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Show TheSalt Lake Tribune BOOKSSunday, June 30, 2002 DS — Books Offer 2 Crystal--Clear Views BEST SELLERS — Of TV Pioneers Farnsworth, Sarnoff MaEAT) Civil War to the Present. Allen Mikae lian, Mike Wallace (Hyperion) Oh,the Things I Know!. Al Franken (Dutton) 14. The Meaningof Life. Bradley Trevor Greive (Andrews McMeel) 15. Shakey: A Biographyof Neil Young. James McDonough(Random House) How lonely inventor beat a corporate monolith begrudging admiration. Trade Paperback 1. Empire Falls. Richard Russo (Vintage) ine Secretsof the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. RebeccaWells (Perennial) . Bel Canto. Ann Patchett (Perenn’ al) 4. Back When We Were Grownups. Anne Tyler (Ballantine) Here are the week's Booksense bestsellers, based on sales from more than 350 independent book- stores across America. Hardcover Fiction 1. In This Mountain.Jan Karon (Vi king) 2. The Emperor of Ocean Park. eeL. ee ee anny Diaries. Emma MeLaughiin andNicola Kraus (St tin’s) dor) 12. Suzanne's Diary tor Nicholas. JamesPatterson (Warner) 13. The Red Tent. Anita Diamant Piccacn) 4. Prodigal Summer. Barbara Kingsolver Perennial) 5. The Last Time TheyMet. Anita Shreve(Back Bay) Trade Paperback Rett 4. The Shelters of Stone: Earth’s beara -—e Auel (Crown) ‘The Beach House.aes Patterson,eter de Jonge (Little Bro ’. Atonement. Ian McEwan ((Doubley) 7. Jolie Blon’s Bounce: A Novel. James Lee a jimon & Schuster) 4. Nickel and Dimed. Barbara Ehrenreich (Owl) 5. Fast Food Nation. Eric Schlosser (Perennial) 8. The Wailing Wind.Tony Hiller: sathnitarertolins) 6. Ghost Soldiers. Hampton Sides The Dive From Clausen’sPier. AePacker(Knopf) ). Fire Ice. ore Cussler with Paul Sones (Putnam, > Sumner: olGrishin (outta 2. EverythingIs Taainated.Jonathan Safran Foer (HoughtonMifflin) 13. Mortal Prey. John Sandford a Borat| (Anchor) 7. The Worst-Case ae Survival Handbook: Golf. WhoFlew the B-24s Over Germany 1944-45. Stephen E. Ambrose (Touch 5. The Secret Life of Bees. Sue Monk Kidd (Viking) Hardcover Nonficti ion 1, Stupid White Men . . Michael Moore (ReganBooks) 2. You CannotBe Serious. John seeie (Putnam) John Adams. David McCullough ( simon & Schuster) 4. Masterofthe Senate:The Years of Lyndon Johnson.Robert A. Caro (Knopf) 5.Self Matters. Phillip C. McGraw (Simon & Schuster Source) 6. The Right Words at the Right Time. Marlo ThomasandFriends(Atria Books,) 7. Small Wonder: oe Barbara Kingsolver HarperCollins) A Mind at a Time.Mel Levine (Si agreementthattelevision, the broadcasting of pictures through the air, would soon be invented. Both Schwartz and Stashowerpaint inter- 12, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Robert T. Kiyosaki, Sharon L. Lechter (Warner) 13. The Metaphysical Club. Louis Menand (FarrarStrausGiroux) 14. Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. Gore Vidal (Nation Hooks) . Noam Chomsky (SevenStories) Mass Market 1. The DivineSecrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Rebecca Wells (Harper) 2. P Is for Peril, SueGrafton(Ballantine) 3. Face the Fire. Nora Roberts (Berkley) 4, Seven Up. Janet Evanovich(St Martin 5. Pot Shot. Robert B. Parker(Berk ley) 6. Tell No One.HarlanCoben (Dell) 7. The Sum of All Fears, Tom Clancy(Berkley) 8. The Bourne Identity. Robert Lud. tum(Bantam) 9. A Painted House.JohnGrisham (ell) 10. Mystic River. Dennis Lehane (HarperCollins) esting pictures of scientists such as the Scotsman John Logie Baird, who developed a working mechanical tele- The Boy Genius and the Mogul vision (“mechanical” because it had By Daniel Stashower; Broadway Books, $24.95 moving parts) before Farnsworth or mers RCAhad workingelectronic TVs. The authors also offer understandable explanations of the complicated princi- BY MARTIN NAPARSTECK ples behind the competing technolo- SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE In Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., a gies. The books focus primarily on the contrast between what Farnsworth and Sarnoff stand for. Farnsworth, bronze statue of Philo Farnsworth says on its base, “Father of Television.” The Radio and Television Manufacturers ociation bestowed a non-existent entity, the lone inven- upon David Sarnoff the semi-official tor dependent on genius and hard title, “Fatherof Television.” Farnsworth was born a Mormon in Utah,buthis struggle to earn thetitle resulted in himviolat- lies (among others heclaimed tobe the only radio operator to pick up broad- ing his church's teaching by taking up smok ing to relax his nerves and turning to excessive with only one yearof college (BYU), largely self-educated in electronics, represents what today is pretty much work. Sarnoff used self-promotional BeetnaTd INVENTOR forated ulcer. OTE ae Sarnoff's struggle to earn his title is epitomized by his most fa- Iclerision Pai lines. Schwartz gives us limited footnotes ruthlessness to help shape the way most invention is done today, and Stashower gives us none. Both lars available only from large corporations. Thestruggle between the scientific genius and the corporate genius resulted in an epicpatents trial that was, surprisingly to some, won by Farnsworth. Surprising because Sarnoff and RCA had a lot more ulcers; I give them. Evan Schwartz in The Last Lone Inventor(subtitled “A Tale of Genius, Deceit, & Birth of Television”) and Daniel Stashowerin The Boy Genius and the Mogul (subti- tled “The Untold Story ofTelevision”) money and a lot more lawyers. The two books cover pretty much the same ground, repeating pretty much the same anecdotes, including how Farnsworth was notold enough focus on the samethings: First, the race between those who sought to in- to sign the contract that provided him with the financial backing he needed vent a “mechanical” television and to do his research, how hisfirst date with his wife-to-be wasat Bridal Veil those who soughtto invent an “elec- tronic” television, and, second, be- tween the two majorefforts to invent the electronic version, one by Farnsworth working alone (or more accurately with a small staff) and one by Sarnoff, head of RCA whohired teams of scientists and invested millions of dollars. Andboth authors see Farnsworth not only as the real “father oftelevision” but, more importantly, as a solitary hero not appreciated enough by history, and depict Sarnoff with a Plan your Wedding, Reunion or Meeting at Snowbird... Our accessibility, attention to detail, award-winning facilities storyof the boy seeing plowed furrows in a potato field, while according to Stashower the boy was mowing hay and saw how the hay fell in parallel casis from a sinkingTitanic), hard work, and with the millionsof dol- alcohol. He also had a nervous breakdown and received electro-shock therapy, and had twothirds ofhis stomachremoved because ofa per- race, David Borgen sate Piven (Chroni cle) 8. The Darwin Awards. Wendy Notheutt ice) . The Agreements. Don Miguel wtulz(AmboAllen) 10. Meta Dee One Day.David lai il. wild Blue: the Men and Boys 4. Sin Killer. Larry McMurtry(Si. ran & Schuster) ‘ie Schuster) 9. ies in Couragefor Our ‘Time.Caroline Kennedy (Hyperion) 10. Once Upon a Town: The Miracleofthe North Platte Canteen. Bob Grete (Morne) . Who Moved My Cheese? Spen: aer Jonson (Putnam) 2. Medalof Honor: Profiles of Aberiers Military Heroes From the 1. Seabiscuit: An Ame Legend.Laura Hillebrand(Ballantine) 2. The Botanyof Desire. Michael Pollan (Random House) 3. FoundingBrothers.JosephJ. El lis (Vintage) In the early 1920s, the scientific community was in near-unanimous By Evan I. Schwartz; HarperCollins, $24.95 ee 5. Year of Wonders. Geraldine Brooks ener) 10 Be Good. Nick Hornby (Riverhead) 7. The MiracleLife of Edgar Mint. Brady Udall (Vintage) 8. Little Altars Everywhere. Rebecca Wells (Perennial) 9. The Fourth Hand.John Irving (Ballantine) 10. Five Quarters of the Orange. Joanne Harris(PerennialI) 11. The Adventures of Kavalier &‘Clay, Michael Chabon(Pica- The Last Lone Inventor Farnsworth was born a Mormonin Utah, but his struggle to earn thetitle resulted in him violating his church’s teaching by taking up smokingto relax his nerves and turning to excessive alcohol. Healso had a nervous breakdown and received electro-shock therapy, and had two-thirds of his stomach removed because of a perforated Falls in Provo Canyon, and how, later in life, insensitive employers at Philco refused to give him timeoff to attend the funeral of his son. One of the few disagreements on anecdotal facts concerns the famous story of how Farnsworthasa 14-year. old farm boy in Idaho first came up with one of his most important insights (that television would require many parallel linesof light) by looking at a field he was working in. Schwartz gives us the familiar authors seem to be highly dependent onearlier books written by Sarnoff, by George Everson (an early and impor tant investor in Farnsworth), and by Elma “Pem” Farnsworth, the inventor's widow. Schwartz also interviewed Pem, whois now in her 90s, and agreed to give her parts of his ad vance and royalties, which may explain why Stashowerdoesnotcite her as a source in his acknowledgments. Schwartz offers a better explana tion of patent law, of Sarnoff's rela tionship with Guglielmo Marconi, the Italian inventor who helped develop radio, of Farnsworth’s great admira. tion for Albert Einstein, and of how World WarII delayed the final devel opment of commercially viabletelevi sion. Stashowerhas a few anecdotes, that Schwartz doesn’t (including the one about Farnsworth’'selectro-shock therapy). Schwartz's The Last Lone Inventor has a bit more depth andis more com plete on the key patents suit that cli maxed the struggle between n. sworth and Sarnoff. But both books provide excellent overviews of the complex personalities and issues be- hind the development of one of the world’s most important inventions. Martin Naparsteck reviews books from and about the West for The Salt Lake Tribune. ANG THE PEARL AWARDS ce 18... and stunning mountainsetting combineto create an eventto remember. 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