1889-1982

Russian-American Physicist and Electrical Engineer

Recognized as the "father of television," Vladimir Zworykin created the iconoscope and the kinescope, two inventions that made that machine possible. Yet that was far from the only achievement credited to this prolific genius, who in his lifetime obtained more than 120 patents. Among his other inventions was the electron microscope, which greatly expanded scientists' knowledge by making it possible to see objects much smaller than those glimpsed by regular microscopes. As for his principal invention, Zworykin was asked in 1981 what he thought of American television programming: "Awful," was his reply.

The son of Kosma, who operated a fleet of river boats, and Elaine Zworykin was born on July 30, 1889, in Mourom, Russia. Zworykin studied electrical engineering under Boris Rosing, an early advocate of cathode ray tubes, at St. Petersburg Institute of Technology. Cathode ray tubes shot streams of charged...