Philo Farnsworth Invents the Image Dissector

One of the most celebrated and prolific inventors of all time, Farnsworth was the quintessential “mad scientist” and inspiration for Professor Farnsworth on TV series Futruama. His “image dissector” was an early television transmission tube that focused light on a detector in front of a tube, which could convert electrons into electrical signals visible by a television receiver. This tube was also the center of a longstanding legal battle between Farnsworth and RCA over the invention of the television. While Farnsworth won the battle, RCA ended up winning the war in the long run despite technology inferior to Farnsworhth’s.