Edwin H. Land
Edwin Herbert Land, ForMemRS,[2] FRPS, Hon.MRI (May 7, 1909 – March 1, 1991) was an American scientist and inventor,[4] best known as the co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation.He invented inexpensive filters for polarizing light, a practical system of in-camera instant photography, and the retinex theory of color vision, among other things.[citation needed] Land returned to Harvard University after developing the polarizing film, but he did not finish his studies or receive a degree.During World War II, he worked on military tasks, which included developing dark-adaptation goggles, target finders, the first passively guided smart bombs, and a special stereoscopic viewing system called the Vectograph, co-invented with Czech refugee Joseph Mahler, which revealed camouflaged enemy positions in aerial photography.Polaroid marketers incorrectly guessed that the camera and film would remain in stock long enough to manufacture a second run based on customer demand."[18] Beginning in the early years of the Cold War, Land played a major role in the development of photographic reconnaissance and intelligence gathering efforts.Projects included the Genetrix balloon borne cameras, the U-2 program, Corona and Samos photographic satellites, and the Manned Orbiting Laboratory.In 1957, Harvard University awarded him an honorary doctorate, and Edwin H. Land Blvd., a street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was later named in his memory.Although he led the Polaroid Corporation as a chief executive, Land was a scientist first and foremost, and as such made sure that he performed "an experiment each day".[14] Land often made technical and management decisions based on what he felt was right as both a scientist and a humanist, much to the chagrin of Wall Street and his investors.In his laboratory, he built giant studio cameras the size of bedroom closets that produced large format (20 x 24 inch) prints.Compiled since the 1970s, the collection grew to between 16,000 and 24,000 photos shot by some of the world's greatest artists and photographers, including Ansel Adams, Chuck Close, Robert Frank and Andy Warhol.The other Foreign Member of the Royal Society who also signed the book on the same occasion was Ed Purcell, the discoverer of nuclear magnetic resonance and a friend of Edwin Land.