Herbert E. Ives
Encyclopedia
Herbert Eugene Ives was a scientist and engineer who headed the development of facsimile
and television
systems at AT&T
in the first half of the twentieth century. He was also a critic of the special theory of relativity, and attempted to disprove the theory by means of logical arguments and experiments. He is best known for the Ives–Stilwell experiment, which provided direct confirmation of special relativity's time dilation
factor, although Ives himself interpreted the result as a refutation of special relativity.
and the Johns Hopkins University
, where he graduated in 1908. He wrote a 1920 book on aerial photography
, while an Army reserve officer, in the aviation section. Ives was also an avid coin collector, and was President of the American Numismatic Society. He was president of the Optical Society of America from 1924 to 1925.
Like his father Frederic Eugene Ives
, Herbert was an expert on color photography
. In 1924, he transmitted and reconstructed the first color facsimile, using color separations. In 1927, he demonstrated 185-line long-distance television, transmitting the live video
images of then-Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover
via AT&T
's experimental station 3XN
in Whippany, New Jersey
, allowing media reporters to both see and communicate with Hoover.
By 1930, his two-way television-telephone
system (called an ikonophone —Greek: 'image-sound' ) was in regular experimental use, with Bell Labs'
large New York City research facility
devoting years of research and development through the 1930s, led by Dr. Ives with his team of more than 200 scientists, engineers and technicians. Bell Labs intended to develop videotelephony
and television
for both telecommunications and broadcast entertainment purposes. Ongoing research into combined audio and video telephones was extended by Bell Labs far past Ives' tenure at a cost of over US$500 million, eventually resulting in the deployment of AT&T's futuristic Picturephone.
Ives is best known for conducting the Ives–Stilwell experiment, which provided direct confirmation of special relativity's time dilation
. However, Ives himself regarded his experiment as a proof of the existence of the ether
and hence, as he erroneously suggested, a disproof of the theory of relativity
. He was discouraged by the reaction of the scientific community that had interpreted his experiment in the way opposite to his expectations.
He then published a set of articles, in which he claimed to disprove special relativity by means of logical arguments. This paradoxical aspect of Ives's work was described by his friend, the noted physicist H. P. Robertson
, who contributed the following summary of Ives's attitude toward special relativity
in a biography of Ives:
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
systems at AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
in the first half of the twentieth century. He was also a critic of the special theory of relativity, and attempted to disprove the theory by means of logical arguments and experiments. He is best known for the Ives–Stilwell experiment, which provided direct confirmation of special relativity's time dilation
Time dilation
In the theory of relativity, time dilation is an observed difference of elapsed time between two events as measured by observers either moving relative to each other or differently situated from gravitational masses. An accurate clock at rest with respect to one observer may be measured to tick at...
factor, although Ives himself interpreted the result as a refutation of special relativity.
Biography
Ives studied at the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and the Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
, where he graduated in 1908. He wrote a 1920 book on aerial photography
Aerial photography
Aerial photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or...
, while an Army reserve officer, in the aviation section. Ives was also an avid coin collector, and was President of the American Numismatic Society. He was president of the Optical Society of America from 1924 to 1925.
Like his father Frederic Eugene Ives
Frederic Eugene Ives
Frederic Eugene Ives was a U.S. inventor, born at Litchfield, Connecticut. In 1874–78 he had charge of the photographic laboratory at Cornell University. He moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where in 1885 he was one of the founding members of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia...
, Herbert was an expert on color photography
Color photography
Color photography is photography that uses media capable of representing colors, which are traditionally produced chemically during the photographic processing phase...
. In 1924, he transmitted and reconstructed the first color facsimile, using color separations. In 1927, he demonstrated 185-line long-distance television, transmitting the live video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
images of then-Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
via AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
's experimental station 3XN
3XN
3XN is a Danish architectural practice with head office in Copenhagen.-History:The company was founded in Århus in 1986 as Nielsen, Nielsen & Nielsen by Kim Herforth Nielsen, Lars Frank Nielsen og Hans Peter Svendler Nielsen. The latter left the company, which is today led by a partner group of...
in Whippany, New Jersey
Whippany, New Jersey
Whippany is an unincorporated area located within Hanover Township in Morris County, New Jersey. Whippany's name is derived from the Whippanong Native Americans, a tribe that once inhabited the area...
, allowing media reporters to both see and communicate with Hoover.
By 1930, his two-way television-telephone
Videophone
A videophone is a telephone with a video screen, and is capable of full duplex video and audio transmissions for communication between people in real-time...
system (called an ikonophone —Greek: 'image-sound' ) was in regular experimental use, with Bell Labs'
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
large New York City research facility
Bell Laboratories Building (Manhattan)
463 West Street is a 13 building complex located on the block between West Street, Washington Street, Bank Street, and Bethune Street in Manhattan, New York. It was originally the home of Bell Telephone Laboratories between 1898 and 1966. For a time, it was the largest industrial research center...
devoting years of research and development through the 1930s, led by Dr. Ives with his team of more than 200 scientists, engineers and technicians. Bell Labs intended to develop videotelephony
Videotelephony
Videotelephony comprises the technologies for the reception and transmission of audio-video signals by users at different locations, for communication between people in real-time....
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
for both telecommunications and broadcast entertainment purposes. Ongoing research into combined audio and video telephones was extended by Bell Labs far past Ives' tenure at a cost of over US$500 million, eventually resulting in the deployment of AT&T's futuristic Picturephone.
Ives is best known for conducting the Ives–Stilwell experiment, which provided direct confirmation of special relativity's time dilation
Time dilation
In the theory of relativity, time dilation is an observed difference of elapsed time between two events as measured by observers either moving relative to each other or differently situated from gravitational masses. An accurate clock at rest with respect to one observer may be measured to tick at...
. However, Ives himself regarded his experiment as a proof of the existence of the ether
Luminiferous aether
In the late 19th century, luminiferous aether or ether, meaning light-bearing aether, was the term used to describe a medium for the propagation of light....
and hence, as he erroneously suggested, a disproof of the theory of relativity
Theory of relativity
The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, encompasses two theories of Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity. However, the word relativity is sometimes used in reference to Galilean invariance....
. He was discouraged by the reaction of the scientific community that had interpreted his experiment in the way opposite to his expectations.
He then published a set of articles, in which he claimed to disprove special relativity by means of logical arguments. This paradoxical aspect of Ives's work was described by his friend, the noted physicist H. P. Robertson
Howard Percy Robertson
Howard Percy Robertson was an American mathematician and physicist known for contributions related to physical cosmology and the uncertainty principle...
, who contributed the following summary of Ives's attitude toward special relativity
Special relativity
Special relativity is the physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in the paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies".It generalizes Galileo's...
in a biography of Ives:
- "Ives' work in the basic optical field presents a rather curious anomaly, for although he considered that it disproved the special theory of relativity, the fact is that his experimental work offers one of the most valuable supports for this theory, and his numerous theoretical investigations are quite consistent with it… his deductions were in fact valid, but his conclusions were only superficially in contradiction with the relativity theory—their intricacy and formidable appearance were due entirely to Ives' insistence on maintaining an aether framework and mode of expression. I... was never able to convince him that since what he had was in fact indistinguishable in its predictions from the relativity theory within the domain of physics, it was in fact the same theory... some who have not penetrated to the essence of Ives' theoretical work have seized upon it as overthrowing the special theory of relativity, and have used it as an argument for a return to outmoded and invalid ways of thought."
Awards and honors
- Ives received three times the Edward Longstreth Medal from the Franklin InstituteFranklin InstituteThe Franklin Institute is a museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the oldest centers of science education and development in the United States, dating to 1824. The Institute also houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial.-History:On February 5, 1824, Samuel Vaughn Merrick and...
: in 1907, 1915 and 1919. - He was awarded the Frederic Ives Medal from the Optical Society of AmericaOptical Society of AmericaThe Optical Society is a scientific society dedicated to advancing the study of light—optics and photonics—in theory and application, by means of publishing, organizing conferences and exhibitions, partnership with industry, and education. The organization has members in more than 100 countries...
in 1937. - U. S. President Harry Truman awarded Ives the Medal for Merit in 1948 for his war-time work on blackout lightingBlackout (wartime)A blackout during war, or apprehended war, is the practice of collectively minimizing outdoor light, including upwardly directed light. This was done in the 20th century to prevent crews of enemy aircraft from being able to navigate to their targets simply by sight, for example during the London...
and optical communicationFiber-optic communicationFiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of light through an optical fiber. The light forms an electromagnetic carrier wave that is modulated to carry information...
systems.
External links
- AT&T history with photos
- More television history and photos
- Even more television history
- Partial bibliography
- Ives papers at the Smithsonian
- Quotes
- Articles Published by early OSA Presidents Journal of the Optical Society of America