Marcel Joseph Vogel (April 14, 1917 – February 12, 1991) was a research scientist working at the IBM San Jose

Research Center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricit ...

for 27 years. He is sometimes referred to as Dr. Vogel, although this title was based on an

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, not a

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Later in his career, he became interested in various theories of quartz crystals and other occult and esoteric fields of study.

Mainstream scientific work

It is claimed that Vogel started his research into

luminescence Luminescence is spontaneous emission of light by a substance not resulting from heat; or "cold light". It is thus a form of cold-body radiation. It can be caused by chemical reactions, electrical energy, subatomic motions or stress on a crys ...

while he was still in his teens. This research eventually led him to publish his thesis, ''Luminescence in Liquids and Solids and Their Practical Application'', in collaboration with

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

's Dr. Peter Pringsheim in 1943. Two years after the publication, Vogel incorporated his own company, Vogel Luminescence, in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. For the next decade the firm developed a variety of new products:

fluorescent Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, ...

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s, tags for insecticides, a black light inspection kit to determine the secret trackways of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

s in cellars from their

urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and in many other animals. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder. Urination results in urine being excreted from the body through the urethra. Cellular ...

and the

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s popular in "

new age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

" posters. In 1957, Vogel Luminescence was sold to Ultra Violet Products and Vogel joined IBM as a full-time research scientist. He retired from IBM in 1984. In 1977 and 1978, Vogel participated in experiments with the Markovich Tesla Electrical Power Source, referred to as MTEPS, that was built by Peter T. Markovich. He received 32

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

s for his inventions up through his tenure at IBM. Among these was the magnetic coating for the 24"

hard disk drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magne ...

systems still in use. His areas of expertise, besides luminescence, were phosphor technology, magnetics and liquid crystal systems. At Vogel's February 14, 1991 funeral, IBM researcher and Sacramento, California physician Bernard McGinity, M.D. said of him, "He made his mark because of the brilliance of his mind, his prolific ideas, and his seemingly limitless creativity."

Esoteric and occult studies

Crystals

Vogel was a proponent of crystal healing, and believed cut crystals can have healing powers.

Billy Meier UFO metal sample

Vogel examined a metal sample which was allegedly given to Billy Meier by extraterrestrials, but by misinterpreting a graph on a test instrument, erroneously concluded it contained

thallium Thallium is a chemical element with the symbol Tl and atomic number 81. It is a gray post-transition metal that is not found free in nature. When isolated, thallium resembles tin, but discolors when exposed to air. Chemists William Crookes an ...

, a rare metal.

Communication between plants

Vogel was a proponent of research into plant consciousness and believed "empathy between plant and human" could be established.

In popular culture

Vogel was featured in the first episode of In Search Of... hosted by

Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the '' Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, th ...

, called "Other Voices". He gave his theories regarding the possibility of communication between plants.

References

External links

Vogel biographical sketch at Vogel Crystals website

Vogel at the IBM100 Magnetic Stripe Technology team website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vogel, Marcel 1917 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American chemists Computer storage media Esotericists IBM employees Liquid crystal displays Luminescence American materials scientists Scientists from San Jose, California 20th-century American inventors