biography
| name: |
Coolidge, William D(avid)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1873–1975)
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| biography:
| Physical chemist, born in Hudson, Massachusetts, USA. He studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1896) and received his PhD at Leipzig (1899). He Joined General Electric (1905) as a research physical chemist, then succeeded Willis Whitney as director of research (1932), and became vice-president (1940). In 1910 he invented a process for the production of carbon-free tungsten filament, which revolutionized the production of light bulbs. His experiments with tungsten led to his most significant invention, the X-ray tube (which became known as the Coolidge tube), and also to the tungsten target in X-ray machines. During World War 1 he assisted in the production of X-ray equipment for the army and later in the development of submarine detectors. During World War 2 he advised the government on the feasibility of building an atomic bomb. He retired after the war, but continued consulting for General Electric until about 1965. |
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