The Boy Genius and the Mogul: The Untold Story of Television

Rating:
Summary: The Mythic Inventor
Review: I had an impulse to pick this book up after seeing a documentary on Philo T. Farnsworth on PBS's "the American Experience" about four years ago. The account on the show was somewhat breezy owing to the hour long format. I was hoping to find more detail in Stashower's book. I was both satisifed and maybe just a little disappointed. Part of me wished that more technical detail had been covered in the book, though the other part of me realizes that this is primarily a dramatic story of an individual's struggle to bring a new technology to market while being raced and opposed by a capitalist juggernaut (David Sarnoff and RCA). This book is more of a showcase for drama, not for technology.

If you're looking for a quick read on the trials and tribulations of one of the key inventors of television, this is a good book. If you're looking for either a primer on early television technology or an extremely detailed account of Farnsworth's battle with Sarnoff, you may be a bit disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: The Mythic Inventor
Review: I had an impulse to pick this book up after seeing a documentary on Philo T. Farnsworth on PBS's "the American Experience" about four years ago. The account on the show was somewhat breezy owing to the hour long format. I was hoping to find more detail in Stashower's book. I was both satisifed and maybe just a little disappointed. Part of me wished that more technical detail had been covered in the book, though the other part of me realizes that this is primarily a dramatic story of an individual's struggle to bring a new technology to market while being raced and opposed by a capitalist juggernaut (David Sarnoff and RCA). This book is more of a showcase for drama, not for technology.

If you're looking for a quick read on the trials and tribulations of one of the key inventors of television, this is a good book. If you're looking for either a primer on early television technology or an extremely detailed account of Farnsworth's battle with Sarnoff, you may be a bit disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: The Boy Genius and the Mogul SMECC Recommends!
Review: If you have any interest in the history of radio and television from the lay person to the engineer you will desire to read a copy of "The Boy Genius and the Mogul" by Daniel Stashower. The hero that we root for of course is Philo T. Farnsworth, one of the inventors of Television technology.
Daniel Stashower, a mystery novelist and biographer of Arthur Conan Doyle, discusses the history and development of Farnsworth's "image dissector." RCA's David Sarnoff (the "mogul" of the title) of course is portrayed as Farnsworth's nemesis. There is a fantastic amount of information on both of these brilliant people and the folk that surrounded them including a good background on Sarnof's TV developers Alexanderson (RCA Mechanical TV system) and Zworykin (Iconoscope <electronic system>). There is also interesting history on Jenkins(US) and Baird (UK), both being developers of mechanical television fame...

Rating:
Summary: The Boy Genius and the Mogul SMECC Recommends!
Review: If you have any interest in the history of radio and television from the lay person to the engineer you will desire to read a copy of "The Boy Genius and the Mogul" by Daniel Stashower. The hero that we root for of course is Philo T. Farnsworth, one of the inventors of Television technology.
Daniel Stashower, a mystery novelist and biographer of Arthur Conan Doyle, discusses the history and development of Farnsworth's "image dissector." RCA's David Sarnoff (the "mogul" of the title) of course is portrayed as Farnsworth's nemesis. There is a fantastic amount of information on both of these brilliant people and the folk that surrounded them including a good background on Sarnof's TV developers Alexanderson (RCA Mechanical TV system) and Zworykin (Iconoscope ). There is also interesting history on Jenkins(US) and Baird (UK), both being developers of mechanical television fame...

Rating:
Summary: Complicated History of Television
Review: The Boy Genius and the Mogul (The Untold Story of Television) is not quite an untold story but it is still one worth repeating and Daniel Stashower does a good job of taking the reader easily through a story that could be much more complicated in other hands (it does after all touch on both science and the legal system, never friendly topics for the casual readers of history). Farnsworth and Sarnoff of the title make interesting protanganists and steep this book in human interest. The story droops at times but it still generally makes for a fascinating read.