Alex likes to bring up Filo Farnworth, erroneously credited with everything from being the sole inventor of television to the concept of rasterization (the 'lines' on a CRT) while harvesting corn. What he did invent, though never perfected, was an all electronic camera. He realized that the mechanical, spinning disk rasterizers could never produce the resolution needed to be useful for broadcast. He never overcame the severe light insensitivity of his device. The Iconoscope was used instead. FAX, which uses rasterization, was already in use at the time of Farnsworth's birth. When Farnsworth first demonstrated his system in 1928, there had already been a trans-atlantic television transmission, via cable, between the US and the UK using a whopping 30 scan lines.
Farnsworth, was a genius. No doubt about that. He should be known more for his novel vacuum tube designs, especially in the UHF spectrum. His best though least known invention was the Farnsworth Fusor (us pat 3,386,883). Can you say /Controlled Nuclear Fusion/? Sustained,controlled nuclear fusion was achieved in the lab. ITT caved in to the fission lobby, which included the atomic energy commission. The Wright Brothers are credited with the invention of the airplane. Their /real/ accomplishment? The first manned, self-propelled (though wind assisted), un-tethered, controlled flight where the pilot lived to tell about it. The first manned, self-propelled, unassisted (no wind, catapults or other external sources), un-tethered, controlled flight was by a frenchman a year or two later. Samuel Morse is credited with the invention of telegraphy and the code to use it. His was the second known demonstration in the U.S. and years behind European systems. Morse's assistant developed /a code in 1837/. What is called International Morse Code today was developed by the German inventor Gerke in 1848. Other than the american railroads, no one used Morse's code past the 1870s. Edison is credited with the generation of electricity. Nope. He built systems using DC generators invented years prior. His system was capable of delivering useful electricity up to 1500 feet from the station and was highly impractical. He was aware of Tesla's polyphase AC alternator design (one of those impossible feats history is full of and who's design has changed little in 100 years), having seen it when he employed Tesla. The science center in jersey city had an Edison exhibit on electricity, and if you looked at the /Edison generator,/ it was an /alternator/ with a Tesla nameplate riveted on. Bell didn't invent the telephone, and like Marconi and the radio, relied upon other's published materials as the basis for their /invention. /The Supreme Court overturned Marconi's patent in 1944 due to the prior art of Tesla, and the court was to take up the case of Meucci vs. Bell but Meucci died before the case was to be heard and the court dropped the case. Congress in 2002 resolved (see http://www.house.gov/fossella/Press/pr020611.htm) that Meucci is the inventor of the Telephone and states that had Meucci had the $10 to extend his patent caveat, Bell would not have received a patent. Meucci described the invention in an italian language publication in 1871, six years before the Bell patent, way beyond the 2 year prior art limit on patents. Had Meucci lived Bell most likely would have gone to jail for fraud. Our country is full of these fairy tales. -- Charlie BTW: McCain didn't invent the blackberry, canadians did --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AlexBennettProgram" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/alexbennettprogram?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
