"Philo T. Farnsworth (1906-1971) has been called the "forgotten father of television." He grew up in Utah and southern Idaho, and was described as a genius by those who knew and worked with him. With only a high school education, Farnsworth drew his first television schematic for his high school teacher in Rigby, Idaho. Subsequent claims and litigation notwithstanding, he was the first to publically demonstrate a totally electronic television image.".

"Farnsworth filed ten patents between 1927 and 1929 for camera tubes (pictorial scanning), circuitry, and the cathode ray tube (viewing). These were the foundation of the Farnsworth television system. After his early years as an inventor in San Francisco, he developed his own corporations while doing battle with RCA in the 1930s over patent rights. He formed the Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation in 1939, and worked for ITT after it purchased the Farnsworth enterprises following World War II.

At ITT he worked on what he called his "Buck Rodgers" Cold War defense projects and a new energy system called fusion." "Although at one time every television set utilized at least six of his basic patents, Farnsworth realized few financial rewards. The Depression, endless legal wrangling with RCA over patent rights, and World War II all worked against him in one way or another."--BOOK JACKET.