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An underground "Cult Classic" -- Here is the raw, unexpurgated, all-in, "kitchen sink" version of the authorized biography of Thomas Townsend Brown. Genius inventor, gentleman spy and mystic warrior, Brown is the enigmatic scientist who demonstrated the link between electricity and gravity in the 1920s, before disappearing behind a curtain of classified military research and covert intelligence operations after World War II. This is the first-ever comprehensive attempt to follow Brown's bizarre odyssey, and was originally written online from 2005-2008 with the aid of "reliable sources" with first-hand knowledge of Brown's covert activities.

Unlike Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, this is not a fairy tale, though at times it seems like one. So perhaps it is fitting to begin by saying:

Once upon a time, there really was a person named T. Townsend Brown. We know his name. We know where he was born and where he was raised. We know who his parents were, his wife, his children and even his grandchildren. We know most of the places where he lived and there were literally dozens of them. We know where died, and where he is buried.

But that's about all we really know. Beyond that, the man is a ghost, a zephyr, a myth.

Most of the useful details about the life and times of T. Townsend Brown have vanished or been deliberately hidden. Behind a heavy veil of classified military research, covert intelligence operations, legendary experiments with flying discs, lost notebooks, unverifiable claims and fantastic possibilities, an incredible story lurks.

"The Universe is filled with magical things," wrote science fiction pioneer Eden Phillpotts, "patiently waiting for your wits to grow sharper." All the arrows in Townsend Brown's life point to just such a magical cosmos. Like stones hurled across the surface of a mountain lake in the early morning dew, the story points in the life of Townsend Brown all skip across the surface of our consciousness and disappear into a shroud of mist. But if we focus our vision just... so, and look into the mist with fresh eyes, we can see where the stone goes, and see the ripples from where it splashes.

Townsend Brown or, Dr. Brown a his many fans and those close to him still like to call him, despite his lack of academic credentials lived an extraordinary life, and it is time his story was told.

Somehow, the central mysteries of the past century nuclear physics, relativity, quantum mechanics, UFOs and the clandestine operations of the military industrial complex all appear to converge in the life of this one extraordinary man. The few minor accounts of his life already in circulation are largely filled with the sort of vague details that only amplify the mystery that surrounds him. It is time that some semblance of the larger picture however imperfect or incomplete be compiled. - From the Preface

At the tender age of 14 and with very little previous knowledge of electronics, Philo T. Farnsworth brought together the building blocks for the television medium, which turned 75 on September 7. Schatzkin, a Farnsworth scholar, focuses on the boy genius's life story, showing us who and what influenced him. Drawing on 20 years of research (including interviews with Farnsworth's family and confidants), he details the funding of various television experiments, patent protection efforts, and technological developments. This joins a number of other recent biographies on Farnsworth, most notably Evan Schwartz's The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit, and the Birth of Television, which focuses on his battle with David Sarnoff over the organization of television, and Donald Godfrey's more general Philo T. Farnsworth: The Father of Television. On its own, Schatzkin's book is a great biography of a gifted inventor and of value to anyone seeking an accessible tour of Farnsworth's life and challenges. Recommended, particularly for academic libraries with broadcasting and media collections. - David M. Lisa, Wayne P.L., NJ
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Philo T. Farnsworth had one of his first insights into electronic television's design while watching a horse-drawn mower on a farm. It is remarkable enough that a boy should have such an inspiration, let alone that so primitive a technology would influence so advanced an instrument. But such insights occurred regularly throughout his life to a man not only obsessed with transmitting pictures over wireless airwaves but also one possessing a mind able to absorb and resolve every sort of theoretical and technical issue. Schatzkin, although clearly in awe of his subject, finds room to document some of Farnsworth's less amiable characteristics, such as his bouts of drinking and depression, his neglect of wife and family, and his persistent rivalry with RCA's Samoff, who was equally committed to developing television. Schatzkin keeps the pace moving quickly and doesn't let himself get bogged down in the scientific details. The result is a readable, if not particularly analytical, biography of the man whose invention truly revolutionized the world. Mark Knoblauch