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

by Daniel Stashower

Book Overview

The world remembers Edison, Ford, and the Wright Brothers. But what about Philo T. Farnsworth, the inventor of television, an innovation that did as much as any other to shape the twentieth century?... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767907590
• ISBN13: 9780767907590
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Broadway Books
• Length: 277 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

The truth to TV

The Boy Genius and the Mogul: The Untold Story of Television recounts the story of Philo T. Farnsworth, the uncredited but true mastermind of television. A true genius from a young age, Philo encompassed a scientific mind unlike most people of his time and background.Managing to acquire a scientific as well as mechanical knowledge primarily through his own means, Philo toiled and eventually created the first digital image we reocognize as television today. This story, however, details the struggles and theft of the television the inventor faced. RCA mogul, David Sarnoff, would play a fundamental role in destroying Farnsworth's credibility. The book follows the rollercoaster ride of Farnsworth's invention and loss of the television, from the successes to the failures and mishaps with luck. The Boy Genious and the Mogul... provides the great tug of war between the common man and big business of the early twentieth century. Daniel Stasworth writes an eloquent novel about the challenges faced by Philo Farnsworth. This exposure of the true workings and toilings of nature provides literally unknown or hidden knowledge of one of mankind's most influential innovations. The conflict and suspense of the heated battles between Farwnsworth and Sarnoff provides a well balanced drama for this biographical sketch. The essense of politics, business, science, and intelligence all combine in this story to provide a great novel about everyone's favorite little black box. It is a story that will amaze, interest, and educate any reader about a true-life story of hardwork, loss, and contentment through the workings of Philo T. Farnsworth. A great read- you should pick it up!

"Boy Genius" is an important historical piece.

Daniel Stashower has written a very important historical book. "The Boy Genius and the Mogul: The Untold Story of Television" is both educational and compelling. It is a remarkable telling of the invention or our most used product. To read about the precocious mind of this young inventor is absolutely magnetic. As a previous owner of one of those embryonic television sets, the information becomes even more personal. It gives life to that old brand, "Philco", stamped on those TV tubes of the late 40's. There is the interesting interplay with his mentors as well, and there is the everpresent dominance of money as the eventual driving force. This book is a two thumbs up, and it should be read by all who have an interest in our most prized electronic gadget.

The Mythic Inventor

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.

Complicated History of Television

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.

The Boy Genius and the Mogul SMECC Recommends!

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...