One City—Two Giants: Armstrong and Sarnoff [DSP History]

As an avid reader, crazy-gadget-loving engineer, and history enthusiast, I bought a US$1 paperback when I was a graduate student in 1969 titled Man of High Fidelity, the 1969 paperback version of the 1956 biography of Edwin Howard Armstrong by Lawrence Lessing. The story told within was so fascinating that I needed to learn more, so I borrowed a copy (it had been given to an outstanding Radio Corporation of America (RCA) researcher by Sarnoff himself) of the commissioned autobiography of David Sarnoff written by his cousin, Eugene Lyons, published in 1966. It was clear that these two giants of their time had lives that intermingled over more than 40 years.