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notes to the MIT Archives. Photograph by Calvin Campbell, MIT News Office. Courtesy of the MIT Museum |
Harold Eugene Edgerton, 1903-1990.
Papers, 1889-1990.
Manuscript
Collection - MC 25
Harold "Doc" Eugene Edgerton, 1903-1990, B.S. 1926, University of Nebraska; S.M. 1927 and Sc.D. 1931 in electrical engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was professor of electrical engineering at MIT, 1928-1966; Institute Professor, 1966-1968; and Institute Professor emeritus, 1968-1990.
The
Harold Edgerton manuscript collection was given to the Institute Archives
between 1978 and 1993 by Professor Edgerton and his family. The processing
and preservation of the collection was funded by a gift from Esther Edgerton.
A detailed folder list is available in the MIT Institute Archives and
Special Collections.
| Collection Highlights | Biographical Note | Oral History (1975) |
Series
Descriptions
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Scope
and Content Note
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| How to Use the Collection | Related Collections |
Exhibits
from the Edgerton Collection
Nighttime
Aerial Reconnaissance Photograph, World War II, March 15, 1944
Sonar
Chart, 1964
Vannevar
Bush Letter about the Physics of Baseball, 1965
Harold "Doc" Eugene Edgerton, 1903-1990, B.S. 1926, University of Nebraska; S.M. 1927 and Sc.D. 1931 in electrical engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was professor of electrical engineering at MIT, 1928-1966; Institute Professor, 1966-1968; and Institute Professor emeritus, 1968-1990. Edgerton perfected the stroboscope and developed photographic techniques that allowed very rapid events to be observed and captured on film. He also developed techniques for underwater exploration, using sonar devices and flash photography, and participated in many oceanographic and archaeological expeditions. During World War II he designed a strobe lamp for nighttime aerial reconnaissance photography for the U.S. Army Air Force and directed its use in Italy, England, and France. In 1947, with Kenneth J. Germeshausen and Herbert E. Grier, former students, he formed Edgerton, Germeshausen and Grier, Inc. (now EG&G, Inc.), a company specializing in electronic technology. In 1953 he began a long association with French underwater explorer Jacques Yves Cousteau, accompanying him on numerous expeditions and designing various devices for underwater photography and exploration. The National Geographic magazine published a number of articles by Edgerton, and used his high-speed photographs to illustrate many articles. Edgerton's photographs are exhibited in museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Oral History
In 1975 Marc Miller of the MIT Oral History Office interviewed Harold Edgerton. The interview material was transferred to the Institute Archives in 1977 by Charles Weiner, director of the MIT oral history office, Professor of the History of Science and Technology. The collection (MC 132) contains supporting documents, a transcript of the interview, and synopses of 18 of Edgerton's laboratory notebooks prepared by Miller for the interview.
The collection includes Professor Edgerton's laboratory notebooks, a continuing record of research activities in his MIT laboratory, 1930-1990. The laboratory notebooks (found in boxes 50-57, 144-147 of the collection) are a central source of information for his research as well as many other personal and professional activities. Researchers interested in what Edgerton was doing at a particular time should look first in the chronologically-maintained notebooks. Notebook entries reveal names of projects in progress, equipment used, and people involved.
Additional items is the collection are Edgerton's autobiographical writings and other materials compiled by him in preparation for a full-length autobiography which was never completed; Edgerton family photograph albums, 1889-1930; and sound recordings of Edgerton's family gatherings, speeches, conversations, and musical performances, 1957-1979. The collection includes Edgerton's professional and personal correspondence, 1938-1990 (bulk 1950-1989); course notes from classes he taught at MIT, 1961-1989, as well as correspondence documenting the operations and projects of the Stroboscopic Laboratory run by Edgerton at MIT; correspondence and other materials documenting Edgerton's personal contributions from 1932 to 1989 to the activities of EG&G, Inc.; and Edgerton's speeches, 1936-1989, and writings, 1928-1989, which document the broad range of his research activities and other interests, including stroboscopic photography and side-scan sonar. Also included are trip files, maps, and charts documenting his underwater research and other field work, 1950-1989, technical specifications files for equipment and experimental setups, and correspondence and reports relating to his development and testing of aerial surveillance equipment for the U.S. Army Air Force in World War II.
Information about the following subjects and people may be found in this collection:
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Vannevar Bush |
Jacques Yves Cousteau |
James Rhyne Killian |
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Britannic (ship) |
Edgerton, Germeshausen & Grier |
Mary Rose (ship) |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Stroboscopic Laboratory |
Monitor (Ironclad) |
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National Geographic Society |
Titanic (steamship) |
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
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Aerial reconnaissance; |
Electronic flash photography |
Electronics -- Research |
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Loch Ness monster |
Night photography |
Nuclear weapons -- Testing |
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Oceanography -- Instruments |
Oceanography -- Research |
Photography -- High-speed |
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Photography in Oceanography |
Photography -- Scientific applications |
Sonar |
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Stroboscope |
World war, 1939-1945 -- Military intelligence |
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