Photographic History Collection: Harold Edgerton
name: label: maker
content: Edgerton, Harold
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content: Harold "Doc" Edgerton (1903-1990) was born in Fremont, Nebraska. He earned his B.S. from the University of Nebraska in 1925 and then worked for General Electric for one year. In 1927 he earned his M.S. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and in 1934 began teaching there as a professor of electrical engineering. In 1966 Dr. Edgerton was named Institute Professor, MIT's highest honor.
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content: Dr. Edgerton is famous for pioneering research in stroboscopic photography and laid the foundation for development of the modern electronic speed flash. His advancements in the photography field enabled him to capture on film what the unaided eye could not see. During World War II Dr. Edgerton photographed the nuclear test explosions (catalogue number 7034A-H).
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content: In the NMAH Photographic History Department, the Edgerton collection was built in collaboration with Dr. Edgerton and his associates at MIT and EG&G, with Kenneth Germeshausen and Herbert Grier between 1959 and 1978. The collection consists of 176 photographs ranging from 8"x10" to 20"x16", 33 2"x2" black and white transparencies, 3 cameras, 2 flash units, and one strobe light. These images are examples of stroboscopic photography and range from the famous Atomic Bomb Explosion photographs (documenting the moment the bomb explodes) to high speed multiple-flash action photographs of Dennis Shute's Golf Swing, the Milkdrop Coronet, or a bullet slicing a playing card in half. These photographs reveal the split-second compression of the Football Kick at the moment of contact and the arc of hummingbird wings while hovering that are invisible to the naked eye without the assistance of Dr. Edgerton's high speed photographs that freeze the fast motion .
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content: Also see Andreas Feiniger (catalogue number 1990.0160).
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content: Work and Industry: Photographic History
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content: Photography
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: COLL.PHOTOS.000055
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Harold Edgerton Collection