Bernard Silver (September 21, 1924 – August 28, 1963) was an electrical engineer and early developer of barcode technology alongside Norman Joseph Woodland.
Bernard Silver | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 21, 1924 |
| Died | August 28, 1963 (aged 38) |
| Burial place | Roosevelt Memorial Park, Trevose, Bucks County, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Drexel University |
| Known for | Co-inventor of the barcode |
| Spouse | Phyllis Silver |
| Children | Barry Silver, Ronald Silver |
| Honours | National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee |
Silver earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Drexel Institute of Technology in 1947.[1] In 1948 Silver paired with Norman Joseph Woodland to come up with an automated way to read product data after overhearing the conversation of a local grocery store president. Their initial results, a system of lines and circles based on Morse code, was replaced with a bulls eye pattern so it could be scanned from any direction.[2] Silver and Woodland filed a patent for their system on October 20, 1949.[3] U.S. patent 2,612,994 was granted on October 7, 1952.[4] "The two men eventually sold their patent to Philco for $15,000 — all they ever made from their invention."[5]
During his career Silver served as a physics instructor at Drexel and as vice-president of Electro Nite Inc.[6] He died August 28, 1963, of bronchopneumonia due to acute myelogenous leukemia[7] at the age of 38.[6][8] In 2011 Silver, alongside Woodland, was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.[9]
Google featured a doodle of their logo as a barcode to recognize the anniversary of Bernard Silver at October 7, 2009.[10]
References
edit- ^ "Dr. Joseph Woodland '47 (MEM), Hon. '98 Alumni". Drexel University. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
- ^ Seideman, Tony. "Barcodes Sweep the World". Wonders of Modern Technology. Archived from the original on 2016-09-03. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
- ^ US 2612994, Silver, Bernard & Woodland, Norman Joseph, "Classifying Apparatus and Method", published October 20, 1949, issued October 7, 1952.
- ^ Than, Ker (October 7, 2009). "Bar Code: Its Origins, Why It's on Google & What's Next". National Geographic News. Archived from the original on October 9, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
- ^ Fox, Margalit (13 December 2012). "N. Joseph Woodland, Inventor of the Bar Code, Dies at 91". The New York Times.
- ^ a b "Bernard Silver". The New York Times. August 30, 1963. p. 21.
- ^ "Bernard Silver in the Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1963". ancestry.com. Ancestry.com. Retrieved 2015-02-22.
- ^ Adams, Russ (March 9, 2009). "A Short History Of Bar Code". BarCode 1. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
- ^ "Inventor Profile: Bernard Silver". National Inventors Hall of Fame. 2011. Archived from the original on 2016-09-16. Retrieved 2015-01-04.
- ^ "Bar code: invention history behind new Google doodle". Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
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