By David Manners 30th June 2022
A prolific inventor started work as a teacher then as a tool-maker before working as a machinist in rubber industry workshops including Goodyear’s.
When he started his own company he invented and patented the centre drive lathe.
Among 400 patents granted to him in 50 years of inventing were patents for the nickel-metal hydride battery, flexible thin-film solar energy panels, LCDs, re-writable CDs and DVDs, hydrogen fuel cells and non-volatile memory.
He believed that a hydrogen-powered society is the future.
Moral: Genius is everlastingly fertile
There’s a terrific book about him: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow — by Lillian Hoddeson and Peter Garret.
He was fabulous Dr Bob and therefore a fable
Thank you Benjamin, I have ordered a copy.
so not really a fable then?
Stanford Robert Ovshinsky And I had never heard of him without wonkypedia
That’s the guy Dick, Stan Ovshinsky
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Ruminations on the electronics industry from David Manners, of Electronics Weekly.
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