Land, Edwin Herbert

Land, Edwin Herbert

▪ American inventor and physicist
born May 7, 1909, Bridgeport, Conn., U.S.
died March 1, 1991, Cambridge, Mass.
 American inventor and physicist whose one-step process for developing and printing photographs culminated in a revolution in photography unparalleled since the advent of roll film.

      While a student at Harvard University, Land became interested in polarized light (polarization), i.e., light in which all rays are aligned in the same plane. He took a leave of absence, and, after intensive study and experimentation, succeeded (1932) in aligning submicroscopic crystals of iodoquinine sulfate and embedding them in a sheet of plastic. The resulting polarizer, for which he envisioned numerous uses and which he dubbed Polaroid J sheet, was a tremendous advance. It allowed the use of almost any size of polarizer and significantly reduced the cost.

      With George Wheelwright III, a Harvard physics instructor, Land founded the Land-Wheelwright Laboratories, Boston, in 1932. He developed and, in 1936, began to use numerous types of Polaroid material in sunglasses and other optical devices. Polaroid was later used in camera filters and other optical equipment.

      Land founded the Polaroid Corporation, Cambridge, Mass., in 1937. Four years later he developed a widely used, three-dimensional motion-picture process based on polarized light. During World War II he applied the polarizing principle to various types of military equipment.

      Land began work on an instantaneous developing film after the war. In 1947 he demonstrated a camera (known as the Polaroid Land Camera) that produced a finished print in 60 seconds. The Land photographic process soon found numerous commercial, military, and scientific applications. Many innovations were made in the following years, including the development of a colour process. Land's Polaroid Land cameras, which were able to produce developed photographs within one minute after the exposure, became some of the most popular cameras in the world.

      Land's interest in light and colour resulted in a new theory of colour perception. In a series of experiments he revealed certain conflicts in the classical theory of colour perception. He found that the colour perceived is not dependent on the relative amounts of blue, green, and red light entering the eye; he proposed that at least three independent image-forming mechanisms, which he called retinexes, are sensitive to different colours and work in conjunction to indicate the colour seen.

      Land received more than 500 patents for his innovations in light and plastics. In 1980 he retired as chief executive officer of Polaroid but remained active in the field of light and colour research by working with the Rowland Institute of Science, a nonprofit centre supported by the Rowland Foundation, Inc., a corporation that Land founded in 1960. Under Land's direction, Rowland researchers discovered that perception of light and colour is regulated essentially by the brain, rather than through a spectrum system in the retina of the eye, as was previously believed.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Land,Edwin Herbert — Land (lănd), Edwin Herbert. 1909 1991. American inventor who developed (1932) the light polarizing plastic film called Polaroid and incorporated it into lenses for cameras and sunglasses. He also invented the one step photographic process (1947) …   Universalium

  • Land, Edwin Herbert — (7.5.1909 1.3.1991) Amerikanischer Physiker und Industrieller, entwickelte 1932 den ersten für fotografische Anwendungen brauchbaren Polarisationsfilter und machte sich anschließend mit der Polaroid Corporation selbständig, die anfänglich Filter… …   Das Lexikon aus „Bernie's Foto-Programm"

  • Land , Edwin Herbert — (1909–1991) American inventor Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Land began his education at Harvard but left to develop a number of commercial ideas. His first success was a method of producing a relatively cheap filter that would transmit… …   Scientists

  • Land, Edwin (Herbert) — born May 7, 1909, Bridgeport, Conn., U.S. died March 1, 1991, Cambridge, Mass. U.S. inventor and physicist. After briefly attending Harvard University, he cofounded the Land Wheelwright Laboratories in Boston in 1932. Interested in light… …   Universalium

  • Land, Edwin (Herbert) — (7 may. 1909, Bridgeport, Conn., EE.UU.–1 mar. 1991, Cambridge, Mass.). Inventor y físico estadounidense. Después de asistir brevemente a la Universidad de Harvard, en 1932 fue cofundador de los Laboratorios Land Wheelwright en Boston. Interesado …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Edwin Herbert Land — Edwin H. Land Edwin Herbert Land né le 12 mai 1909 à Bridgeport (Connecticut), mort le 1er mars 1991 à Cambridge (Massachusetts), était un inventeur et scientifique américain. Sa principale contribution à la science est l invention du… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Edwin Herbert Land — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Edwin Herbert Land Nacimiento 12 de mayo de 1909 Bridgeport, Connecticut …   Wikipedia Español

  • Edwin Herbert Land — (* 7. Mai 1909 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA; † 1. März 1991 in Cambridge, USA) war ein US amerikanischer Physiker und Industrieller, der mit seiner Erfindung des Polaroid Trennbildfilm Verfahrens bis heute als einer der wichtigsten Pioniere… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Edwin Herbert Land — (7.5.1909 1.3.1991) Amerikanischer Physiker und Industrieller, entwickelte 1932 den ersten für fotografische Anwendungen brauchbaren Polarisationsfilter und machte sich anschließend mit der Polaroid Corporation selbständig, die anfänglich Filter… …   Das Lexikon aus „Bernie's Foto-Programm"

  • Edwin Herbert Land — noun United States inventor who incorporated Polaroid film into lenses and invented the one step photographic process (1909 1991) • Syn: ↑Land, ↑Din Land • Instance Hypernyms: ↑inventor, ↑discoverer, ↑artificer, ↑industrialist …   Useful english dictionary

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