the life of Philo T Farnsworth - Early Television Foundation

130 THE STORY OF TELEVISION
irons back and forth from one surface to the other under proper
control, he could get almost infinite multiplication in a split
fraction of a second. In other words, each original electron,
upon hitting the first surface, would have a "litter of from two
to seven puppies/' These would be released at high speed and
proceed to the opposite plate with the parent electron and each
one of them, upon impact, would free another litter of electron
puppies. Since the speed of electrons is
equal to the speed of
light, it was calculated theoretically that once this process was
set in motion, within a second's duration the multiplication of
power would produce as much electrical current as is now available
in all of the electrical plants
in the world. Naturally no
such power could be generated within a small vacuum tube
without destroying everything, including the tube itself; however,
under proper control Phil believed it could be used as a
most efficient means of radio amplification and have farreaching
effects in the entire realm of electronics.
The more Phil explored the possibilities of this conception,
the greater became his enthusiasm for it
as a solution to his
amplifier problems. The method of stepping up the current
that it offered seemed so straightforward and right that he determined
to tackle it as a major research problem. To accomplish
his ends two lines of attack seemed necessary: first, to determine
what metal was most efficient for the purpose, and second, to
design
use.
a tube that would harness the electrons for
practical
Following the first line of attack, he knew that there were
great variations in the secondary-emission properties of metals.
Some metals released only one or two secondaries. Others released
more. To achieve maximum results he wanted to find
the surface that would release the largest
number of electrons.
Russell Varian, a well-equipped electrochemist, was set to