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Vladimir Kosma Zworykin; or with the patronymic as ''Kosmich''; or russian: Кузьмич, translit=Kuz'mich, label=none. Zworykin anglicized his name to ''Vladimir Kosma Zworykin'', replacing the patronymic with the name ''Kosma'' as a middle name, and using the nonstandard transliteration ''Zworykin''. (1888/1889July 29, 1982) was a Russian-American inventor, engineer, and pioneer of television technology. Zworykin invented a television transmitting and receiving system employing cathode ray tubes. He played a role in the practical development of television from the early thirties, including charge storage-type tubes, infrared image tubes and the electron microscope.


Early life and education

Vladimir Zworykin was born in Murom, Russia, in 1888 or 1889, to the family of a prosperous merchants. He had a relatively calm upbringing, and he rarely saw his father except on religious holidays. He studied at the
St. Petersburg Institute of Technology Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology (Technical University) (russian: Санкт-Петербургский Технологический Институт (Технический Университет)) was founded in 1828. It is o ...
, under
Boris Rosing Boris Lvovich Rosing (russian: Борис Львович Розинг; 23 April 1869 (old style, 5 May 1869, new style). – 20 April 1933) was a Russian scientist and inventor in the field of television. Biography Boris Rosing was born in Sa ...
. He helped Rosing with experimental work on television in the basement of Rosing's private lab at the School of Artillery of Saint Petersburg. They worked on the problem of "electrical telescopy," something Zworykin had never heard of before. At this time, electrical telescopy (or television as it was later called) was just a dream. Zworykin did not know that others had been studying the idea since the 1880s, or that Professor Rosing had been working on it in secret since 1902 and had made excellent progress. Rosing had filed his first patent on a television system in 1907, featuring a very early
cathode ray tube A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms ( oscilloscope), pictu ...
as a receiver, and a mechanical device as a transmitter. Its demonstration in 1911, based on an improved design, was the world's first demonstration of TV of any kind.


Career

Zworykin graduated in 1912. He then studied X-rays under professor Paul Langevin in Paris. During World War I, Zworykin was enlisted and served in the Russian Signal Corps. He then worked testing radio equipment that was being produced for the Russian Army. Zworykin left Russia for the United States in 1918 during the Russian Civil War. He left through Siberia, travelling north on the River Ob to the Arctic Ocean as part of an expedition led by Russian scientist Innokenty P. Tolmachev, eventually arriving in the US at the end of 1918. He returned to
Omsk Omsk (; rus, Омск, p=omsk) is the administrative center and largest city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia, and has a population of over 1.1 million. Omsk is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk ...
, then capital of Admiral Kolchak's government in 1919, via Vladivostok, then to the United States again on official duties from the Omsk government. These duties ended with the collapse of the White movement in Siberia at the death of Kolchak. Zworykin then decided to remain permanently in the US. Once in the U.S., Zworykin found work at the Westinghouse laboratories in Pittsburgh where he eventually had an opportunity to engage in television experiments. Zworykin applied for a television patent in the US in 1923. He summarized the resulting invention in two patent applications. The first, entitled "Television Systems", was filed on December 29, 1923, and was followed by a second application in 1925 of essentially the same content, but with minor changes and the addition of a Paget-type RGB raster screen for color transmission and reception. He was awarded a patent for the 1925 application in 1928, and two patents for the 1923 application that was divided in 1931, although the equipment described was never successfully demonstrated.Schatzkin, Paul (2002), ''The Boy Who Invented Television''. Silver Spring, Maryland: Teamcom Books, pp. 111-8. .Abramson, Albert.'' The History of Television, 1880 to 1941''. (1987). Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., p. 209 . Zworykin described cathode ray tubes as both transmitter and receiver. The operation, whose basic thrust was to ''prevent'' the emission of electrons between scansion cycles, was reminiscent of A. A. Campbell Swinton's proposal published in '' Nature'' in June 1908. The demonstration given (sometime in late 1925 or early 1926) by Zworykin was far from a success with the Westinghouse management, even though it showed the possibilities inherent in a system based on the cathode ray tube. He was told by management to "devote his time to more practical endeavours," yet continued his efforts to perfect his system. As attested by his doctoral dissertation of 1926, earning him a
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
from the University of Pittsburgh, his experiments were directed at improving the output of photoelectric cells. There were, however, limits to how far one could go along these lines, and so, in 1929, Zworykin returned to vibrating mirrors and facsimile transmission, filing patents describing these. At this time, however, he was also experimenting with an improved cathode ray receiving tube, filing a patent application for this in November 1929, and introducing the new receiver that he named the "kinescope", reading a paper two days later at a convention of the Institute of Radio Engineers. Having developed the prototype of the receiver by December, Zworykin met
David Sarnoff David Sarnoff (February 27, 1891 – December 12, 1971) was an American businessman and pioneer of American radio and television. Throughout most of his career, he led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in various capacities from shortly afte ...
, who eventually hired him and put him in charge of television development for the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) at its factories and laboratories in
Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...
. The move to the RCA's Camden laboratories occurred in the spring of 1930, and the difficult task of developing a transmitter could begin. There was an in-house evaluation in mid-1930, where the kinescope performed well (but with only 60 lines definition), and the transmitter was still of a mechanical type. A "breakthrough" would come when the Zworykin team decided to develop a new type of cathode ray transmitter, one described in the French and British patents of 1928 priority by the Hungarian inventor Kálmán Tihanyi whom the company had approached in July 1930, after the publication of his patents in England and France. This was a curious design, one where the scanning electron beam would strike the photoelectric cell from the same side where the optical image was cast. Even more importantly, it was a system characterized by an operation based on an entirely new principle, the principle of the accumulation and storage of charges during the entire time between two scansions by the cathode-ray beam. According to Albert Abramson, Zworykin's experiments started in April 1931, and after the achievement of the first promising experimental transmitters, on October 23, 1931, it was decided that the new camera tube would be named the
iconoscope The iconoscope (from the Greek: ''εἰκών'' "image" and ''σκοπεῖν'' "to look, to see") was the first practical video camera tube to be used in early television cameras. The iconoscope produced a much stronger signal than earlier mecha ...
. Zworykin first presented his iconoscope to RCA in 1932. He continued work on it, and " e image iconoscope, presented in 1934, was a result of a collaboration between Zworykin and RCA's licensee Telefunken. ... In 1935 the Reichspost started the public broadcastings using this tube and applying a 180 lines system." RCA filed an interference suit against rival television scientist Philo Farnsworth, claiming Zworykin's 1923 patent had priority over Farnsworth's design, despite the fact it could present no evidence that Zworykin had actually produced a functioning transmitter tube before 1931. Farnsworth had lost two interference claims to Zworykin in 1928, but this time he prevailed and the
U.S. Patent Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexan ...
rendered a decision in 1934 awarding priority of the invention of the image dissector to Farnsworth. RCA lost a subsequent appeal, but litigation over a variety of issues continued for several years with Sarnoff finally agreeing to pay Farnsworth royalties. Zworykin received a patent in 1928 for a color transmission version of his 1923 patent application; he also divided his original application in 1931, receiving a patent in 1935,Zworykin, Vladimir K., Television System
Patent No. 2022450, U.S. Patent Office. Filed 1923-12-29, issued November 26, 1935. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
while a second one was eventually issued in 1938Zworykin, Vladimir K., Television System
Patent No. 2141059, U.S. Patent Office. Filed 1923-12-29, issued December 20, 1938. Retrieved November 19, 2009.
by the Court of Appeals on a non-Farnsworth-related interference case,"Wins Basic Patent in Television Field," '' The New York Times'', December 22, 1938, p. 38:6. Retrieved March 4, 2010. and over the objection of the Patent Office.Schatzkin, Paul (1977, 2001), "Who Invented What -- and When??"
''The Farnsworth Chronicles''. Retrieved November 19, 2009.


Later life

Zworykin married for a second time in 1951. His wife was Katherine Polevitzky (1888-1985), a Russian-born professor of bacteriology at the University of Pennsylvania. It was the second marriage for both. The ceremony was in
Burlington, New Jersey Burlington is a city in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,743. Burlington was first incorporated on October 24, 1693, and was r ...
. A photographic record of his marriage and worldwide tour can be viewed online. He retired in 1954. New frontiers in
medical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...
and
biological engineering Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically-viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number o ...
appealed to him, and he became a founder and first president of the
International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering The International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE) was initially formed as ''International Federation for Medical Electronics and Biological Engineering'' during the 2nd International Conference of Medical and Biological Eng ...
. The Federation continues to honor outstanding research engineering with a ''Zworykin Award'', the prize being travelling funds to the award's presentation at a World Congress.


Death

Zworykin died on July 29, 1982, in Princeton, New Jersey. His wife Katherine died on February 18, 1985.


Honors

Throughout his steady rise in rank, Zworykin remained involved in the many important developments of RCA and received several outstanding honours, including, in 1934, the
Morris Liebmann Memorial Prize The initially called Morris Liebmann Memorial Prize provided by the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE), the IEEE Morris N. Liebmann Memorial Award was created in 1919 in honor of Colonel Morris N. Liebmann. It was initially given to awardees who h ...
from the Institute of Radio Engineers. He was awarded the
Howard N. Potts Medal The Howard N. Potts Medal was one of The Franklin Institute Awards for science and engineering award presented by the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named for Howard N. Potts. The first Howard N. Potts Medal was awarded in ...
from The Franklin Institute in 1947. He was named honorary vice president of RCA in 1954. In 1966, the National Academy of Sciences awarded him the National Medal of Science for his contributions to the instruments of science, engineering, and television and for his stimulation of the application of engineering to medicine. In 1967, Zworykin received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. He was founder-president of the International Federation for Medical Electronics and Biological Engineering, a recipient of the Faraday Medal from Great Britain (1965), and a member of the U.S. National Hall of Fame from 1977. He received the first Eduard Rhein Ring of Honor from the German Eduard Rhein Foundation in 1980. From 1952 to 1986, the IEEE made awards to worthy engineers in the name of Vladimir K. Zworykin. More recently the ''Zworykin Award'' has been bestowed by the
International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering The International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE) was initially formed as ''International Federation for Medical Electronics and Biological Engineering'' during the 2nd International Conference of Medical and Biological Eng ...
. The most complete list of Zworykin's awards can be found online at historyTV.net .


Legacy

Zworykin was inducted into the
New Jersey Inventor's Hall of Fame The New Jersey Inventor's Hall of Fame was established in 1987 to honor individuals and corporations in New Jersey for their inventions. Award recipients are recognized at the annual Award Banquet Dinner. The New Jersey Inventors Hall of ...
and the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Additionally, Tektronix in
Beaverton, Oregon Beaverton is a city in Washington County, in the U.S. state of Oregon with a small portion bordering Portland in the Tualatin Valley. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. Its population was 97,494 at the ...
has named a street on its campus after Zworykin. In 1995 University of Illinois Press published ''Zworykin, Pioneer of Television'' by Albert Abramson. In 2010
Leonid Parfyonov Leonid Gennadyevich Parfyonov (russian: Леонид Геннадьевич Парфёнов, born January 26, 1960, in Cherepovets, Vologda Oblast) is a Russian journalist, news presenter, TV producer and author of many documentary TV shows. Par ...
produced a documentary film "Zvorykin-Muromets" about Zworykin. Zworykin is listed in the Russian-American Chamber of Fame of Congress of Russian Americans, which is dedicated to Russian immigrants who made outstanding contributions to American science or culture.


See also

* List of people known as "father" or "mother" of something * John Logie Baird * Kalman Tihanyi


Notes


References


Further reading

*Albert Abramson (1987) ''The History of Television 1880 to 1941'', Jefferson: McFarland. *Albert Abramson (2003)''Die Geschichte des Fernsehens 1880 bis 1941'', München, Fink Verlag. *Albert Abramson (1995) ''Zworykin, Pioneer of Television'', University of Illinois Press, Champaign. *Fritz Schröter (1932) ''Handbuch der Bildtelegraphie und des Fernsehens'', Berlin: Julius Springer. *Fritz Schröter (1937) ''Fernsehen. Die neueste Entwicklung insbesondere der deutschen Fernsehtechnik'', Berlin: Julius Springer. *Walter Bruch (1967) ''Kleine geschichte des deutschen Fernsehens'', Berlin: Hande & Spender.
The Farnsworth Invention: Fact -v- Fiction
* *

including photographs and bibliography, compiled by Prof. Eugenii Katz of The Hebrew University. *
(Russian) Vasin A.N., Velembovskaya K.M. Pages of the Biography of the "Father of TV" V.K. Zworykin (1888-1982) magazine "Modern and Contemporary History", Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, 2009,№5


External links

*
Vladimir K. Zworykin papers
at
Hagley Museum and Library The Hagley Museum and Library is a nonprofit educational institution in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, near Wilmington. Covering more than along the banks of the Brandywine Creek, the museum and grounds include the first du Pont ...
;Videos
Zworykin interviewed in ''The Story of Television'' in the Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zworykin, Vladimir 1880s births 1982 deaths People from Murom White Russian emigrants to the United States American people of Russian descent Russian inventors Russian electrical engineers 20th-century American inventors American electrical engineers Television pioneers National Medal of Science laureates IEEE Medal of Honor recipients IEEE Edison Medal recipients History of television Discovery and invention controversies Swanson School of Engineering alumni Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology alumni Howard N. Potts Medal recipients IEEE Lamme Medal recipients People from Princeton, New Jersey