James Russell (inventor)

Last updated
James T. Russell
Born1931 (age 9293)
Nationality American
Education Bachelor of Arts in Physics, Reed College
OccupationInventor
Employer Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Known forInventing video recording on an optical medium

James T. Russell (born 1931) is an American inventor. He earned a BA in physics from Reed College in Portland in 1953. He joined General Electric's nearby labs in Richland, Washington, where he initiated many types of experimental instrumentation. He designed and built the first electron beam welder. [1]

Contents

In 1965, Russell joined the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of Battelle Memorial Institute in Richland. There, in 1965, Russell invented the overall concept of optical digital recording and playback. [1] He built prototypes, and the first was operating in 1973. In 1973, 1974, 1975 his invention was viewed by about 100 companies, including Philips and Sony, and more than 1500 descriptive brochures were distributed.[ citation needed ] The concept was picked up by many technical and media magazines beginning in 1972.[ citation needed ].

In 2000, Russell received The Vollum Award from Reed College. [2]

As of 2004, Russell was consulting from an in-home lab, in Bellevue, Washington. [3]

Patents

The earliest patents by Russell, US 3,501,586, and 3,795,902 were filed in 1966, and 1969. respectively. [4] [5] Major features of the early Russell patents:

Controversy

Whether Russell's concepts, patents, prototypes and literature[ citation needed ] instigated and in some measure guided the optical digital revolution is controversial. [6] Early optical recording technology, which formed the physical basis of videodisc, CD and DVD technology, was first published/filed by Dr. David Paul Gregg in 1958 and Philips researchers Kramer and Compaan.[ citation needed ] in 1969. Russell's optical digital inventions were available publicly from 1970.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Inventor of the Week - James T. Russell - The Compact Disc". MIT. December 1999. Archived from the original on April 17, 2003.
  2. "INVENTOR AND PHYSICIST JAMES RUSSELL '53 WILL RECEIVE VOLLUM AWARD AT REED'S CONVOCATION" (Press release). Reed College public affairs office. 2000. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
  3. Brier Dudley (2004-11-29). "Scientist's invention was let go for a song". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
  4. U.S. patent 3,501,586 Analog to digital to optical photographic recording and playback system, March 1970.
  5. U.S. patent 3,795,902 Method and apparatus for synchronizing photographic records of digital information, March 1974.
  6. Dave Franzwa (2005-01-12). "The Invention of Optical Digital Recording with James T. Russel". Audio Engineering Society Pacific Northwest Section.