasma, the fusor injects "high temperature" ions directly into a reaction chamber, thereby avoiding a considerable amount of complexity.
When Farnsworth-Hirsch Fusor was first introduced to the fusion research world in the late 1960s, the Fusor was the first device that could clearly demonstrate it was producing any fusion reactions at all. Hopes of the time were high that it could be quickly developed into a practical power source. However, as with other fusion experiments, development into generator has proven difficult. Nevertheless the fusor has since become a practical neutron source, and is produced commercially for this role.
It is said that Farnsworth's genius was on the wane towards the end of his life due to alcoholism.
Patents
- P.T. Farnsworth, Patent US3258402, June, 1966 (Electric discharge -- Nuclear interaction)
- P.T. Farnsworth, Patent US3386883. June, 1968 (Method and apparatus)
- P.T. Farnsworth, Patent US3664920. (Electrostatic containment)
Quote
- "There's nothing on it worthwhile, and we're not going to watch it in this household, and I don't want it in your intellectual diet." - Philo T. Farnsworth (Source: Farnsworth's son, Kent)
Fiction
- Farnsworth appears as a fictionalized character in Glen David Gold 's novel Carter Beats the Devil (ISBN 0786886323).
- Professor Hubert Farnsworth is the extremely elderly proprietor of the Planet Express delivery service in the animated television series Futurama.
- In the comedy film UHF, Philo is the name of television channel 62's extraterrestrial Chief Engineer.
External links
- National Inventors Hall of Fame profile
- Philo Farnsworth photo archive
- Rigby, Idaho: Birthplace of Television (Jefferson County Historical Society and Museum)