This project history will bring to the surface lines of influence World War II had on Harold E. Edgerton. The influences will be traced as Edgerton’s work progressed into the war era, followed by his work during the war and his post-war pursuits. As shown in the timeline below, a window of Edgerton’s life between 1927 and 1963 is studied to understand these influences from the beginning of his inventions. The period from 1927 to 1939 is the pre-war era, when Edgerton invented the electronic control of flash duration and electronic triggering of the flash. He perfected his technology in this time period through many engagements in the academic and industrial world.
The years from 1939 to 1944 were the active war years, when Edgerton served the
Air Force with the technologies and competencies he developed during pre-war
years and built upon them immensely. His
experiences in these years were very influential on his research and shaped the
trajectory his work would take. Between
1944 and 1947, Edgerton remained involved with the Army through his research at
MIT. In 1947, Edgerton founded his
company with two other partners and started his intense work with nuclear
efforts in the United States. In
1963, after being involved with many military applications, Edgerton ended all
association with such work and focused on his interests from before the war and
intensified his underwater endeavors. A close scrutiny of these three periods gives an effective
and vivid picture of changes in Edgerton’s work in terms of his work
environment, the scale and magnitude of his
technology, and the broadening of applications for his technology. Thus, an examination of Edgerton’s pre-war, wartime, and
post-war efforts illuminates the influence that World War II had on his work.
Pre-War Photos | World War II Photos | Post-War Photos
As the saying goes, a picture can tell a thousand words. The photos from each period that we are studying certainly can tell us the story of changes through the war of Edgerton's electronic flash technology. So we've collected photos from pre-war, during war time and after World War II to give you more insight into our project.
Edgerton's work is mostly in detailed stop motion photography.
Edgerton broadens the application of his electronic flash technology.
Edgerton gets involved with nuclear research as a result of the war.
