History of Electrical Engineering

Albert Hoyt Taylor

Seventy-five years ago this month, the PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTE OF RADIO ENGINEERS (IRE) included a paper by A. Hoyt Taylor on the subject of concealed radio receiving systems. He had submitted the paper almost three years earlier, but, like a number of other technical …

Haraden Pratt

Sixty five years ago this month, the PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTE OF RADIO ENGINEERS (IRE) included a paper by Haraden Pratt on an aircraft radio beacon. By the time his paper was published, he was an engineer with Mackay Radio and Telegraphy Company of New …

Hendrik van der Bijl

Sixty years ago this month, the PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTE OF RADIO ENGINEERS (IRE) included a classic paper on the theory of vacuum-tube amplifiers by Hendrik van der Bijl. At the time, he was in the laboratory of the Western Electric Company, the manufacturing unit …

Lewis B. Stillwell

Eighty five years ago this month, Lewis B. Stillwell, an eminent consulting engineer, spoke on the subject of “electricity and the conservation of energy” at a joint meeting of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) and three other national engineering societies. According to Stillwell, …

William L. Everitt

Sixty years ago this month, the PROCEEDINGS OF THE RADIO ENGINEERS (IRE) included a paper on Class C vacuum-tube amplifiers by William L. Everitt. At the time Everitt was teaching electrical engineering at Ohio State University. He is generally regarded as among the most outstanding …

Vladimir K. Zworykin

Sixty years ago this month, the PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTE OF RADIO ENGINEERS (IRE) included a paper on the iconoscope, described as part of an all-electronic television system being developed at the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). The author of the …

Harold H. Beverage

Seventy years ago this month, the PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTE OF RADIO ENGINEERS (IRE) included a paper on long-wave radio measurements by Harold H. Beverage and Harold O. Peterson. Both of the authors were in the Engineering Department of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), …

Frederick Terman and the 100th Birthday of Eta Kappa Nu

The University of Illinois formed the honorary society, Eta Kappa Nu, in 1904. Its principal objective is to encourage excellence in electrical and computer engineering; and it conducts programs that reward leadership and good citizenship at both the student and …

Frederick B. Llewellyn

Sixty years ago this month the PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTE OF RADIO ENGINEERS (IRE) included a paper by Frederick B. Llewellyn concerning the theory of vacuum tubes at ultrahigh frequencies. At the time he was employed as a research engineer at the Bell Telephone …

Karl G. Jansky

Sixty years ago this month, the PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTE OF RADIO ENGINEERS (IRE) included Karl Jansky’s classic paper reporting reception of “electromagnetic waves of an unknown origin” but believed to be from “some source outside …