We look at screens all day - but do you know the origins of the most ubiquitous appliance in history - or how the story of its genesis has been buried under decades of corporate intrigue and avarice?

In the summer of 1921, Philo T. Farnsworth was not all that different from any other farmer's son in rural Idaho - when he came up with an idea that would change the world.
After proving his idea would work in 1927, Farnsworth was on the cusp of fame and fortune - until a competitor showed up in his laboratory under false pretenses in 1930.
The Boy Who Invented Television is the definitive account of a once-in-a-century prodigy and his epic struggle to fend of one of the most ruthless monopolies in the world - David Sarnoff's Radio Corporation of America. Author Paul Schatzkin's diligent independent research exposes an essential historical narrative that has been swept under the rug of corporate public relations sinces the 1930s.

From this intimately told tale - drawn from the author's long-standing personal relationship with the Farnsworth family and surviving colleagues, you'll learn:

...of the scientific breakthrough - based on the theories of Albert Einstein - that made television possible;

...how every video screen on the planet - including the one you are looking at now - can trace its origins to a sketch that Farnsworth drew for his high school science teacher in 1922 - when he was 14 years old!

...how the legal and financial struggles Farnsworth endured resulted in his relative obscurity today, and...

... how the battle over television in the 20th century may have deprived the world of the climate-saving energy technology we need in the 21st - clean and abundant energy from the controlled nuclear fusion.

By telling the story of a man few people have heard of - whose invention we use every day! - this biography is a 'must read' for anybody who watches television.

Buy The Boy Who Invented Television - and awaken the incredible genius that comes alive everytime you turn on your TV - or look at your smartphone!

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(First published in 2002, this 2023 reissue includes a new Foreword, and an Afterword account of more recent events recognizing Farnworth's indispensable contribution - including his induction into the Television Academy's Hall of Fame in 2013.)