Philo T. Farnsworth - The Boy Who Invented Television

Sep 28, 2026

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Philo T. Farnsworth grew up in Indian Springs, Utah, in 1906, taking on hard work and helping his family while remaining a typical student. As a teenager, he became fascinated with new inventions after learning about the telephone and other products created by dedicated inventors. Later, science magazines and self-study shaped his curiosity about how technology works. In Idaho, Philo read widely, won a national science contest at 13, pursued lessons about electricity, and developed early ideas that led toward electronic television at a young age.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time31 min

AccessFree to download

What’s an Inventor?

The Lure of Science

Getting into Gadgets

by Katrina Van Horn HOUGHTON MIFFLIN by Katrina Van Horn 零 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURTSchool Publishers PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS:Cover ◎ Bettmann/CORBIS.1◎1997 PhotoDisc,Inc.All rights reserved.Images provided by◎1997 CMCD.2◎1997 PhotoDisc,Inc.All rights reserved.Images provided by ◎1997 CMCD.3 Used by permission,Utah State Historical Society,all rights reserved.4◎1997 PhotoDisc,inc.All rights reserved.Images provided by ◎1997 CMCD.5(all)photo from Nostalgiaville http://gono.com.6◎ Comstock.7◎ Chuck Haney/Corbis.8(paper)◎1995 PhotoDisc,Inc.All rights reserved.Images 1995 CMCD,Inc.(sketch)Philo T.Farnsworth Archives.9 ◎MichaelMaslan Historic Photographs/CORBIS.10◎Bettmann/CORBIS.11 ◎ Bettmann/CORBIS.12◎ Bettmann/CORBIS.13 ◎ Bettmann/CORBIS.14(from top)Utah State Archives.◎1996 PhotoDisc,Inc.All rights reserved.Images providedby ◎1996 Steve Cole.Philo T.Farnsworth Archives.◎ Bettmann/CORBIS.◎ Bettmann/CORBIS. Copyright ◎ by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company All rights reserved.No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic ormechanical,including photocopying or recording,or by any information storage and retrieval system,without the priorwritten permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law.Requestsfor permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Houghton Miflin Harcourt School Publishers,Attn:Permissions,6277 Sea Harbor Drive,Orlando,Florida 32887-6777. Printed in China ISBN-13:978-0-547-01705-1 ISBN-10:0-547-01705-7 23456780940181716151413121110 | If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge,Houghton Miffin Harcourt School Publishers
retains title to the materials and they may not be resold.Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited. | | --- | | Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication,or any portion of it,into
electronic format. | | --- | elevision is everywhere.It's been around solong that most people never stop and think aboutlife before TV,or wonder how TV came to be.Maybethat's one reason Philo Farnsworth (FIE lo FARNZwurth)isn't famous.But it's not every day thatsomeone thinks up a world-changing idea at age 14.And that's just what Philo did.He was the kid whoinvented television. That's right.The idea of the television picturetube came to Philo when he was still a 14-year-oldfarm boy!By the time he was 21,he had created aworking model of a television. The televisionthat Philocreated lookeda lot differentfrom thismodern TV. A Hard Childhood Philo grew up in a time and place when leisure—free time to play or hang out on the couch—barelyexisted.Born in Indian Springs,Utah,in 1906,he hada childhood filled with hard work and hardships.Philo and his family struggled to survive on the newfrontier.As the oldest child in the family,Philo notonly did farm and household chores,but he alsohelped take care of the younger kids.He went toschool,too.He was okay at school,but not great—nobody thought he was a genius,that's for sure!Heseemed like a pretty regular kid. Philo T.Farnsworth as a young man # What's an Inventor? As Philo got older,he became more and moreinterested in new inventions.The telephone,forexample,seemed pretty amazing back then.Philocouldn't believe someone in another state could talkright into his ear as if she were in the same room!Philo couldn't stop asking his father questions abouthow it had been invented.His father explained thatthe telephone,and other useful products such as thelight bulb,were created by people who spent theirlives developing ideas for new things.These people,he explained,were called inventors. Philo decided an inventor was a pretty great thingto be.He started looking around and thinking aboutwhat he could invent.What did people need thatdidn't exist yet? Philo was fascinated by inventions such as the teleph

FAQs

How did science reading influence Philo’s development?

Science magazines and books taught Philo the idea of sending a picture signal through the air, increased his curiosity about how things work, and helped him become a better student, much of it through his own reading.

Sep 28, 2026

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