Gary Starkweather, Inventor of the Laser Printer, Dies at 81

Mr. Starkweather was working as a junior engineer in the offices of the Xerox Corporation in Rochester, N.Y., in 1964 — several years after the company had introduced the photocopier to American office buildings — when he began working on a version that could transmit information between two distant copiers, so that a person could scan a document in one place and send a copy to someone else in another.

He decided that this could best be done with the precision of a laser, another recent invention, which can use amplified light to transfer images onto paper. But then he had a better idea: Rather than sending grainy images of paper documents from place to place, what if he used the precision of a laser to print more refined images straight from a computer?

At the Palo Alto Research Center, or PARC, Mr. Starkweather built the first working laser printer in 1971 in less than nine months. By the 1990s, it was a staple of offices around the world. By the new millennium, it was nearly ubiquitous in homes as well.

“We still use the same fundamental engine to print billions of pages a day,” said Doug Fairbairn, a staff director at the Computer History Museum who worked alongside Mr. Starkweather at PARC. “It was all Gary’s idea.”

"Impressive man. Did MIT proud."

~~~~~~~~~~~

If anything, that's an understatement!

When I was in the EG&G building, fairly often there would be a big WHUMP! that shook the entire building.

When I commented about it, my host said, "That's just Doc down in the basement -- playing with his 'Thumper'... Would you like to meet him?"

Of course, I said, "Yes, please!"

In the basement, Doc had big, open tanks of water, set into the concrete floor. In the tanks there were huge capacitors -- built with deliberately-loose plates.

Doc "switched into professor mode" and explained that, when he was developing brighter and quicker flashes (to "freeze" motion) he noticed that when he discharged the huge capacitor banks thru the flash tube, the capacitor plates flexed and "thumped".

Instead of working to reduce the noise, he wondered, "How big a" thump" could I get if I built capacitors with deliberately-loose plates?" When I met him, he was was working to get maximum "thump" for minimum electrical charge expenditure.

He was using the "thumps" as "audio pings"for his new "Side-scan SONAR" unit.

Then he proudly showed us the world's first side-scan SONAR images -- of the Charles River and Boston Harbor. The bottom was beautifully profiled -- with several obvious shipwrecks lying on it. And, deep beneath the bottom, there was an obvious arch-shaped object. When I pointed to it, Doc said, "Oh -- that's the Sumner (automobile) Tunnel..."

~~~~~~~~~

Doc -- and EG&G -- capitalized on observing, measuring and recording all sorts of phenomena -- and then, figuring out how to make use of them.

Frankly, my career followed Doc's example: several of my patents were based on making creative use of the physics of microelectronic device failure mechanisms that I'd identified and eliminated....

Bottom line: "Doc" Edgerton was one of the most charming, impressive -- and influential (in my life) humans I ever had the privilege of meeting!

TXnMA

Sooooooooookay!

My undergrad years were spent in Boston, and we attended many conferences/lectures at MIT that were open to other students. Can you imagine? .... being in a modestly sized seminar room w/ Rev. Billy Graham debating Mario Savio [most noted for his Berkeley Free Speech Movement escapades.]

Rev. Graham ripped Savio a new one on talks extended over a two night period. Savio was smart but no match for Dr. Graham. Wish those talks had been recorded. It was quite something.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, the 60s. :)

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