Philo Farnsworth
American inventor
Died when: 64 years 204 days (774 months)Star Sign: Leo
Philo Taylor Farnsworth (August 19, 1906 – March 11, 1971) was an American inventor and television pioneer.He made many crucial contributions to the early development of all-electronic television.
He is best known for his 1927 invention of the first fully functional all-electronic image pickup device (video camera tube), the image dissector, as well as the first fully functional and complete all-electronic television system.
Farnsworth developed a television system complete with receiver and camera—which he produced commercially through the Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation from 1938 to 1951, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
In later life, Farnsworth invented a small nuclear fusion device, the Farnsworth–Hirsch fusor, employing inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC).Like all fusion devices, it was not a practical device for generating nuclear power, although it provides a viable source of neutrons.
The design of this device has been the inspiration for other fusion approaches, including the Polywell reactor concept.Farnsworth held 300 patents, mostly in radio and television.