Big Dream, Small Screen

In David Shenk's otherwise compelling new book, Data Smog--a guide to surviving information glut (which includes advice to turn off the ‘small screen'), he wonders what TV's creator David Sarnoff would think of the 50-channel plus monster today. Shenks' question is a reasonable one, except for the fact that Philo T. Farnsworth, not Sarnoff, created television. This engaging and characteristically excellent episode of The American Experience recounts Farnsworth's story: in 1921, at 14-years-old, the Idaho farm boy would confuse his science teacher by sketching the basic idea for "electronic television," eventually putting on the first demonstration of public TV five years prior to Sarnoff's "official" unveiling of television at the 1939 World's Fair. This alternately exciting and tragic story traces Farnsworth's technical achievements and his bitter battles with RCA head Sarnoff who would tie the naïve Farnsworth up in court with a patent fight. A melancholy tale of genius without success, this is highly recommended. Aud: J, H, C, P. (R. Pitman)