Coolidge, William D

Coolidge, William D

▪ American engineer and chemist
born Oct. 23, 1873, Hudson, Mass., U.S.
died Feb. 3, 1975, Schenectady, N.Y.

      American engineer and physical chemist whose improvement of tungsten filaments (filament lamp) was essential in the development of the modern incandescent lamp bulb and the X-ray tube.

      After teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge; 1897, 1901–05) and the University of Leipzig (1899), in 1905 he joined the General (General Electric Co.) Electric (GE) Research Laboratory. By 1908 he had perfected a process to render tungsten ductile and therefore more suitable for incandescent light bulbs; ductile drawn-tungsten filaments have since been a part of modern lighting.

      In 1916 Coolidge patented a revolutionary X-ray tube capable of producing highly predictable amounts of radiation. The Coolidge tube became the prototype of the modern X-ray tube.

      During World War I Coolidge worked on the construction of 1,000,000- and 2,000,000-volt X-ray machines for cancer treatment and also for industrial quality control. In collaboration with Irving Langmuir, he also developed the first successful submarine-detection system.

      In 1932 Coolidge became director of the GE Research Laboratory. In 1940 he was appointed vice president and director of research for GE. Although he retired in 1944, he remained a consultant and director emeritus.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Coolidge, William D(avid) — born Oct. 23, 1873, Hudson, Mass., U.S. died Feb. 3, 1975, Schenectady, N.Y. U.S. engineer and physical chemist. He taught at MIT (1897, 1901–05) before joining the General Electric Research Laboratory, where in 1908 he perfected a process to… …   Universalium

  • Coolidge, William Augustus Brevoort — ▪ British historian and mountaineer born Aug. 28, 1850, New York City died May 8, 1926, Grindelwald, Switz.       American born British historian and mountaineer who, in the course of about 1,750 ascents, made one of the first systematic… …   Universalium

  • Coolidge, William D(avid) — (23 oct. 1873, Hudson, Mass., EE.UU.–3 feb. 1975, Schenectady, N.Y.). Ingeniero y fisicoquímico estadounidense. Fue docente en el Instituto de Tecnología de Massachusetts (MIT) (1897, 1901–05) antes de incorporarse al laboratorio de investigación …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • William Coolidge — William David Coolidge William Coolidge (à gauche avec le chapeau à la main) et d autres scientifiques dont Thomas Edison Willi …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Coolidge — (Calvin) (1872 1933) homme politique américain. Vice président républicain des È. U. en 1921, il succéda à Harding en 1923, puis fut élu à la présidence (1925 1929). Coolidge (William David) (1873 1975) physicien et chimiste américain. Il inventa …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Coolidge tube — Coo·lidge tube kü lij n a vacuum tube for the generation of X rays in which the cathode consists of a spiral filament of incandescent tungsten and the target serves as the anode and consists of massive tungsten and in which the temperature of the …   Medical dictionary

  • Coolidge — /kooh lij/, n. Calvin, 1872 1933, 30th president of the U.S. 1923 29. * * * (as used in expressions) Adams John Coolidge Coolidge John Calvin Coolidge William David * * * …   Universalium

  • Coolidge — (as used in expressions) Adams, John (Coolidge) Coolidge, (John) Calvin Coolidge, William D(avid) …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • William — /wil yeuhm/, n. 1. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter W. 2. a male given name: from Germanic words meaning will and helmet. * * * (as used in expressions) Huddie William Ledbetter Aberhart William George William… …   Universalium

  • William — (as used in expressions) William Alexander Abbott Aberhart, William George William Russell Amis, Sir Kingsley (William) Ashley, William Henry Ashton, Sir Frederick (William Mallandaine) Barkley, Alben W(illiam) Bartram, William William Allen… …   Enciclopedia Universal

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”