![]() 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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