the life of Philo T Farnsworth - Early Television Foundation

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his new
allowing him to make any public statement regarding
discovery. It was an unfortunate disclosure, because later, when
his findings were found to be inoperative, despite their checking
and approval by experienced outside it
engineers, did Farnsworth
a great deal of harm among the radio engineers, some of
whom even today speak slightingly of Farnsworth because of
this failure.
His youth and the startling nature of his inventions brought
Farnsworth into the public eye to an extent that was somewhat
embarrassing to him and his sponsors. However, while the
publicity was generally not advantageous, it did bring the accomplishments
of the laboratory to the attention of the engineers
and executives of companies of importance in the electrical
and radio business.
One morning when I
dropped in at the lab I found Farnsworth
in a most jubilant mood because he had just received
word that Dr. Vladimir Zworykin, of Westinghouse and
R.C.A., was shortly to visit his laboratories.
Farnsworth had a high regard for the scientific abilities of
Dr. Zworykin, who, through his research and writings, had
achieved considerable reputation at the Westinghouse laboratories.
In his work there Zworykin had had some success in the
transmission of pictures from film by the use of an oscillating
mirror at the transmitter and the cathode-ray tube at the receiver.
At this time the research work of R.C.A. was being concentrated
at Camden, New Jersey,
and Dr. Zworykin had been
transferred from the Westinghouse laboratories to the new
R.C.A. laboratories at Camden.
Farnsworth had knowledge of Zworykin's work and told me
that there was no engineer in the country he would rather have
view his results. The coming of the scientist was therefore
awaited with much interest. Phil felt that here at last would be