Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr.
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Thomas Toliver Goldsmith, Jr. (January 9, 1910 – March 5, 2009) was an early television pioneer, the inventor of the first video game, and a professor of physics at Furman University.
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[edit] Biography
Goldsmith was born in Greenville, South Carolina on January 9, 1910.[1][2][3] He received his B.S. at Furman University in Greenville in 1931, in physics, and his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1936, under the supervision of Dr. Frederick Bidell.[2][3][4] After graduating from Cornell, he became director of research for DuMont Laboratories, and (after 1953) vice president;[5] he chaired the Synchronization Panel of the National Television System Committee and also the Radio Manufacturers Association Committee on Cathode-Ray Tubes.[3] He also became the chief engineer for the DuMont Television Network;[6] television station WTTG, formerly in the DuMont network, is named for his initials.[7] In 1966 he left DuMont to become a professor of physics at Furman,[1] and he retired to become an emeritus professor in 1975.[4] He died on March 5, 2009 in Lacey, Washington.[8]
[edit] The first video game
U.S. Patent 2,455,992, granted to Goldsmith and Estle Ray Mann in 1948, describes what may be the world's first video game, and also the first video game patent.[9] Entitled "Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device", the patent described a game involving aiming missiles at a target, and was inspired by the radar displays used in World War II.
[edit] Awards and honors
Goldsmith was a Life Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.[10] In 1949, he won an Institute of Radio Engineers Award "For his contributions in the development of cathode-ray instrumentation and in the field of television."[11] In 1979, the Radio Club of America honored Goldsmith with the first Allan B. DuMont Citation for "important contributions in the field of electronics to the science of television".[12] In 1999, Goldsmith won the first Dr. Charles Townes Individual Achievement Award as part of the Innovision Technology Awards competition honoring innovation in the upstate South Carolina area.[13] A comprehensive collection of artifacts and ephemera of his life and his inventions is housed in the Library of Congress. Furthermore, an award is given annually in his honor by Furman University's Gamma Eta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia to the university's rising senior non-music major student who does the most to advance music in America.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Scopes' story: fits and starts", EE Times, 1997, http://www.eetimes.com/anniversary/designclassics/scopes.html.
- ^ a b Polkinghorn, Frank (May 14, 1973), Thomas Goldsmith: An Interview, IEEE History Center, http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/history_center/oral_history/abstracts/goldsmith8ab.html.
- ^ a b c "Contributors", Proceedings of the I.R.E.: 248, 1944, http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/10933/35706/01694967.pdf
- ^ a b List of emeriti in Furman University catalog 2005–2006, p. 149.
- ^ "3 Promoted by DuMont; Officials of Laboratories Are Made Vice Presidents", New York Times, November 23, 1953.
- ^ Weinstein, David (2004), The Forgotten Network: Dumont and the Birth of American Television, Temple University Press, ISBN 1592134998.
- ^ Brennan, Patricia (May 14, 1995), "WTTG Marks 50 Years; Born In a Hotel Room", Washington Post.
- ^ "Thomas Toliver Goldsmith Jr.", The Olympian, March 11, 2009, http://www.legacy.com/TheOlympian/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=125011059.
- ^ Silberman, Gregory P. (August 30, 2006), "Patents Are Becoming Crucial to Video Games", The National Law Journal, http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1156855192674.
- ^ Life Fellows – SMPTE.org.
- ^ "I.R.E. Awards 1949", Proceedings of the I.R.E. 37 (4): 412–415, 1949, http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=1698002.
- ^ Radio Club of America – Awards.
- ^ Innovision Technology Award winners; Weaver, Terry (June 14, 2004), "Seeking companies with 'InnoVision'", Greenville News, http://greenvilleonline.com/news/opinion/2004/06/14/2004061433320.htm.
