Edwin Herbert Land

Edwin Herbert Land

Edwin Herbert Land was the inventor of the Polaroid Land Camera, which takes pictures and develops them very quickly. Land had many accomplishments. He had received the Medal of Freedom, the highest award given to a U.S citizen. Also he had over 500 patents, standing second to Thomas Edison. He developed a new kind of polarizer, which he called Polaroid, and by aligning and embedding crystals in a plastic sheet. He received numerous awards and honorary degrees.

During World War II, he worked on military tasks. For example, he invented infrared filters, dark-adaptation goggles, and target finders. During that time he also patented the Polaroid Land Camera. Later on his daughter, being an impatient 6 year-old, inspired him to make the pictures develop faster when she asked him why it took so long for them to develop.

Land was born on May 7, 1909 in Bridgeport, Connecticut to Harry and Helen Land. He attended Harvard University, though he never graduated. Edwin Herbert Land died on March 1, 1991 in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the age of 82.