A Conqueror of Space: An Authorized Biography of the Life and Work of Lee DeForest

A Conqueror of Space: An Authorized Biography of the Life and Work of Lee De Forest by Georgette Carneal is an absorbing and illuminating account of one of the true architects of the modern world - the inventor whose genius helped usher in the age of radio, motion pictures, and electronic communication. Authorized by De Forest himself, this biography offers a rare, firsthand portrait of the man who bridged the gap between the mechanical and the electronic eras.Through a lively narrative woven with technical clarity and personal warmth, Carneal traces Lee De Forest's extraordinary journey - from his early experiments with the audion vacuum tube to his pioneering work in wireless telegraphy and the "talking pictures." She captures both his boundless curiosity and his turbulent career, marked by invention, controversy, and unrelenting determination. In De Forest's story, the reader encounters a quintessential American visionary: brilliant, idealistic, and often at odds with the business world that profited from his genius.What makes A Conqueror of Space compelling is its balance between scientific achievement and human drama. Carneal portrays De Forest not as a distant genius but as a restless spirit - part dreamer, part rebel - whose work shaped the technologies that connect the modern world. With insight and sympathy, she reveals the mind of an inventor who saw in electricity the potential to unite humanity through sound and signal.Written with the vigor of a novel and the authority of a contemporary record, this biography remains an essential document of early twentieth-century innovation - a celebration of one of history's true conquerors of space and sound.