Warren A. Marrison (21 May 1896 – 27 March 1980) was a Canadian

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

and inventor. Marrison was the co-inventor of the first

Quartz clock Quartz clocks and quartz watches are timepieces that use an electronic oscillator regulated by a quartz crystal to keep time. This crystal oscillator creates a signal with very precise frequency, so that quartz clocks and watches are at least a ...

in 1927.

Early life and education

Marrison was born in Inverary, Frontenac county, Ontario. He studied at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where he was part of a new program in engineering physics. He graduated in 1920 with a bachelor's degree in physics engineering; his studies were interrupted by World War I when he served in the Royal Flying Corps as a radio technician. Beginning in 1921, he studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, ultimately receiving a master's degree. He worked at first for Western Electric in New York City, but moved to Bell Laboratories in New York beginning in 1925.

Quartz clock

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 development, research and scientific developm ...

in New York, Marrison was working on frequency standards using quartz as a reference. It was in 1927 that he developed the first quartz clock while working with J.W. Horton. The clock used a block of crystal, stimulated by electricity, to produce pulses at a frequency of 50,000 cycles per second. A submultiple controlled frequency generator then divided this down to a usable, regular pulse that drove a

synchronous motor A synchronous electric motor is an AC electric motor in which, at steady state, the rotation of the shaft is synchronized with the frequency of the supply current; the rotation period is exactly equal to an integral number of AC cycles. Syn ...

. While this first version of the clock was crude; Morrison produced a more refined version in 1928. A New York Times headline in October 1929 reported "Electrified Quartz Crystal Displaces Clock Pendulum".

Legacy and awards

The invention would lead AT&T, the subsequent owners of Bell Labs, to develop a timepiece division called ''Frequency Control Products''. This would eventually become the company Vectron International. In 1947 Marrison was awarded a Gold Medal from the British Horological Institute. In 1955 the Clockmakers Company awarded him the Tompion Medal. In 2011 Marrison was inducted into the Inventor's Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marrison, Warren 1896 births 1980 deaths Canadian inventors People from Frontenac County Queen's University at Kingston alumni Harvard University alumni Bell Labs Canadian engineers