Harold Edgerton, American Stroboscope Pioneer

Harold Eugene Doc Edgerton (April 6, 1903 - January 4, 1990) was a professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is largely credited with transforming the stroboscope from an obscure laboratory instrument into a common device. He was a pioneer in using short duration electronic flash in photographing fast events photography, subsequently using the technique to capture images of balloons at different stages of their bursting, or a bullet during its impact with an apple. His work was instrumental in the development of side-scan sonar technology, used to scan the sea floor for wrecks. Edgerton worked with the undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau, where he got the nickname, Papa Flash'. In 1956, Edgerton was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In addition to having the scientific and engineering acumen to perfect strobe lighting commercially, Edgerton is equally recognized for his visual aesthetic: many of the striking images he created in illuminating phenomena that occurred too fast for the naked eye adorn art museums worldwide. In 1940, his high speed stroboscopic short film, Quicker'n a Wink won an Oscar. He died suddenly in 1990 at the age of 86

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Developed Edgerton Flash High Speed High-speed Recipient Sonar Stroboscope Stroboscopic Techniques

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