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Philo Taylor Farnsworth (August 19, 1906 – March 11, 1971) was an American inventor and television pioneer.〔Obituary ''Variety'', March 17, 1971, page 79.〕 He made many contributions that were crucial to the early development of all-electronic television.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.farnovision.com/chronicles/tfc-who_invented_what.html )〕 He is perhaps best known for inventing 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. He was also the first person to demonstrate such a system to the public.〔"(New Television System Uses 'Magnetic Lens' )". ''Popular Mechanics'', Dec. 1934, p. 838–839. Retrieved 2010-03-13.〕〔Burns, R. W. (1998), ''Television: An international history of the formative years''. IEE History of Technology Series, 22. London: (The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IEE) ), p. 370. ISBN 0-85296-914-7.〕 Farnsworth developed a television system complete with receiver and camera, which he produced commercially in the firm of 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, or simply "fusor", employing inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC). Although not a practical device for generating nuclear energy, the fusor serves as a viable source of neutrons.〔Miley G. H. and J. Sved, "The IEC star-mode fusion neutron source for NAA--status and next-step designs". U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, October 2000. Retrieved 2010-03-13.〕 The design of this device has been the acknowledged inspiration for other fusion approaches including the Polywell reactor concept in terms of a general approach to fusion design. Farnsworth held 165 patents, mostly in radio and television. ==Early life== Philo T. Farnsworth was born August 19, 1906, the eldest of five children of Lewis Edwin Farnsworth and Serena Amanda Bastian, a Mormon couple then living in a small log cabin built by Lewis's father in a place called Indian Creek near Beaver, Utah. In 1918, the family moved to a relative's 240-acre ranch near Rigby, Idaho,〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title= Philo Taylor Farnsworth: Mathematician, Inventor, Father of Television ) Article edited by Kent M. Farnsworth, 2006.〕 where Lewis supplemented his farming income by hauling freight with his horse-drawn wagon. Philo was excited to find his new home was wired for electricity, with a Delco generator providing power for lighting and farm machinery. He was a quick student in mechanical and electrical technology, repairing the troublesome generator, and upon finding a burned out electric motor among some items discarded by the previous tenants, proceeding to rewind the armature and convert his mother's hand-powered washing machine into an electric-powered one.〔Schatzkin, Paul (2002), ''The Boy Who Invented Television''. Silver Spring, Maryland: Teamcom Books, pp. 7-10. ISBN 1-928791-30-1.〕 Philo developed an early interest in electronics after his first telephone conversation with an out-of-state relative and the discovery of a large cache of technology magazines in the attic of the family’s new home, and won a $25 first prize in a pulp-magazine contest for inventing a magnetized car lock.〔 Farnsworth excelled in chemistry and physics at Rigby High School. He asked his high school science teacher, Justin Tolman, for advice about an electronic television system he was contemplating. He provided the teacher with sketches and diagrams covering several blackboards to show how it might be accomplished electronically. He asked his teacher if he should go ahead with his ideas, and he was encouraged to do so. One of the drawings he did on a blackboard for his chemistry teacher was recalled and reproduced for a patent interference case between Farnsworth and Radio Corporation of America (RCA). In 1923, the Farnsworths moved to Provo, Utah, and Farnsworth attended Brigham Young High School beginning that fall. His father died of pneumonia in January 1924, at age 58, and Farnsworth, as eldest son, assumed responsibility for sustaining the family while still attending high school and graduating in June 1924.〔 He went on to attend Brigham Young University that year, and to earn Junior Radio-Trician certification from the National Radio Institute, adding a full certification in 1925.〔 While attending college, he met Provo High School student Elma “Pem” Gardner,〔 (February 25, 1908 – April 27, 2006), whom he would later marry. Later in 1924, Farnsworth applied to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where he was recruited after he earned the nation's second highest score on academy tests.〔 However, he was already thinking ahead to his television projects and, upon learning the government would own his patents if he stayed in the military, he sought and received an honorable discharge〔 within months, under a provision in which the eldest child in a fatherless family could be excused from military service in order to provide for his family. He returned to Provo and enrolled again at Brigham Young University, where he was allowed to take advanced science classes.〔 Philo worked while his sister Agnes, the elder of the two sisters, took charge of the family home and the second-floor boarding house (with the help of a cousin then living with the family). The Farnsworths later moved into half of a duplex, with family friends the Gardners moving into the other side when it became vacant.〔Schatzkin, Paul (2002), ''The Boy Who Invented Television''. Silver Spring, Maryland: Teamcom Books, pp. 20-1. ISBN 1-928791-30-1.〕 Philo developed a close friendship with Pem Gardner's brother, Cliff Gardner, who shared Farnsworth's interest in electronics. The two moved to Salt Lake City to start a radio repair business.〔 The business failed and Gardner returned to Provo. Farnsworth remained in Salt Lake City, and through enrollment in a University of Utah job-placement service became acquainted with Leslie Gorrell and George Everson, a pair of San Francisco philanthropists who were then conducting a Salt Lake City Community Chest fundraising campaign.〔Farnsworth, Elma G., p. 6.〕 They agreed to fund Farnsworth's early television research with an initial $6,000 in backing, and set up a laboratory in Los Angeles for Farnsworth to carry out his experiments.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Early Electronic TV )〕 Before relocating to California, Farnsworth married Pem Gardner Farnsworth (February 25, 1908 – April 27, 2006),〔 on May 27, 1926,〔 and the two traveled to the West Coast in a Pullman coach.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Philo Farnsworth」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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