Frederick Cottrell, American Inventor

Frederick Gardner Cottrell (January 10, 1877 - November 16, 1948) was an American physical chemist and inventor. He finished high school, entered the University of California, Berkeley at age 16 and graduated in 3 years. He received an advanced degree from the University of Berlin in 1901 and a Ph.D. from the University of Leipzig in 1902. Returning to a professorship at the University of California, he embarked on work which would culminate in 1908 with a patent for the electrostatic precipitator. It remains a principal technology for pollutant removal from industrial waste flows to this day. Cottrell recognized the business potential of his invention and decided to use it to fund scientific research through the creation of the Research Corporation in 1912 to which he assigned his and other patents. later served as director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines and was instrumental in helium production during World War I. He was selected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1939. He died in 1948 at the age of 71

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