Edwin Herbert Land

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Edwin Herbert Land (born May 7, 1909 in Bridgeport , Connecticut , USA ; † March 1, 1991 in Cambridge , USA) was an American physicist and industrialist and is considered one of the most important pioneers with his invention of the Polaroid release film process of photo technology .

life and work

In 1932, while still a student, he invented a polarization filter made of plastic, the so-called Polaroid filter , which can be produced in almost any size. He made this invention while taking a break from studying chemistry at Harvard University to visit New York City. He then returned to Harvard, but did not graduate, but founded a laboratory with his physics teacher Wheelwright to further develop his invention. This resulted in the Polaroid Company in 1937.

On February 21, 1947, he presented a completely new camera that delivered a finished paper image a few seconds after the snapshot. It was the first instant camera (launched at Christmas 1948). He later worked on various problems in phototechnology, including the development of high-performance aerial cameras, for example for the Lockheed U-2 spy plane .

Land also studied the theory of color vision ( Retinex theory , 1971).

While at Polaroid, he was known for his energy in solving problems. He was able to work tenaciously for weeks on solving a problem without interrupting work for "trivial matters" like meals or changing clothes.

In 1957 he received an honorary doctorate from Harvard University and numerous other universities (such as Yale University , Columbia University , Carnegie Institute of Technology ). From 1957 to 1959 he was on the Scientific Advisory Committee (PSAC) of the US President and later (1960 to 1973) still an advisor to the PSAC. From 1961 to 1977 he was a member of the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) of the US President. From 1967 to 1975 he was a trustee of the Ford Foundation . In 1963 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom . In 1967 he received the Frederic Ives Medal and in 1988 the National Medal of Technology . In 1977 he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and in 1986 as a Foreign Member of the Royal Society . Land held 535 patents.

Land died on March 1, 1991 in Cambridge , Massachusetts at the age of 81. On the day of his death, his personal assistant destroyed his personal records and notes. He was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery , Cambridge.

The Edwin H. Land Medal of the OSA is named after him.

membership

Land was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1943, the National Academy of Sciences in 1953, and the American Philosophical Society in 1957 .

literature

  • Mark Olshaker: The Instant Image: Edwin Land and the Polaroid experience , Stein and Day, 1978, ISBN 0-8128-2442-3
  • Peter C. Wensberg: Land's Polaroid: A Company and the Man Who Invented It , Houghton Mifflin, 1987, ISBN 0-395-42114-4
  • Edwin H. Land , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 19/1991 from April 29, 1991, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)
  • Victor K. McElheny: Insisting on the Impossible: The Life of Edwin Land , Basic Books 1999

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter L. (PDF; 1.1 MB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved February 17, 2018 .
  2. ^ Member History: Edwin Land. American Philosophical Society, accessed October 26, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Country, Edwin Herbert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Country, Edwin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American physicist
DATE OF BIRTH May 7, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Bridgeport (Connecticut)
DATE OF DEATH March 1, 1991
Place of death Cambridge, Massachusetts