2009 Nobel Goes to Digital Photography Pioneers

Reuters

Half of this year's Nobel Prize for Physics has been awarded to Willard S. Boyle (left) and George E. Smith (right), inventors of the charge-coupled device, or CCD, which forms the basis for most digital camera sensors. They shared the award with Charles K. Kao (center), whose work was crucial to fiber optics.

Further reading:

New York Times Science section

CNET News

physicstoday.org

Mike

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Featured Comment by Rick: "This was wonderful news to hear. I first met George Smith and some of his colleagues from Bell Labs in the 1970s when I was a young engineer. We were part of an informal sailing club George established called the 'Five B's Society' (don't ask). I vividly recall remarkable conversations with him about his work on the CCD and other related technologies, which back then were mostly thought of as digital memory devices. He's a very warm and self-effacing person, but even 30+ years ago was already well known as a world-class scientist. In more recent years, we would occasionally correspond with him and his wife as they cruised their sailboat around the world. Ironically, I don't remember ever seeing him with a camera."

Comments

[mihai]

Bravo T.O.P.

first photoblog that reports on this

scientific genius and tech advances made possible our modern cameras. Photography is an expression of personal creativity helped by a complex set of tools. Ironically everyone heard of Barnack but few of Smith or Boyle

[Bill Bresler]

The timing on this is wonderful. Tonight I'll attend the monthly meeting of the Ann Arbor Area Crappy Camera Club. While some of us A3C3 members happily swing both ways, photographically speaking, we do have a few members who are near-rabid filmistas. They will regard this announcement as a grave injustice. The Nobel Prize going to the guys who killed film? Thanks for the tip. I'll make the grand announcement at the meeting, with attribution to T.O.P.

[Paul]

I was just listening to this on the radio - Willard Boyle lives about an hour and a half from me so it's been a pretty big story locally. Nice that they are being recognized!

[Mike Johnston]

"Thanks for the tip. I'll make the grand announcement at the meeting, with attribution to T.O.P."

Bill,
No need to attribute to us. I was just passing the news along, myself.

Mike

[Gavin McLelland]

Whilst Mr Boyle & Mr Smith started the Digital Camera revolution Mr Kao worked out how to shift data down a fiber optic cable at the vast rates we now use. So Mr B & Mr S to thank for the cameras and Mr K for allowing us to talk about them!

Gavin

[Robert Chapman]

Don't forget that Willard Boyle is a Canadian.

[Spiny Norman]

Inarguably the most magnificent use of a CCD to date: the Hubble Space Telescope.

[Lancelot Gobbo]

I see Bill fairly often, and have been threatening him with the M8 (since it has a CCD), but now I have an M9 I am definitely going to grab a portrait and post it up in a Leica forum and see who can guess who he is!

[Scott]

The CCD seems like ubiquitous, and possibly inevitable technology these days. It's humbling to realize how much we owe to Bell Labs and the scientific community. Would the 21st century technological lifestyle be possible without these men? I doubt it.