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Hall of FameLearn about the pioneers of electrical technology.
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1. Master list, by century
Founders of the Electrical Age 1750 - 1850
This period was a beginning of electrical experimentation and advanced science. Early important concepts such as conductivity and electromagnetism were discovered and tested. Batteries and electric motors were first developed but electric power was not yet commercially successful. Without commercial incentive the numbers of talented minds working with electricity in the world population was limited as well as the understanding of the science of electricity. The few founding fathers of electrical experimentation in this 100 year period were truly in an era of discovery.
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The Golden Age 1850 - 1950
This period witnessed the exponential growth of scientific knowledge which allowed for engineering some incredibly complex and large scale feats in the world of engineering and power. We saw electric power go from an experimental stage with failed commercial attempts, to an extremely profitable industry. Improvements in science and communication allowed for the rapid growth of new inventions and uses of electricity. The difference between the life of average citizens 1850 to 1950 was perhaps the most dramatic change in the history of humankind. Industrialization and automation would not be possible to this level without the development of electric power and it's myriad of applications. We owe our modern quality of life to the work of some great engineers.
Ernst F.W. Alexanderson - pioneer in wireless and TV transmission 
Ernst Julius Berg - developed two way wireless audio communication. Worked on AC power. 
Katherine Blodgett - Pioneer in surface chemistry 
Charles F. Brush - pioneered Generators, lamps, trolleys and an early profitable industry. 
Edith Clarke - pioneer in electrical engineering and mathematics 
Charles Curtis - pioneer of steam turbines 
William D. Coolidge - improved and improved and invented many technologies including the electric light and x-ray. 
William Emmet - pioneer in the steam turbine, naval propulsion, motors and generators 
Lee De Forest - Invented the vacuum tube, triode & audion. Improved wireless communication. 
Mikhail O. Dolivo-Dobrovolsky - pioneer of 3 phase AC power systems 
Thomas Alva Edison - Over 1000 patents from consumer goods to industrial needs 
Galileo Ferraris - Early AC power pioneer. Inventor of the polyphase AC motor. 
Albert Hull - invented the magnetron (radar) and advanced vacuum tubes (used in many applications) 
Irving Langmuir - chemist, physicist, improved many inventions. Invented cloud seeding and the high vacuum tube. 
Oskar von Miller - early pioneer of AC and HVDC power in Germany 
Daniel M. Moore pioneer of fluorescent and neon electric lighting 
Edwin W. Rice, Jr - AC power systems pioneer. Leader of the electrical industry. 
CW Rice - developed the loudspeaker, early radar, and other technologies 
Frank Sprague - pioneer in the DC electric motor, trolly systems 
William Stanley - inventor of the first modern transformer, heart of the AC power system. 
Charles P. Steinmetz - pioneer of AC power systems, first person to understand AC power mathematically. 
Nikola Tesla - improved upon many technologies, most notably AC power. 
JJ Thomson - physicist. Worked with cathode rays, induction, radioactivity. 
Elihu Thomson - improved DC and AC power systems, arc lights 
George Westinghouse - innovator in many technologies, business leader. |
Modern Pioneers 1950 - 2050
The modern age of electricity is marked with great feats made possible by advanced forms of electrical technology. Computers and aerospace achievements take the highest profile, however many more simple advancements in the everyday home have resulted in some the greatest benefit for quality of life. Engineering has also played a key part in advancing medicine through testing and imaging devices.
David Packard - pioneer in computers 
Nancy Fitzroy - pioneer in heat transfer and mechanical engineering 
Ivar Giaever - engineer, physicist and Nobel Laureate 
Harold Chestnut - pioneer in automatic control and systems engineering 
Robert N. Hall - pioneer in semiconductors, rectifiers, diodes, lasers, etc. 
Carl H. Rosner - Pioneer in superconductors 
Charles Concordia - Pioneer in electrical, computer and systems engineering |
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2. Pioneers of AC power:
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Explore Engineering:
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