Edward Lawry Norton (July 28, 1898 – January 28, 1983) was an accomplished engineer and scientist. He worked at

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

and is known for

Norton's theorem In direct-current circuit theory, Norton's theorem, also called the Mayer–Norton theorem, is a simplification that can be applied to networks made of linear time-invariant resistances, voltage sources, and current sources. At a pair of term ...

. His areas of active research included network theory, acoustical systems, electromagnetic apparatus, and data transmission. A graduate of MIT and Columbia University, he held nineteen patents on his work. Edward L. Norton is best remembered for development of the dual of Thevenin's equivalent circuit, currently referred to as Norton's equivalent Circuit. He was interested in communications circuit theory and the transmission of data at high speeds over telephone lines. Norton began his telephone career in 1922 with the western Electric Company's Engineering Department (which later became Bell Laboratories).

Biography

He attended the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

for two years before transferring to

M.I.T. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

and received a S.B. degree (

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

) in 1922. He received an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1925.

Work

Norton and his associates at AT&T in the early 1920s are recognized as some of the first to perform pioneering work applying Thevenin's equivalent circuit and who referred to this concept simply as

Thévenin's theorem As originally stated in terms of direct-current resistive circuits only, Thévenin's theorem states that ''"For any linear electrical network containing only voltage sources, current sources and resistances can be replaced at terminals A–B b ...

. In 1926, he proposed the equivalent circuit using a current source and parallel resistor to assist in the design of recording instrumentation that was primarily current driven.

Death

Norton died on January 28, 1983 in King James Nursing Home,

Chatham, New Jersey "The Chathams" is a term used in reference to shared services for two neighboring municipalities in Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, New Jersey, United States – Chatham Borough, New Jersey, Chatham Borough and Chatham Township, New Jers ...

External links

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Edward L. Norton
Short biographical sketch. Includes photographs and quotations.
Origins of the Equivalent Circuit Concept by Don H. Johnson
Includes photos and biographical sketches of Norton and other inventors of the "equivalent circuit" concept. 1898 births Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni 1983 deaths Scientists at Bell Labs People from Rockland, Maine 20th-century American engineers {{US-engineer-stub Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni