![]() Land further developed and produced sheet polarizers under the Polaroid trademark.Īlthough the initial major application was for sunglasses and scientific work, it quickly found many additional applications, including: color animation in the Wurlitzer 850 Peacock jukebox of 1942, glasses in full-color stereoscopic (3-D) movies, and to control brightness of light through a window. The company was renamed the Polaroid Corporation in 1937. After a few early successes developing polarizing filters for sunglasses and photographic filters, Land obtained funding from a series of Wall Street investors for further expansion. In 1932, he established the Land-Wheelwright Laboratories with his Harvard physics instructor to commercialize his polarizing technology. His breakthrough came when he realized that instead of attempting to grow a large single crystal of a polarizing substance, he could manufacture a film with millions of micrometer-sized polarizing crystals that were coaxed into perfect alignment with each other.Īfter developing the polarizing film, Land returned to Harvard, but still did not finish his degree. During his first year at Harvard University he studied chemistry but soon left for New York City.ĭespite not having a lab or degree, Land was able to invent the first inexpensive filters capable of polarizing light. ![]() He attended the Norwich Free Academy in Conn., and graduated in 1927. For more information, visit the exhibit website.OSA Honorary Member Edwin Land was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA. The exhibit, housed in Baker Library / Bloomberg Center’s north lobby, will be open to the public until July 28, 2017. The exhibit captures Land’s trailblazing spirit and the myriad ways in which Polaroid changed people’s lives. A beacon of entrepreneurial triumph and progressive leadership, Land wanted his company to exist at the intersection of science and art, which it did for decades. Land was something of a Renaissance man: a scientist, artist, businessman, and industry leader, who created one of the most innovative, research-grounded, and humanist companies of the 20th century, propelling it to remarkable success. The one-step photographs took the country by storm thanks in part to expert marketing and foolproof instructional literature. Another Polaroid product, vectographs, allowed for the viewing of 3-D aerial photos, revolutionizing reconnaissance missions.Īfter the war, the company had to quickly reorganize to compensate for a slump in revenue, spurring perhaps its best-known innovation: instant photography. Focusing its energies on producing polarizing filters for gun sights, periscopes, binoculars, variable-density goggles, and infrared night vision, Polaroid helped to shape war strategy. World War II boosted Polaroid’s sales to unprecedented levels, fully mobilizing the company’s employees for the war effort. Polaroid Land Film Type 40 is pictured with the camera. and to heavily invest in research.Īt $87.50, the leather-bound Polaroid Land Camera Model 95 made its debut in Boston. Morgan and Averell Harriman enabled Land’s startup to be reincorporated into the Polaroid Corp. Hefty investments from Wall Street magnates such as J.P. Wheelwright, and formed the Land-Wheelwright Laboratories in 1933, gradually building a gifted team of scientists, public relations experts, and marketers. Moreover, he defined greatness as giving “the world a wonderful and special way of solving unsolved problems.” Land cherished the ability and freedom to reflect deeply on such problems, and saw science as an essential tool in solving them.Īfter dropping out of college, Land partnered with his physics instructor, George W. He argued that industry should be “dedicated to the discernment of deep human needs,” and hence should do its best to fill them. Land received his first patent for synthetic polarizing material in 1933, when he was 24. This discovery had tremendous applications for decreasing light glare at night, polarized sunglasses, camera filters, desk lamps, windows, 3-D motion pictures, and optical devices. By 1928, he had figured out how to control scattered vibrations of light by using a magnetic field and microscopic crystals, a feat that had stumped physicists for decades. Having enrolled at Harvard College in 1926, Land took a leave of absence after the fall semester, moved to New York City, and delved deeper into his work on light-polarizing material. It’s an intriguing journey through the history of Land’s game-changing inventions, which pushed the frontiers of technology, business, and art. The exhibit, a photographic tour from the company’s fledgling days to its metamorphosis into a major corporation, features original patent documents, personal photographs, marketing materials, news releases, a well-preserved pair of Polaroid variable day glasses, and, of course, the Polaroid Land Camera Model 95.
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![]() When testing inks, or any material that flows, it is important to think about how the material will be processed or handled when in use. ![]() The problem turned out to be a matter of understanding “shear rate” and how it can affect the viscosity of the ink. But the cup method could not always discriminate successfully between inks that proved acceptable and those that were marginal or outright poor performers. This became one of the earliest quality control (QC) tests that checked systematically for viscosity in a quantifiable way. The cups were relatively inexpensive and anyone working the press could easily learn how to make the measurement. Printers developed a more scientific approach to viscosity measurement by using cups with holes in the bottom to measure how much time it would take to drain the ink (Figure 1). This rubbing action was, in essence, a viscosity test, the objective being to tell how much resistance was felt between thumb and forefinger. There was a time when pressmen could tell by rubbing an ink between their fingers as to how well it would perform “on press”. When the ink is too thick, smearing may result during printing too thin and there can be serious fading of the printed image. The printing ink industry is one of the best examples to illustrate the need for viscosity measurement. The only alternative in these situations is to find the proper authority at the manufacturer and obtain the relevant test details. To perform a valid verification check and confirm that the material is within specification requires a duplication of the test method used by the manufacturer. ![]() Data sheets for some polymer solutions, for example, may include a discrete number like 4,500 centipoise (cP), but no further information about how the measurement was made, not even the test temperature at which the polymer was measured. Raw materials in the chemical process industries (CPI) usually have a reported viscosity value on the data sheet that accompanies the product. Experiments have shown that the viscosity values obtained at 0.1 or 0.01 rpm can be several orders of magnitude higher than the one recorded at 20 rpm. When pumping asphalt, the startup torque required to get the pump going initially suggests that a second viscosity test at a much lower rotational speed makes sense. However, this straightforward single-point test does not provide the complete picture for asphalt flow behavior. Record the viscosity value, make sure that it falls within prescribed maximum and minimum limits, and then report whether the number passes or fails. ![]() The standard test method for pumpability, according to ASTM D4402, is to use a regular viscosity (RV) torque rotational viscometer at 20 rpm or a low viscosity (LV) instrument at 12 rpm. An important concept, sometimes forgotten, is that a material’s viscosity is not a single-point measurement, but often depends on a number of factors. This article reacquaints the reader with the basic concepts and terminology for viscosity and addresses techniques to quantify it. The bottom line is to come up with ways to measure viscosity so that you can quantify whether a material will flow the way it needs to. For handlers of all materials that flow, either while being processed or in an end-use, it is important to think about the materials’ flow characteristics. To be brief, viscosity is resistance to flow. Most engineers know what viscosity is, but may have trouble explaining it. |
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