Harry Diamond (12 February 1900 – 21 June 1948) was an American radio pioneer and inventor, and namesake for
Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboratories, which later became part of the
Army Research Laboratory
The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory (DEVCOM ARL) is the U.S. Army's foundational research laboratory. ARL is headquartered at the Adelphi Laboratory Center (ALC) in Adelphi, Maryland. Its largest sing ...
.
Early life
Diamond, the son of a Jewish tailor in
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
, was born on February 12, 1900. In 1908 his family immigrated to the United States, and he grew up in
Quincy, Massachusetts. Diamond enlisted in the United States Army on October 14, 1918 and was honorably discharged on December 9, 1918. He graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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 ...
in 1922. Diamond worked for the General Electric company for 18 months.
He completed his master's degree in Electrical Engineering in 1925 and worked as an Electrical Engineering instructor for 4 years at
Lehigh University
Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epi ...
in electrical engineering.
Bureau of Standards
He joined the
National Bureau of Standards
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...
in 1927. Diamond headed up the research and development work of the Commerce Department’s newly organized Bureau of Air Commerce.
Within two years he developed radio beacon system that permitted the first "blind" aircraft landing.
Diamond and his team made the first visual-type radiobeacon system that enabled a pilot to keep on course and to know his approximate position at all times while in flight. Direction service could be given to any number of planes flying the course, and each airplane only had to carry a receiving set, with no other special equipment whatsoever. The pilot would obtain the necessary information pertaining to amplitude of course deviations hands-free and without requiring earphones. This was accomplished by the development of vibrating-reed indicators alerting the pilot to an off-course condition.
Proximity Fuze development
Harry Diamond became the Chief of the Electronics Division. The National Bureau of Standards was brought into the program, and he was given responsibility for this phase of the Bureau’s work. Within about four months of the start of the program, Diamond’s group established feasibility of the radio proximity fuze through conclusive tests in bombs dropped at the Naval Proving Ground at
Dahlgren, Va. Throughout World War II, this group acted as the central laboratory of Division 4 of the
National Defense Research Committee
The National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare" in the Un ...
, where Diamond was the central figure of the group. Much of the basic
proximity fuze technology was developed under his direction.
![OrdnanceWorldWarII 006](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/OrdnanceWorldWarII_006.jpg)
Later, as Chief of the Ordnance Development Division, he was assigned the task of supervising the development of proximity fuzes for nonrotating projectiles such as bombs, rockets, and mortars. It was calculated that a fuze which would explode a projectile near a plane or at some height above a target on the surface would increase lethality.
Diamond, through his vast knowledge in the field of electronics, contributed greatly to the fundamental concept and design of proximity fuzes. He held 16 patents for electronics-related inventions. The Ordnance Development Division, upon transfer from the National Bureau of Standards to the Army in 1953, was named the Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboratories in honor of Mr. Diamond. It has since been renamed the
Harry Diamond Laboratories
The Harry Diamond Laboratories (HDL) was a research facility of the Ordnance Development Division of the National Bureau of Standards and later the US Army, most notable for its work on proximity fuzes in World War II. The organization was founde ...
.
The War Department later described inventor Harry Diamond's proximity fuze as "''one of the outstanding scientific developments of World War II ... second only to the atomic bomb''" in military importance.
Personal life
Diamond's daughter
Zelda Fichandler
Zelda Fichandler (née Diamond; September 18, 1924 – July 29, 2016) was an American stage producer, director and educator.
Life and career
Zelda Fichandler came from a family that emigrated from Russia when she was an infant. Her father, Harr ...
along with her husband Thomas C. Fichandler in 1950 co-founded the
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...
in Washington DC.
![OrdnanceWorldWarII 032](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/OrdnanceWorldWarII_032.jpg)
Diamond died on June 21, 1948,
and was buried at
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...
on June 22.
Burial Detail: Diamond, Harry (Section 12, Grave 1682)
– ANC Explorer
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diamond, Harry
1900 births
1948 deaths
20th-century American inventors
Burials at Arlington National Cemetery