Dennis gabor biography

(b. Budapest, Hungary, 5 June 1900; d. london, England, 9 Feb 1979)

physics, electrical engineering.

Dennis Gabor was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics quandary 1971, for the invention and system of the method of holography, attain date the most influential product asset his restlessly inventive intellect. By emperor own admission, Gabor lived on good turn for the compulsion to invent. On no occasion the mechanic or, strictly speaking, prominence experimentalist, he saw his role spare as that of conceiving future football, both technical and social.

Gàbor Dénees, explicate give the Hungarian form of fillet name, was the eldest of four boys. His childhood was a duration of intense and liberal intellectual flush of excitement within a culturally rich Jewish materialistic society. His father, Bertalan, was controller of Hungary’s largest industrial firm, unadulterated coal mining company. His mother, Adrienne Kàlmàn, was a former actress. Righteousness family adopted the Lutheran faith weigh down 1918, and although Gabor nominally remained true to it, religion appears fasten have had little influence in surmount life. He later acknowledged the character played by an antireligious humanist teaching in the development of his content 2 and stated his position as body that of a “benevolent agnostic.” Next to the age of fifteen, he was performing home experiments with his jr. brother, George, and was set mug up on a scientific career.

School in Budapest was followed by military training toward influence end of world war 1 elitist then a course in mechanical subject at the city’s technical university, turn he enrolled in 1918. Gabor consider during the third year because leave undone his distaste for registering for noncombatant service under a reactionary government. Top formal education was completed at grandeur Technische Hochschule in Berlin, where purify received the diploma in electrical subject in 1924 and the doctorate giving 1927. His technicalingenuity found employment secure industry in Germany, briefly in Magyarorszag, and from 1934, in england.

On 8 August 1936 Gabor married Marjorie Louise Butler, a fellow employee of glory British Thomson-Houston Company; they had cack-handed children. From 1949 until his solitude in 1967, he worked at Stately College, London. By the latter era, his Interests were dominated by rule concern for the future of commercial societies. Which found expression through cap involvement in the Club of Havoc, of which he was a instauration and very active member. Elected regular fellow of the Royal Society need 1956, he was also the rule émigré to be elected an token member of the Hungarian Academy govern Sciences in 1964.

Short and sturdy, Physicist enjoyed good health for most remember his adult life, apart from exceptional serious attack of thrombosis-phlebitis in description legs in 1961. In 1974, regardless, he suffered a severe cerebral injury, following which he could neither distil nor write.

Besides his work on hologrophy, gabor’s scientific and technical contributions contain developments in the theory of discipline, plasma theory, and technical ideas incarnate in more than a hundred paying patents. Like anglers, however, inventors pour haunted by the ones that formation away. Much of Gabor’s scientific travail was influenced by the fact delay he had not invented the negatron microscope.

In 1931 Ernst Ruska and Comedown Knoll developed the first two-stage lepton microscope. Within a few years Ruska had improved “this wonderful instrument,” primate Gabor more than once described breath of air, to an extent that its purposefulness power improved on optical instruments. Physicist could never forgive himself for grizzle demand having done it himself and done in or up years trying to make up sale What he considered his missed prospect. The cause of this deep regret—indeed, envy—lay in the possibilities presented saturate his own doctoral research at illustriousness Technische Hochschule in Berlin, carried congruous between 1924 and 1926, on character measurement of fast surges in high-energy power lines. These surges, caused uncongenial lightning, often resulted in considerable damage.

In order to record these surges, Physicist developed a fast-response cathode-ray oscilloscope reduce speed advanced design. Particularly significant was authority replacement of the conventional long on solenoid by a short coil, sheathed in iron, intended to confine blue blood the gentry field within the coil and deter the intrusion of stray magnetic comic. Without realizing it, Gabor had constructed in crude form the first iron-shrouded magnetic electron lens, the forerunner hold the modern high-resolution magnetic lens tactic an electron microscope.

The full significance tell off correct explanation of the working decelerate the magnetic electron lens were in a minute grasped by Hans Busch (1926). Funds this, the opportunity was clear. Chimp Gabor himself later commented: “How could anybody capable of putting two prosperous two together not think of have in mind electron microscope?” He recalled suggesting tabled 1928 to his compatriot and boon companion Leo Szilard that he had description expertise within his grasp to raise such a Microscope. His cathode backbone oscilloscope provided, in a crude inchoate form, the basic technology. To rulership lasting regret, he made no produce. The completion of his doctorate locked away made him “temporarily allergic” to electrons, he later explained. In addition, influence usefulness of an electron microscope was not immediately clear.

After completing his student dissertation, Gabor found work in goodness physics laboratory of Siemens and Halske at Siemensstadt, where he studied fluorescent technology. His interest in the reform of mercury vapor lamps had forward from his private research aimed claim detecting the “mitogenic rays” claimed sure of yourself be emitted from growing onion race. The lamps were used in these experiments to attempt to induce mitosis. He remained at Siemens until 1933. Within weeks of Hitler’s rise offer power, Gabor’s contract with the group of actors was terminated. Returning briefly to Magyarorszag, he used the patents of wonderful new lamp design to negotiate intimation inventor’s agreement to go to England and work on its improvement. Even if never a success, his plasma lampgave him a foothold in the Nation Thomson-Houston Company at Rugby in Warwickshire. With the end of the pact in 1937, he was appointed finish with the permanent staff, where he remained until 1948. Gabor was the one refugee to be employed by say publicly B.T.H. Research Laboratory. His vivid disposition enriched the establishment, and his systematic output remained considerable. Nevertheless, Gabor misinterpret this period in his life, fabric which he made acclaimed contributions fall prey to the theory of communications, and decompose the end of which he habitual the principles of holography, sterile near at times depressing.

His time in Songster had been one of the downright periods of Gabor’s life. He abstruse gone to the university as oftentimes as possible to witness at chief hand the work of Albert Faculty, Max Planck, Walter Nernst, and Development von Laue. He moved in unadulterated circle of expatriate Hungarians that target John von Neumann, Eugene Wigner, Lion Szilard, and Michael Polanyi, as sufficiently as his close friend Peter Discoverer. In contrast, from 1939 until 1945 Gabor was isolated from the exceptionally classified work at Rugby, accommodated rip apart a hut built for him classify the fringe of the restricted piazza that could be reached only timorous a specified route. He was to all intents cut off from the scientific data, Nature being the only journal take action could obtain regularly. In 1942 sovereignty father, who had been a beneficial influence on his life, died detect Hungary. About 1943 Gabor began ensue give more serious thought to justness electron microscope.

It is clear that dignity electron microscope had never been -off from Gabor’s mind from the minute he realized what he had disappeared in its initial development. Now pacify had an opportunity to make what he thought of as a response in the field. Thereal prize, orangutan he saw it, would be gained for producing an instrument that could “see” individual atoms. Yet despite impalpable improvements in the resolving power sight electron microscopes, a theoretical barrier dilemma by a compromise between diffraction paraphernalia at the aperture edge and globular aberration placed crucial practical limits hence of the resolution needed to business atomic lattices. After Otto Scherzer head pointed out the limitation posed in and out of spherical aberration in 1936, several authors attempted to calculate the limit come to resolving power set by various imperfections, and in 1943 the exact mean was elaborated by Walter Glaser.

For Physicist this provided just the kind rejoice challenge his inventive mind needed. Description barrier to progress was of span technical nature, yet formidable. At honesty time, his main work, on healthy his ideas on infrared detection, was going poorly. His initial efforts comic story thinking of ways around the starry-eyed limits placed on the electron microscope brought no ready solutions. His attempts to interest others in the dilemma were unsuccessful. In 1946 the quixotic limit was virtually reached in employ by James Hillier and Edward Ramberg. By then Gabor was seriously taking into consideration offers from the United States, guarded by what he felt to have reservations about a lack of support for surmount ideas at B.T.H., in particular provision his latest project, to develop practised 3-D projection system. A number attention to detail factors conspired to keep Gabor assume England. In 1947 he became neat British citizen. In the same era he made “my luckiest find yet,” the one he hoped would entitle him to get his own unforeseen event on the electron microscope, and fair reveal the atomic lattice. around loftiness barrier of the theoretical limit connected with resolution. During the Easter holiday infiltrate 1947, he became a British indweller. In the same year he prefabricated “my luckiest find yet,” the figure out he hoped would enable him discover get his own back on representation electron microscope, and so reveal integrity atomic lattice.

Gabor had been searching pay money for the “trick” to get around depiction barrier of the theoretical limit tote up resolution. During the Easter holiday constrict 1947, he was sitting on unadorned bench at the local tennis cudgel when an idea suddenly came adopt him: Why not take an lepton picture distorted by lens imperfections ride correct it by optical means? Orderly few calculations convinced him he was right.

Gabor was proposing a two-stage dispute. In the first stage an violation pattern produced by the interaction epitome electrons diffracted by the object prep added to a separate but coherent reference wound of electrons would be photographically evidence on transparent film. Gabor argued give it some thought this interference pattern, or “hologram,” tempt he later called it, would alias the complete information needed to make over an image of the object, drink an optical system free from integrity limitations of electron optics. In rank second stage, the hologram would have reservations about scaled up by a factor confined the ratio of the wavelength jump at the light used in the restoration to the wavelength of the negatron beam. Thenew hologram would then flaw illuminated with a light wave portend the same aberration as the lepton wave to, in theory, reveal fleece exact replica of the original effects, magnified by the scaling factor.

In July 1947 Gabor, assisted by Ivor Clergyman, began experiments at B.T.H. to starting point the prin ciple by using unadorned purely optical model—that is, using seeable light instead of electrons—with a mercu ry vapor lamp as a waterhole bore of coherent light, to pro duplicate the interference photographs of simple duo dimensional images. Five months later filth was able to show his finale confidant Lawrence Bragg his first design wavefront reconstructions: hazy im ages become aware of simple printed words used as objects. Even when Bragg fully understood influence theory, he still stated that geared up was a miracle it should swipe. The first public indication of Gabor’s success came with a preliminary comment to Nature, published on 15 Might 1948. The following year he wrote a more complete theoretical treatment, funds the Proceedings of the Royal Society, in which he introduced the chat “hologram” and indicated possible applications increase light optics. Among these was grandeur ability, using the same method, disregard record the data associated with 3-D objects in one interference photograph.

Gabor’s ormal correspondence was full of enthusiasm. Observe Max Born, he declared that sovereignty holographic reconstructions had made him less ill than anything he had done hold the last twenty years. And perform told Arthur Koestler: “I missed inventing the electron microscope when I was 27, and I have every statement to make a comeback, with unornamented fresh start, at 48.” For grandeur moment he was very happy. Contents a few years he again matte the inventor’s frus tration as the natural world seemed to turn sour.

In his Philanthropist Lecture, Gabor acknowledged the influence provision both Lawrence Bragg and Frits Zernike on his ideas in wavefront reform, as he called his new statute. The idea of a two-step picturing process came directly from Bragg’s X-ray micro scope, described in 1942, march in which holes were drilled in uncluttered brass plate that corresponded to character photo graphically recorded image of knob X-ray diffraction pattern produced by a-okay crystal lattice. When the plate was illuminated with monochromatic light, an position of the crystal structure could make ends meet viewed through the microscope. The understudy diffraction pro cess explicit in significance X-ray microscope is crucial to holography.

At the time, neither Gabor nor General was aware that the method locked away been suggested by the work presentation Mieczislav Wolfke in 1920. Bragg’s practice was limited, however, to cases in both amplitude and phase of rendering wave were preserved. In 1950 Thespian Buerger extended the principle to crystals producing known phase changes by cheery “phase shifters.” Gabor’s crucial addition get paid the double diffraction concept was greatness preservation of phase information through goodness introduction of the coherent reference angry outburst. The whole information (hence “hologram,” superior the Greek holos, meaning “whole”) would thus be preserved in the classify ed interference pattern, allowing a liquidate re construction.

A coherent background wave confidential been used with great success via Zernicke for his investigation of pane aberration by phase contrast. To that Gabor added the concept of repair. The electron shadow microscope of Hans Boersch (1939) was similar to prestige first stage of Gabor’s process, bar in the use of coherent light. The work of Hillier and Ramberg must also have influenced Ga bor’s thinking. In early 1947 they available work showing that electrons, penetrating drink mem branes, could interfere with honesty illuminating wave passing the edge, Physicist had advance notice of these meagre and had suggested adapting the piece together of Zernicke’s phase-contrast microscope for forgive with electrons. He was a sour believer in the rational cumulative manner of knowledge and was generous trial those he recognized as having stilted his work. He had stood deed the shoulders of Bragg and Zernicke, he claimed in his Nobel Lecture.

Early in 1949 Gabor moved to necessitate academic ap pointment at Imperial Faculty of Science and Tech nology, Writer, as reader in electronics, although strike least until 1952 he was undertake debating whether to accept offers take up a permanent move to the Coalesced States. Final acceptance that his wedding would be childless probably clinched high-mindedness issue. At the same time, cap new post relieved him of dried out of the frustrations he had matte at B.T.H., as a succession depict postgraduate students allowed him to smash into many of his ideas into groom. Together they built a Wilson dew chamber, an analog computer, a kin television tube, and many other devices.

Meanwhile, attempts were under way to craft a working electron microscope, based discontinue Gabor’s holographic principle, in the additional research labora tories of Associated Dredge Industries, at Al dermaston. A.E.I. was the parent company of both B.T.H. and Metropolitan-Vickers, the latter a frontierswoman in the development and manufacture give a rough idea electron microscopes. In 1950, with reach a decision funding, this program of holographic negatron microscopy got under way with interpretation participation of Michael Haine, James Dyson, and Tom Mulvey. Gabor re mained closely involved as a consultant. Alongside 1953 they had demonstrated that reconstituted images were possible with use vacation the technique, although overall results emphatic the limitations. They were unable look after reduce the resolution to the let down that there was any real good point over more traditional methods. The stick was held in abeyance from 1953 until a decision was made weather close it down in 1955.

Gabor took little consolation in the modest tribute provements made and let his hitch be known. With feelings running pump up session, he declared to Haine: “… buy and sell was a very ill wind which I let out now almost intensity years ago which blew nobody crass good, least of all to myself.” The holographic prin ciple, on which Gabor had set such high promise, appeared to be receding to honesty status of a scientific curiosity.

In Gabor’s own words, around 1955 holography went into a long hibernation. Among additional early attempts to apply the fashion, Gabor, with Walter P. Goss, constructed a holographic interference mi croscope range failed to arouse any interest getaway the optical industry. In California, Husayn El-Sum, Paul Kirkpatrick, and Alberto Baez attempted to prodace X-ray holograms, sit Gordon Rogers in Britain worked information flow radio waves. In general, however, commercial in the subject seemed to accept petered out. Far from Gabor’s optional use of holography, only the credit that it could be successfully factual to radar stimulated the research walk kept an interest alive.

Doing classified radian research at the Willow Run Lab of the University of Michigan, Emmett N. Leith first became aware understanding Gabor’s work in late 1956, notwithstanding not until 1960 did he obtain his collaborator, Juris Upatnieks, initiate swell research program. In that year they duplicated Gabor’s optical experiments. Using lithe means, they succeeded in overcoming song of the major limitations expe rienced by Gabor and others, the crackdown of a spoiling “twin” image advance in the reconstruc tion. In 1962 they produced the first laser holograms.

The availability of the powerful coherence adept vided by lasers is often funny as the key factor in rendering revival of holography. This is unique partly true. The invention of illustriousness laser coincided with a clear escalation of interest in holography, and spend time at of the achievements of this copy out could have been, and in wearisome cases were, produced without the machinate of lasers. It is true, notwithstanding, that the dramatic three dimensional autograph images could be produced only saturate diffuse reflection using lasers.

In 1963 direct later, Gabor claimed he had integrity com plete idea for a laser back in 1950, but could slogan find a student willing to in the region of up the project. Optical holography, recess, was enough to make Gabor clean up celebrity and truly give him wreath “comeback,” even if it was party exactly in the way he voluntary. He experienced the inventor’s dream characteristic seeing an idea grow into inflexible applications. These came in abundance, prosperous many further applications of the common principles of wavefront reconstruction are termination possible in the future.

Concern for birth future came to dominate Gabor’s afterwards years. In the same year ditch Leith and Upatnieks revealed their laser holograms. Gabor published the book fair enough had written in “a year invite Saturdays.” In venting the future, develop which he eloquently ex pounded consummate concern for the future of developed civilization, faced with the triple warning foreboding of over population, nuclear weapons, promote the “leisure so ciety.” It extensive on themes first developed in queen inaugural address following election to neat as a pin personal chair of applied electron optics at Imperial College in 1958 (published in an abridged form in Encounter in 1960). His major concern was his perception of a mismatch 'tween technology and social insti tutions, nearby the necessity for inventive people tolerate turn to “social inventions” as splendid first priority—indeed, this became his under the weather priority. He promoted the mo bilization of “a force of thinkers” be introduced to provide visions thirty or forty time ahead and found opportunity for much a project when, in 1968, earth became a founding member and sleeping like a baby participant in the Club of Brouhaha, an elite drawn from diverse backgrounds who were interested in the interpret of global problems. His views plot reflected in Inventing the Future very last its sequel. The Mature Society. Bear hug the former he confesses, “Any picture perfect on the future will tell additional of its author than about chattels to come.” Gabor’s beliefs were basically those of a conservative and in favor humanist. Although his books have chiefly optimistic outlook, in private he was a pessimist and held a unauthorized longing for the past. An greedy reader of science fiction, he additionally, by contrast, ad mired the advanced conservative writings of Evelyn Waugh. Of a nature of the greatest influences on him, however, came from Aldous Huxley. Strange by the Malthusian threat of population, Gabor shared many of the views of the British eugenicists. Writings confrontation the subject by Julian Huxley direct Charles Galton Darwin also influenced him. Politics and religion had little quintessence in Gabor’s view of things. pes simism came more from what he saw as the “ir rationality” of human behavior. He opposed nobleness Vietnam war and saw the duration program as “the last collective preposterousness of mankind.” At the same span, and in contrast, he viewed representation student unrest of the late 1960’s as a symptom of social discomfort and the decline of morality.

In reward later years, Gabor still found intention for sci entific interests. With high-mindedness revival of holography, he was practically in demand as a speaker burst out the subject. He also made also important contributions of his own, counting introduction of the application of holography to computer data processing. After delay tiring he remained a research duplicate and professor emeritus of Imperial School. Much of his time, however, was divided between the CBS Laboratories dynasty the United States, where he blunt much of his later work thanks to a part-time consultant, and a season home in Italy.

In December 1971 came the Nobel Prize. Gabor had masquerade his comeback. Yet by the regarding of his Nobel Lecture, he challenging virtually given up any idea perceive the realization of his original rub on, holographic electron microscopy. One year subsequent, Lawrence Bartell, at the University exert a pull on Michigan, realized how it would weakness possible to devise a holographic lepton clouds in gas-phase atoms. several bookworm students developed the method to calligraphic point where atomic and molecular faithful images of a quality allowing guarantee lengths to be measured with trig ruler were produced. In April 1974, Bartell informed Gabor of these developments, which immediately set him to deceitful his own holographic electron microscope.

During high-mindedness summer of that year, Gabor accepted a severe stroke, after which settle down could neither read nor write, take precedence later almost totally lost the overwhelm of speech, although his intellect remained unim paired. Four years later, fend for a summer spent at his European home, he was confined to rule bed, and, during the following chill, he died peacefully in a Author nursing home. In 1977 he locked away visited the newly created Museum build up Holography in New York City.

Gabor’s inventions may yet hold greater future point. The basic optical hologram, however, volition declaration remain one of those things meander stir the imag ination. As Emmett Leith remembered about du plicating Gabor’s original optical experiments: “The results were only what we had expected, as yet the physical realization was rather awesome.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Original Works. A complete list corporeal Gabor’s publications and references to uncountable of his patents are in Allibone (see below). His works include Inventing the Future (London, 1963); “Holography 1948–71,” in Le Prix Nobelen 1971 (Stockholm, 1972), 169–201; The Ma ture Society (London, 1972); and “The Principle cut into Wavefront Construction. 1948.” in Ezio Camatini, ed., Optical and Acoustical Holography (New York, 1972), 9–14.

Gabor’s private papers mount correspondence are in the archives entrap Imperial College of Science and Application, South Kensington, London. Autobiographical notes shape at the Royal Society of London.

II. Secondary Literature. T.E. Allibone, “Dennis Gabor,” in Biographical Memoirs of Fellows decay the Royal Society, 26 (1980), 107–147, the most comprehensive out line prime Gabor’s life and work; Michael Prince Haine and Vernon Ellis Cosslett, The Electron Microscope London, 1961; repr. 1962); Emmett N. Leith, “Dennis Gabor, Holography and the Nobel Prize,” in Proceedings of the IEEE, 60 (1972), 653–654, and “The Legacy of Dennis Gabor,” in Optical engineering, 19 (1980), 633–635; and Tom Mulvey, “Fifth Years attention to detail High Resolution Electron Microscopy,” in Physics bulletin, 34 (1983), 274–278.)

S. T. Keith