Lee de Forest: King of Radio, Television, and Film [Paperback]

The life-long inventor, Lee de Forest invented the three-element vacuum tube used between 1906 and 1916 as a detector, amplifier, and oscillator of radio waves. Beginning in 1918 he began to develop a light valve, a device for writing and reading sound using light patterns. While he received many patents for his process, he was initially ignored by the film industry. In order to promote and demonstrate his process he made several hundred sound short films, he rented space for their showing; he sold the tickets and did the publicity to gain audiences for his invention. Lee de Forest officially brought sound to film in 1919. Lee De Forest: King of Radio, Television, and Film is about both invention and early film making; de Forest as the scientist and producer, director, and writer of the content. This book tells the story of de Forests contribution in changing the history of film through the incorporation of sound. The text includes primary source historical material, U.S. patents and richly-illustrated photos of Lee de Forests experiments. Readers will greatly benefit from an understanding of the transition from silent to audio motion pictures, the impact this had on the scientific community and the popular culture, as well as the economics of the entertainment industry.

Chapter 1 Born to Invent.- Chapter 2 The Race for Wireless.- Chapter 3 The Meaning of the Audion.- Chapter 4 California Days.- Chapter 5 Radios Arrival.- Chapter 6 Phonofilm, the Promise.- Chapter 7 Phonofilm, the Realization.- Chapter 8 Phonofilm, the Rejection.- Chapter 9 Phonofilm, the Lawyers.- Chapter 10 Lesson and Legacy.

From the reviews:

Lee de Forest: King of Radio, Television and Film  Author Mike Adams, a media professor at San Jose State University, knows radio and film: he brings those worlds together in his discussion of de Forest, including the inventors role in the film industry. This is a well-documented history