The two men who invented the technology that sparked the digital camera, the charge coupled device (CCD) in 1969, recently shared the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physics.
George E. Smith, 79, and Willard S. Boyle, 85, together invented the CCD, which captures images in many digital cameras. The two men were working at Bell Labs when they invented the CCD.
Smith and Boyle will receive half of the $1.4 million prize. Charles K. Kao, who invented the process of transmitting light over optical glass fibers in 1966, will receive the other half.
The Nobel Committee cited the inventions by the three men as providing new tools for scientific exploration and practical innovations for everyday life.
Comments
All that photograph, many that have medical procedures including my dentist with his instant x-rays, and industrial designers should be grateful to the hard work and brilliance of these extraordinary men. As a lifetime free lancer at 72, I am thrilled by the applications these scientists pioneered for digital photography. As a RIT student in Rochester, I learned about Dr. Kennith Mees of Kodachrome fame and met Dr. Edwin Land of Polaroid who I associate with other great strides in photographic science. I am filled with gratitude for the outstanding achievements of all these extraordinary men of science. –JL