the life of Philo T Farnsworth - Early Television Foundation

126 THE STORY OF TELEVISION
someone from the outside who understood the language he
spoke and who had the proper appreciation
of what he had
accomplished.
Upon his arrival Dr. Zworykin was gracious in his praise of
Farnsworth's results and seemed tremendously impressed with
what he saw. He was shown in detail all that had been accomplished.
Sitting at Farnsworth's desk on the first
day after his
arrival, in the presence of Mr. McCargar, Mr. Lippincott, and
me, he paid Farnsworth high tribute by picking up the Farnsworth
dissector tube and saying, "This is a beautiful instrument.
I wish that I
might have invented it." This, of course,
made Phil very happy. It was the type of recognition that he
felt he must have if his efforts were finally to succeed in a substantial
way.
Zworykin was astonished at the success Gardner had had in
sealing an optically clear disk of pyrex glass into the end of
the dissector tube. He asked Farnsworth how they came to
find out that such a thing could be done. Farnsworth replied
that it was necessary to have a tube of that kind, so they went
ahead and made it. Dr. Zworykin said he had consulted with the
best scientific glass blowers in the laboratories of both Westinghouse
and R.C.A. and they assured him repeatedly that a seal
of that nature could not be made. He went on to say that he
would be greatly in Farnsworth's debt if he would ask Gardner
to let him see how he accomplished the sealing process. This
was later arranged, and Dr. Zworykin saw Cliff Gardner make
the dissector tube.
Dr. Zworykin spent several days at the laboratory. He and
Phil were constantly together checking and discussing the many
phases of the television development. The visit gave Phil new
confidence and enthusiasm for his work.
In the history of television the names of Zworykin and Farns-