Harold Edgerton (1903-1990)

 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.

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, by first providing him with custom designed underwater photographic equipment featuring electronic flash, and then by developing sonar techniques used to discover the Britannic. Edgerton participated in the discovery of the American Civil War battleship USS Monitor. While working with Cousteau, he acquired the nickname he is still known by in photographic circles, “Papa Flash”.

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.

Edgerton was appointed full professor in electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1948. In 1956, Edgerton was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1962, Dr. Edgerton appeared on “I’ve Got a Secret” where he demonstrated strobe flash photography by shooting a bullet into a playing card and photographing the result. Edgerton’s work was featured in an October 1987 National Geographic Magazine article entitled, “Doc Edgerton: the man who made time stand still.”