Distant Vision: Romance and Discovery of an Invisible Frontier

by Elma G. Farnsworth, E.A. Garn (Introduction)

An intimate biography of Philo Farnswoth, "Father of Television," by his wife, with look at how television got its start and through production, plus at look at some of Philo Farnsworth's other inventions.

333 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1990

Reviews

[Mochalina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's a super short history about Philo Farnsworth for people that never heard the name and are interested to know more. Hopefully I put this in words that will fully sink in in terms of his importance. He was the first human being in the history of humanity on Earth to demonstrate fully electronic television with no moving parts (transmit and receive) in September 1927. He is also the first human being on Earth in the history of humanity to lead a small team that invented and physically built devices to demonstrate something called 'inertial electrostatic confinement fusion' (IEC fusion) in the late 1960's prior to his death. Like I said, this is an extremely short history of who Philo Farnsworth was and thanks to the Internet you can do your own research if you care to. Elma Farnsworth (the author) was his wife and also helped him and her brother and other researchers in their lab in on Green Street in San Francisco in the late 1920's. Ignore the other reviews of this book. When you are talking about folks at this level of importance of the history of humankind there is no such thing as "rambling". If you have an engineering or scientific mind and care about where you came from and why you are here, then read this book. If you don't, go back to facebook and youtube.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great inside look at the invention of electronic television written by Farnsworth's wife who was there when this all took place. Mrs. Farnsworth rambles at times, so a good editor working with her would have strengthened this book. Overall, a must read for someone interested in the battles over electronic television between Farnsworth and Sarnoff.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outstanding biography of one of the unsung heroes behind modern technology, featuring early television but also much more. Written by his wife and business partner who provides much satisfying technical detail along with details of their business and personal lives. I found myself skimming through some of the personal history - it got to be a bit much at times.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intimate, heartbreaking account by the wife of the man who invented television...