Edwin Herbert Land

• Born: May 7, 1909
• Birthplace: Bridgeport, Connecticut
• Died: March 1, 1991
• Place of death: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Inventor, scientist, and businessman

A scientist and inventor, Land had an interest in polarized light. He developed the first commercially viable polarizing lens, codeveloped three-dimensional still photography, conducted research into color vision, and invented instant photography.

Areas of achievement: Science; business

Early Life

Edwin Land was born on May 7, 1909, in Bridgeport Connecticut, to Harry and Martha F. Land. He had one sister, Helen. To escape persecution, Land’s father and grandparents left Russia during the reign of Czar Alexander II and settled in New York City.

As a boy, Land attended the Norwich Academy, where he was an exemplary student. He was already interested in optics and was fascinated by kaleidoscopes and other optical apparatuses. He read the textbook Physical Optics (1905) by Robert W. Wood of Johns Hopkins University and became interested in polarization.

At the age of thirteen, Land went to summer camp where he was shown an Iceland spar crystal. The camp director demonstrated how the crystal removed glare from a table reflection. While Land was at camp, a near-collision between a car and a wagon set him to wondering if the polarizing properties of the crystal could be used to reduce the glare of car headlights, which would reduce the dangers of nighttime driving. This would remain an interest for Land throughout his life.

In 1926, Land entered Harvard University to study physics, but he was so impatient to do research that he left school at the end of the year. He subsequently did much of his research on polarization at the New York Public Library. He also found an unlocked laboratory at Columbia University and used its facilities to conduct his experiments. Land met Helen Maislen, who became his research assistant. They were married in 1929.

Land returned to Harvard in 1929 and also applied for a patent for his polarizing filter. In February,1932, he presented his research results at a physics department symposium. In June, 1932, Land’s eagerness to pursue research again prompted him to leave Harvard, this time just one semester short of graduating. He never finished his degree.

Life’s Work

After Land left Harvard, he partnered with George Wheelwright to found the Land-Wheelwright Laboratories. Together, they worked on developing a polarizer that would be economical enough to produce commercially. Kodak was their first customer, when, in 1934, the company ordered polarizing filters for its cameras. Another customer was the American Optical Company, which purchased laminated polarized lenses for use in its sunglasses.

After Land’s initial success, he gave press conferences to tout the uses of the polarizing material. Land-Wheelwright Laboratories was reorganized and renamed the Polaroid Corporation in August, 1937. At the 1939 New York World’s Fair, Land demonstrated the polarizing material to the public. He was convinced that polarized car headlights would cut glare and reduce road accidents, but the automobile companies never purchased the polarizers. In 1940, the Polaroid Company moved from Boston to Cambridge.

In 1943, Land was vacationing with his family in New Mexico. His daughter asked why she could not yet see a photo that they had taken earlier that day, which set Land to wondering how to make instant photographs. He began work on the project immediately, and on February 21, 1947, he demonstrated his new camera at a meeting of the Optical Society of America.

The first Polaroid camera produced sepia-tone photographs and was a tremendous success with the public when it was released in November, 1948. In 1952, Polaroid offered black-and-white photographs, but it was not until April, 1972, with the release of the SX-70, that instant color photographs became available.

During World War II (1939-1945), Land was involved in intelligence work and research into human vision. He worked alongside Joseph Mahler on the development of the Vectograph, a three-dimensional still photograph used for aerial reconnaissance. In 1954, he served on the steering committee of the Technological Capabilities Panel. Land was instrumental in the development of the U-2 spy plane camera.

Land made significant philanthropic gifts to the community. During the 1960’s he started an inner-city program for youths and made anonymous financial donations to educational institutions, such as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1980, Land founded the Rowland Institute for Science in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where scientists continue to work on light-related research.

Land retired from Polaroid at the age of seventy-three and died in 1991 at the age of eighty-one.

Significance

Land’s work with polarized light led to improvements in photography and to the creation of glare-reducing laminates for sunglasses and other applications. He contributed to the defense of America through his work in photographic technology, which was applied to reconnaissance. However, Land’s creation of the Polaroid instant camera is his most widely known invention.

Over the course of his career, Land received more than 530 patents, and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1977. He received numerous other awards for his service, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 and the National Medal of Science in 1967.

Bibliography

Earls, Alan R., and Nasrin Rohani. Polaroid. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia, 2005. Covers Land’s success with instant photography as well as his lesser-known involvement in photographic aerial reconnaissance and top-secret Cold War projects.

McElheny, Victor K. Insisting on the Impossible: The Life of Edwin Land. New York: Basic Books, 1999. Describes Land’s career from the years before Polaroid to the release of the SX-70 camera and Land’s eventual departure from Polaroid.

Olshaker, Mark. The Instant Image: Edwin Land and the Polaroid Experience. New York: Stein and Day, 1980. Olshaker’s biography covers the Polaroid Corporation, Land’s inventions, and their impact on society.

Wensberg, Peter C. Land’s Polaroid: A Company and the Man Who Invented It. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. Wensberg worked with Land for twenty-four years at the Polaroid Corporation and offers an inside look at the man behind the instant image.