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Edwin Howard Armstrong
Edwin Howard Armstrong (December 18, 1890 – February 1, 1954) was an American radio-frequency engineer and inventor who developed FM (frequency modulation) radio and the superheterodyne receiver system.
He held 42 patents and received numerous awards, including the first Medal of Honor awarded by the Institute of Radio Engineers (now IEEE), the French Legion of Honor, the 1941 Franklin Medal and the 1942 Edison Medal. He achieved the rank of major in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I and was often referred to as "Major Armstrong" during his career. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and included in the International Telecommunication Union's roster of great inventors. He was inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame posthumously in 2001. Armstrong attended Columbia University, and served as a professor there for most of his life.
Armstrong is also noted for his legal battles with Lee de Forest and David Sarnoff, two other key figures in developing the early radio industry in the United States. The prolonged litigation took a toll on Armstrong's health and finances, which led to a breakdown in his marriage, followed by his suicide in 1954. Thereafter, his estate's legal cases were pursued by his widow, Marion, who won several successful suits and settlements.
Edwin Howard Armstrong was born on December 18, 1890, in Chelsea, New York City, the eldest of three children of John Armstrong and Emily Smith. His father began working at a young age at the American branch of the Oxford University Press, which published bibles and standard classical works, eventually advancing to the position of vice president. His parents first met at the North Presbyterian Church, located at 31st Street and Ninth Avenue. His mother's family had strong ties to Chelsea, and an active role in church functions. When the church moved north, the Smiths and Armstrongs followed, and in 1895 the Armstrong family moved from their brownstone row house at 347 West 29th Street to a similar house at 26 West 97th Street on the Upper West Side. The family was comfortably middle class.
At the age of eight, Armstrong contracted Sydenham's chorea (then known as St. Vitus' Dance), an infrequent but serious neurological disorder precipitated by rheumatic fever. For the rest of his life, Armstrong was afflicted with a physical tic exacerbated by excitement or stress. Due to this illness, he withdrew from public school and was home-tutored for two years. To improve his health, the Armstrong family moved to a house overlooking the Hudson River, at 1032 Warburton Avenue in Yonkers. The Smith family subsequently moved next door. Armstrong's tic and the time missed from school led him to become socially withdrawn.
From an early age, Armstrong showed an interest in electrical and mechanical devices, particularly trains. He loved heights and constructed a makeshift backyard antenna tower that included a bosun's chair for hoisting himself up and down its length, to the concern of neighbors. Much of his early research was conducted in the attic of his parents' house.
In 1909, Armstrong enrolled at Columbia University in New York City, where he became a member of the Epsilon Chapter of the Theta Xi engineering fraternity, and studied under Professor Michael Pupin at the Hartley Laboratories, a separate research unit at Columbia. Another of his instructors, Professor John H. Morecroft, later remembered Armstrong as being intensely focused on the topics that interested him, but somewhat indifferent to the rest of his studies. Armstrong challenged conventional wisdom and was quick to question the opinions of both professors and peers. In one case, he recounted how he tricked a visiting professor from Cornell University that he disliked into receiving a severe electrical shock. He also stressed the practical over the theoretical, stating that progress was more likely the product of experimentation and reasoning than on mathematical calculation and the formulae of "mathematical physics."
Armstrong graduated from Columbia in 1913, earning an electrical engineering degree.
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Edwin Howard Armstrong
Edwin Howard Armstrong (December 18, 1890 – February 1, 1954) was an American radio-frequency engineer and inventor who developed FM (frequency modulation) radio and the superheterodyne receiver system.
He held 42 patents and received numerous awards, including the first Medal of Honor awarded by the Institute of Radio Engineers (now IEEE), the French Legion of Honor, the 1941 Franklin Medal and the 1942 Edison Medal. He achieved the rank of major in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I and was often referred to as "Major Armstrong" during his career. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and included in the International Telecommunication Union's roster of great inventors. He was inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame posthumously in 2001. Armstrong attended Columbia University, and served as a professor there for most of his life.
Armstrong is also noted for his legal battles with Lee de Forest and David Sarnoff, two other key figures in developing the early radio industry in the United States. The prolonged litigation took a toll on Armstrong's health and finances, which led to a breakdown in his marriage, followed by his suicide in 1954. Thereafter, his estate's legal cases were pursued by his widow, Marion, who won several successful suits and settlements.
Edwin Howard Armstrong was born on December 18, 1890, in Chelsea, New York City, the eldest of three children of John Armstrong and Emily Smith. His father began working at a young age at the American branch of the Oxford University Press, which published bibles and standard classical works, eventually advancing to the position of vice president. His parents first met at the North Presbyterian Church, located at 31st Street and Ninth Avenue. His mother's family had strong ties to Chelsea, and an active role in church functions. When the church moved north, the Smiths and Armstrongs followed, and in 1895 the Armstrong family moved from their brownstone row house at 347 West 29th Street to a similar house at 26 West 97th Street on the Upper West Side. The family was comfortably middle class.
At the age of eight, Armstrong contracted Sydenham's chorea (then known as St. Vitus' Dance), an infrequent but serious neurological disorder precipitated by rheumatic fever. For the rest of his life, Armstrong was afflicted with a physical tic exacerbated by excitement or stress. Due to this illness, he withdrew from public school and was home-tutored for two years. To improve his health, the Armstrong family moved to a house overlooking the Hudson River, at 1032 Warburton Avenue in Yonkers. The Smith family subsequently moved next door. Armstrong's tic and the time missed from school led him to become socially withdrawn.
From an early age, Armstrong showed an interest in electrical and mechanical devices, particularly trains. He loved heights and constructed a makeshift backyard antenna tower that included a bosun's chair for hoisting himself up and down its length, to the concern of neighbors. Much of his early research was conducted in the attic of his parents' house.
In 1909, Armstrong enrolled at Columbia University in New York City, where he became a member of the Epsilon Chapter of the Theta Xi engineering fraternity, and studied under Professor Michael Pupin at the Hartley Laboratories, a separate research unit at Columbia. Another of his instructors, Professor John H. Morecroft, later remembered Armstrong as being intensely focused on the topics that interested him, but somewhat indifferent to the rest of his studies. Armstrong challenged conventional wisdom and was quick to question the opinions of both professors and peers. In one case, he recounted how he tricked a visiting professor from Cornell University that he disliked into receiving a severe electrical shock. He also stressed the practical over the theoretical, stating that progress was more likely the product of experimentation and reasoning than on mathematical calculation and the formulae of "mathematical physics."
Armstrong graduated from Columbia in 1913, earning an electrical engineering degree.