The life of Edwin Land could easily spring from one of Horatio
Alger's stories. Son of a scrap-metal dealer, Land dropped out of
Harvard to pursue the inventing bug and his dream of creating a
cheap plastic sheet polarizer. He wanted to decrease auto accidents
caused by headlight glare, but it was with sunglasses and
photography that the polarizer and the newly founded Polaroid
corporation found success. An inveterate innovator and
conceptualizer, Land would eventually receive more patents than any
other American, excepting Edison. His genius was both for the
sudden inspiration and the organizational ability to get people
behind him to fill in the details. For example, the idea for
instant photography came to him in the space of an afternoon, but
it would take many years and many talented individuals to work out
all the details. He also developed a new theory of color vision,
worked as a science advisor for President Eisenhower, and helped
design NASA. He drove Polaroid relentlessly to create new
refinements and inventions such as color film and the SX-70 camera.
He was motivated by the belief that "the bottom line's in heaven.
The real business of business is building things." His magic touch
held right until the end when he developed instant color movie film
just as video recorders were coming on the market. The costs to
Polaroid were enormous and led to a gradual severing of ties
between Land and his company. Former New York Times science
reporter McElheny has done a formidable research job, but he can't
seem to decide whether this is a popular account or one for
specialists. There are long descriptions of technology and
processes that are almost unintelligible to the layperson. The
organization throughout is also appalling, with frequent,
inexplicable shifts back and forth in time. Finally, McEiheny's
Land seems like a guest in his own biography, as ghostly and
indistinct as the image on a negative. (Kirkus Reviews)
If a single life exemplifies the inner drive that fires a great
inventor, it is the life of Edwin Land. The major innovations that
he was able to achieve in photography, optics, industry, and
science policy carry priceless lessons for readers today.Insisting
on the Impossible is the first full-scale biography of this
Magellan of modern technology. Victor McElheny reveals the
startling scope and dating spirit of Land's scientific and
entrepreneurial genius. Second only to Edison in the number of
patents he received (535), Land build a modest enterprise into a
gigantic "invention factory," turning out not only polarizers and
the first instant cameras, but also high-speed and X-ray film,
identification systems, 3-D and instant movies, and military
devices for night vision and aerial reconnaissance. As a scientist,
Land developed a new theory of color vision; as a science advisor
to Eisenhower during the Cold War he spearheaded the development of
the U-2 spyplane and helped design NASA.Behind these protean
achievements was a relentless curiosity, a magical public presence,
and a willful optimism that drew him again and again to conquer
"the impossible." In an era when these qualities are needed more
than ever, this masterly biography will speak to anyone involved or
interested in business, science, photography, educational reform of
government.
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