Harold Edgerton & World War II

The Edgerton Team

6.933 The Structure of Engineering RevolutionsFall 2000

Roozbeh GhaffariOzge Nadia Gozum

Katherine KochAmy Ng

Hua Fung TehPeter Yang

Harold E. Edgerton

The Bullets

The Famous Milk Drop

Sports Photography

We Researched!

MIT Archives Laboratory Notebooks Published Articles, Speeches Correspondences, Conversations

MIT Museum and The Strobe Alley Dean Kim Vandiver, Dr. Jim Bales Books by Edgerton and Killian Books about MIT History

Harold E. Edgerton (HEE)

Harold E. Edgerton (1903-1990)

‘03

Born in Nebraska

‘27 ‘39 ‘47

’25 BS in EEU. of Nebraska

EntersMIT

’31 PhD

’32 Asst Prof.

’38 Assoc Prof.

Starts WWIIwork

EG&G

’48 Prof.

‘53 ‘73 ‘90‘68

Joins J. Cousteau Mary Rose

USS Monitor

’66Inst Prof.

‘75LeaveEG&G

DiedFaculty Club

’68 ProfEmrt

Cousteau Baibi HEE

Timeline

Focus: Examine the influence of World War II on Harold Edgerton’s research.

1927 196319471939Pre-World War II

World War IIPost-World War II

Roadmap

Pre-War MIT Work & Research Role during World War II– Aerial Photography Influences of the War A. Work Environment B. Scale & Magnitude C. Broadening of Applications

D. New Areas of Research

Pre-War Work & Research at MIT

His Main Technology : Basic Control Mechanism

Edgerton Encounters The Strobe ‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

MIT when Edgerton Started

1920: Save MIT from being a “trouble-shooting agency for the industry.”

1929: The Depression and consulting for the industry continued.

‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Karl Compton

Use of the Stroboscope

Overcome our inherent inability to “see” and therefore study fast motions as they occur

Electronic Control of flash duration made this possible to be run at 14,400 rpm.

Sample Applications

Pictures taken by Edgerton during His Industrial Work‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Educational Uses of The Stroboscope‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Edgerton’s Cognitive Style

Meticulous nature and incessant work ethic

Creative and innovative thinker

Demonstrations and press coverage

‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Edgerton’s Cognitive Style‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Meticulous nature, and incessant work ethic Creative and innovative thinker Demonstrations and press coverage

Meticulous nature, and incessant work ethic Creative and innovative thinker Demonstrations and press coverage

Role during World War II– Aerial Photography

Prime Candidate for War Research

Widely recognized for his pre-war work in photography

Research at a leading technological Institution– MIT

Expertise in Electronic Flash Technology

‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Airplanes took pictures of enemy territory

Enemy movements occurred at mainly at night

Need for advanced nighttime aerial photography

Aerial Reconnaissance in a Nutshell

Old System: Flash Bomb Aerial Photography

Flash Bomb Aerial Photography

Disadvantages Explosive

Bomb number limited per flight

Fixed altitude

Not effective in bad weather

Goddard Commissions Edgerton

One Saturday afternoon we were down in the lab working, and a fella came in and said ‘Where is that blinking light I keep hearing about,’’ and I said, ‘ It’s right here.’ “ - HEE

‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Major Goddard

Solution: Electronic Flash Unit

Electronic Flash Technology

Advantages:- Non-explosive- Any altitude- Reusable

Disadvantages:- Heavy- No shadows- “Fogging” of pictures

‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Architecture of Pre-War Flash

System Architecture of Aerial Flash Unit‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Black Box: Attention to System Usability

3 steps to operation:- Turn on power- Charge Capacitors- Take photograph

Abstracted flash system to “black box” for use by military personnel.

‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Technology Timeline

Quickly adapted existing technology to new, war-driven application

First test: End of 1939 (1/4 scale)

Full scale test: April of 1941

Used in Europe & the Pacific

‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Technology Timeline

Six models produced by end of war

D1: 1000 ft, 150 lb D2: 5000 ft, 500 lb D3: 20,000 ft, 5400+ lb D4, D5, D6 modified

versions of D2: D4: low altitude ops D5: used

standardized components

D6: high-speed

‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

'39 '40 '41 '42 '43 '44 '45 '46 '47 '48 '49 '50 '51 '52 '53

Development and Operation Years of Different Models

D1

D5

D6

D4

D3

D2

Crucial Role in D-Day Invasion

Complete Unit‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Influences of War

A. Work EnvironmentB. Scale & MagnitudeC. Broadening of Applications D. Post-War Nuclear Research and EG&G, Inc.

Before : Controlled Experiments

Before: Access to Resources

Field Tests

Wright Field, Ohio (‘39-’43) Italy and England (‘44)

Nature of the experiments: Uncontrolled conditions Lack of resources Each experiment cost

time and money

‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Part of the Army - Not an isolated engineer

“Doc was a man of action and always got the job done with distinction. The men at Chalgrove, England marveled at his unbounding energy as they saw him in coveralls clinging in and out of airplanes and dashing to his machine shop and about the field on personnel training schedules.”

Major Goddard

‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Influences of War

A. Work EnvironmentB. Scale & MagnitudeC. Broadening of Applications D. New Areas of Reseach

Change of Focus

From getting the detail and a close up picture…

To long range photography…

‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

From Milk Drop to Stonehenge‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Change of Scale for Edgerton‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Energy Released Per Flash

0.135 3423200

32000

Strobotac D-1 Flash D-2 Flash D-3 Flash

Wat

t-S

eco

nd

s

How powerful?

Change of Scale for Edgerton‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Energy Released Per Flash

0.135 3423200

32000

Strobotac D-1 Flash D-2 Flash D-3 Flash

Wat

t-S

eco

nd

s

12 lb 5400+ lb500 lb

150 lb

Influences of War

A. Work EnvironmentB. Scale & MagnitudeC. Broadening of Applications D. New Areas of Research

Ballistics Photography‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Ballistics Photography‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Aircraft Beacons

Both Edgerton and Air Corps saw need for landing beacons

New, non-photographic application for strobe technology

‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Influences of War

A. Work EnvironmentB. Scale & MagnitudeC. Broadening of Applications D. New Areas of Research

What is EG&G, Inc.?

Key government contractor for multitude of projects, usually involving weapons technology

Company co-founded by Edgerton in 1947

Started out doing nuclear testing Nothing like what Edgerton had

done before

From Hummingbirds to Atomic Bombs?

Early roots of EG&G, Inc.

Other 2 founders: Kenneth Germeshausen and Herb Grier

Thesis students under Edgerton Consultants / Troubleshooters for industry

Used stroboscopic means to observe machinery

War Effort Splits Partners up

DRAPER LABRADIATION

LABAERIAL STROBE

Vital Link: The Raytheon Connection

AERIAL STROB

E

LOS ALAMO

S

RAYTHEON

Edgerton

Grier

Oppenheimer

Continued Involvement After The War

Atomic Energy Commission saw a need for continued nuclear research

MIT wanted to shift focus away from military-funded research

Group moved out and formed EG&G, Inc. to continue the work

‘27 ‘63‘47‘39

WWII

Result: Lateral Expansion of Research

New Research scope

Clientele / Cause

Security considerations

Concluding Remarks…

What was the influence of World War II on Harold Edgerton’s research?

1927 196319471939Pre-World War II

World War IIPost-World War II

Influences of War:Change of Work Environment

Influences of War:Change of Scale & Magnitude

Influences of War: Broadening of Applications

Influences of War:New Areas of Research

MIT

web.mit.edu/6.933/www/edgerton/www