Earle Melvin Terry (1869 - May 2, 1929) was an American physicist, known for contributions to wireless transmission systems and radio.

Biography

He was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, and obtained a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

(1902) from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, as well as an M.A. and

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

(1910). He joined the faculty at the same place, where he stayed since. His fame comes from developing the

WHA (AM) WHA (970 AM) is a non-commercial radio station, licensed since 1922 to the University of Wisconsin and located in Madison, Wisconsin. It serves as the flagship for the Wisconsin Public Radio talk-based "Ideas Network". WHA's programming is also ...

radio transmissions (1914), work jointly with Edward Bennett. The station was originally referred to by the callsign 9XM. Being as the necessary

vacuum tube A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied. The type known as ...

s were not yet commercially available, Terry learned

glassblowing Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer''. A '' lampworke ...

so he and his students could manufacture their own. Terry was highly dedicated to his job, working even on Christmas Day and declining a $25,000 salary offered by

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

if he joined the private sector, saying "a man can live on $5,000" (which was his university pay). One of Terry's students, Cyril Moreau Jansky, who later taught at Wisconsin-Madison, said this of him in a 1953 letter:

Terry ..was tremendously interested in the practical application of what he did. By this I do not mean that he gave any less consideration to the academic study of basic science. Rather, he realized that science was a living thing and that discoveries in it would and should have a great impact on the lives of people.

Jansky goes on to write that Terry did not envision radio broadcasting developing as it did, and had not considered commercial applications. Randall Davidson, while researching the history of WHA for his 2007 book, ''9XM Talking'', found that "a breathtaking amount of material has been preserved from the station's early decades." However, "the research notes and personal papers of WHA founder Earle M. Terry are not available." They were disposed of by his widow after his death in 1929.

Books

*''Advanced laboratory practices in electricity and magnetism'' (1922)

References

American physicists University of Michigan alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty People from Battle Creek, Michigan 1869 births 1929 deaths {{US-physicist-stub