Vladimir Kosmich Zworykin was a Russian inventor, engineer, and pioneer of television technology. He was born on July 29, 1888 in Murom, Russia. Zworykin’s other developments in electronics included innovations in the electron microscope. His electron image tube, sensitive to infrared light, was the basis for the sniperscope and snooperscope, devices first used in World War II for seeing in the dark. His secondary-emission multiplier was used in the scintillation counter. In later life Zworykin lamented the way that television had been abused to titillate and trivialize subjects rather than for the educational and cultural enrichment of audiences.

Named an honorary vice president of RCA in 1954, from then until 1962 Zworykin also served as director of the medical electronics centre of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York City. In 1966 the National Academy of Sciences awarded him the National Medal of Science for his contributions to the instruments of science, engineering, and television and for his stimulation of the application of engineering to medicine. He was also founder-president of the International Federation for Medical Electronics and Biological Engineering, a recipient of the Faraday Medal from Great Britain (1965), and a member of the U.S. National Hall of Fame from 1977.