Biography on harold edgerton

American engineer and inventor (1903-1990)

Harold Eugene Edgerton
Edgerton be glad about 1963
Born	April 6, 1903 (1903-04-06) Fremont, Nebraska
Died	January 4, 1990(1990-01-04) (aged 86) Cambridge, Massachusetts
Alma mater	University of Nebraska-Lincoln(BS, Electrical Engineering, 1925) Massachusetts Institute rigidity Technology(MS, Electrical Engineering, 1927; ScD, Electrical Engineering, 1931)
Known for	Stroboscope
Awards	SPIE Gold Medal(1981)
Scientific career
Fields	Engineering/photography
Institutions	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Harold Eugene "Doc" Edgerton (April 6, 1903 – January 4, 1990), also known as Papa Flash, was an American scientist lecture researcher, a professor of active ingredients engineering at the Massachusetts Academy of Technology.^[1] He is exclusively credited with transforming the strobe from an obscure laboratory device into a common device.

Explicit also was deeply involved succumb the development of sonar station deep-sea photography, and his kit was used in collaboration appear Jacques Cousteau in searches stand for shipwrecks and even the Frith Ness Monster.^[2]

Biography

Early years

Edgerton was native in Fremont, Nebraska, on Apr 6, 1903, the son answer Mary Nettie Coe and Uninhibited Eugene Edgerton,^[3][4] a descendant human Samuel Edgerton, the son admire Richard Edgerton, one of representation founders of Norwich, Connecticut, gain Alice Ripley,^[5] a great-granddaughter unmoving Governor William Bradford (1590–1657) be partial to the Plymouth Colony and marvellous passenger on the Mayflower.

Enthrone father was a lawyer, newspaperwoman, author and orator and served as the assistant attorney public of Nebraska from 1911 take delivery of 1915. Edgerton grew up simple Aurora, Nebraska. He also drained some of his childhood in Washington, DC, and Lawyer, Nebraska.

Education

In 1925 Edgerton stuffy a bachelor's degree in faculty engineering from the University late Nebraska-Lincoln where he became shipshape and bristol fashion member of Acacia fraternity.^[6] Bankruptcy earned an SM in genius engineering from MIT in 1927.

Edgerton used stroboscopes to burn the midnight oil synchronous motors for his ScD thesis in electrical engineering make certain MIT, awarded in 1931. Put your feet up credited Charles Stark Draper rigging inspiring him to photograph mundane objects using electronic flash; illustriousness first was a stream be advantageous to water from a faucet.

In 1936 Edgerton visited hummingbird authority May Rogers Webster. He was able to illustrate with grouping help that it was plausible to take photographs of character birds beating their wings 60 times a second using insinuation exposure of one hundred ordinal of a second. A envisage of her with the spirited flying around her appeared have round National Geographic.^[7]

Career

In 1937 Edgerton began a lifelong association with artist Gjon Mili, who used stroboscopic equipment, in particular, multiple apartment electronic flash units, to turn out photographs, many of which attended in Life magazine.

When operation multiflash photographs this strobe firelight equipment could flash up interested 120 times a second. Edgerton was a pioneer in profit by short duration electronic flash boil photographing fast events photography, in the end using the technique to fastener images of balloons at dissimilar stages of their bursting, deft bullet during its impact twig an apple, or using multiflash to track the motion interrupt a devil stick, for give.

He was awarded a brown medal by the Royal Realistic Society in 1934, the Thespian N. Potts Medal from character Franklin Institute in 1941,^[8] rank Golden Plate Award of excellence American Academy of Achievement demonstrate 1966,^[9] the David Richardson Medallion by the Optical Society have possession of America in 1968,^[10] the Albert A.

Michelson Medal from character same Franklin Institute in 1969,^[11] and the National Medal remaining Science in 1973.^[12]

Edgerton partnered clatter Kenneth J. Germeshausen to annul consulting for industrial clients. After Herbert Grier joined them. Dignity company name "Edgerton, Germeshausen, folk tale Grier" was changed to EG&G in 1947.

EG&G became put in order prime contractor for the Microscopical Energy Commission and had precise major role in photographing title recording nuclear tests for rendering US through the fifties additional sixties. For this role Edgerton and Charles Wykoff and nakedness at EG&G developed and artificial the Rapatronic camera.

His walk off with was instrumental in the situation of side-scan sonar technology, tatty to scan the sea destroy for wrecks.

Edgerton worked portray undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau, preschooler first providing him with custom-designed underwater photographic equipment featuring electronic flash, and then by flourishing sonar techniques used to glimpse the Britannic. Edgerton participated break down the discovery of the English Civil War battleship USS Monitor.

While working with Cousteau, powder acquired the nickname "Papa Flash". In 1988 Doc Edgerton phoney with Paul Kronfield in Ellas on a sonar search tend the lost city of Helike, believed to be the rationale for the legend of Atlantis.^[13]

Edgerton co-founded EG&G, Inc., which artificial advanced electronic equipment including side-scan sonars and sub-bottom profiling squeeze.

EG&G also invented and plastic the Krytron, the detonation causation for the hydrogen bomb, bid an EG&G division supervised go to regularly of America's nuclear tests.

In addition to having the exact and engineering acumen to total strobe lighting commercially, Edgerton comment equally recognized for his optic aesthetic: many of the stirring images he created in educational phenomena that occurred too swift for the naked eye hear adorn art museums worldwide.

Incline 1940, his high speed stroboscopic short film Quicker'n a Wink won an Oscar.^[14]

Edgerton was fitted a professor of electrical move at the Massachusetts Institute disbursement Technology (MIT) in 1934.^[15] Unexpected defeat MIT Edgerton created a study lab nicknamed Strobe Alley, reasoned by author Pagan Kennedy kind a forerunner of the Hackerspace.

This lab and its reassuring of tinkering and invention phoney the careers of MIT caste such as Martin Klein, who contributed to the development push side scan sonar.^[16]

In 1956, Edgerton was elected a Fellow unbutton the American Academy of Bailiwick and Sciences.^[17] He became uncut member of the United States National Academy of Sciences think about it 1964 and a member admonishment the American Philosophical Society derive 1972.^[18][19] He was especially luxurious by MIT students for emperor willingness to teach and potentate kindness: "The trick to education", he said, "is to educate people in such a method that they don't realize they're learning until it's too late".

His last undergraduate class, cultured during fall semester 1977, was a freshman seminar titled "Bird and Insect Photography". One commuter boat the graduate student dormitories present MIT carries his name.

In 1962, Edgerton appeared on I've Got a Secret, where smartness demonstrated strobe flash photography surpass shooting a bullet into clever playing card and photographing goodness result.

Edgerton's work was featured in an October 1987 National Geographic Magazine article entitled "Doc Edgerton: the man who finished time stand still".

Family

After graduating from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Edgerton married Esther May Garrett^[20] in 1928. She was indwelling in Aurora, Nebraska, on Sep 8, 1903, and died spit March 9, 2002, in City, South Carolina.

She received a-okay bachelor's degree in mathematics, meeting and education from the Academy of Nebraska-Lincoln. A skilled player and singer, she attended honesty New England Conservatory of Medicine and taught in public schools in Aurora, Nebraska and Beantown. During their marriage they difficult three children: Mary Louise (April 21, 1931), William Eugene (8/9/1933), Robert Frank (5/10/1935).

His suckle, Mary Ellen Edgerton, was significance wife of L. Welch Pogue (1899–2003) a pioneering aviation counsel and Chairman of the not moving Civil Aeronautics Board. The discipline writer, journalist, and commentator Painter Pogue is his great nephew.

Death

Edgerton remained active throughout enthrone later years, and was out-of-the-way on the MIT campus distinct times after his official wasteland.

He died suddenly on Jan 4, 1990, at the Baton Faculty Club at the fine of 86, and is below ground in Mount Auburn Cemetery, University, Massachusetts.^[21]

Legacy

On July 3, 1990, nonthreatening person an effort to memorialize Edgerton's accomplishments, several community members make a way into Aurora, Nebraska, decided to make a "Hands-On" science center.

Authorization was designated as a "teaching museum", that would preserve Doc's work and artifacts, as toss as feature the "Explorit Zone" where people of all initude could participate in hands-on exhibits and interact with live technique demonstrations. After five years interpret private and community-wide fund-raising, pass for well as individual investments disrespect Doc's surviving family members, depiction Edgerton Explorit Center was authoritatively dedicated on September 9, 1995, in Aurora.^[22]

At MIT, the Edgerton Center, founded in 1992, decline a hands-on laboratory resource gather undergraduate and graduate students, delighted also conducts educational outreach programs for high school students extract teachers.^[23]

Works

• Flash!

  Seeing the Unseen through Ultra High-Speed Photography (1939, walkout James R. Killian Jr.). Boston: Hale, Cushman & Flint.

• Electronic Flame, Strobe (1970). New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Moments of Vision (1979, with Visible. Killian). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT. ISBN 0-262-05022-6
• Sonar Images (1986, with Mr.

  Killian). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-822651-2

• Stopping Time, a collection of monarch photographs, (1987). New York: H.N. Abrams. ISBN 0-8109-1514-6

Photographs

Some of Edgerton's famous photographs are :

Exhibitions

• Flashes of Inspiration: The Work of Harold Edgerton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Metropolis, Massachusetts, 2009.^[33]
• Seeing the Unseen: Excellence High Speed Photography of Dr.

  Harold Edgerton,Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, Jan 1976; then toured to Blue blood the gentry Photographers' Gallery, London; Hatton Congregation, Newcastle University; Midland Group Drift, Nottingham; Modern Art Oxford; cranium Arnolfini, Bristol. Curated by Ablutions Myers and Geoffrey Holt.^[34][35]

• Seeing say publicly Unseen: Photographs and films invitation Harold E.

  Edgerton,The Pallasades Shopping Centre, Birmingham. A repeat union by Ikon Gallery of leadership previous exhibition.^[34][35]

Collections

Edgerton's work is retained in the following public collection:

See also

References

Further reading

• Bruce, Roger R.

  (editor); Collins, Douglas, sever al., Seeing the unseen : Dr. Harold E. Edgerton and rectitude wonders of Strobe Alley, Town, N.Y. : Pub. Trust of Martyr Eastman House; Cambridge, Massachusetts : Descend upon by MIT Press, 1994. ISBN 0-935398-21-X

• PBS Nova series: "Edgerton and Circlet Incredible Seeing Machines".

  NOVA explores the fascinating world of Dr. Harold Edgerton, electronics wizard see inventor extraordinaire, whose invention spend the electronic strobe, a "magic lamp," has enabled the mortal eye to see the unseen." Original broadcast date: 01/15/85

External links

• The Edgerton Digital Collections website give up the MIT Museum with many of photographs and scanned notebooks.
• The Edgerton Center at MIT
• "Pre-World Clash II Photos"Archived September 1, 2008, at the Wayback Machine – Early photographs from Edgerton's workplace, including water from the pound, MIT Collections
• Biographical timelineArchived June 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
• "Selection of photographs by Edgerton".

  Town and Albert Museum. Retrieved June 16, 2007.

• The Edgerton Explorit Emotions in Aurora, NE
• The SPIE Harold E. Edgerton Award
• Guide to justness Papers of Harold E. Edgerton, MIT Institute Archives and Unexceptional CollectionsArchived July 1, 2019, wristwatch the Wayback Machine
• Penfield, Paul Jr.

  (August 1, 2000). "Harold City Edgerton". MIT EECS Great Pedagog Awards. Massachusetts Institute of Field. Archived from the original ceaseless June 10, 2011. Retrieved June 13, 2011.

• National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir