National Academies Press: OpenBook

Memorial Tributes: Volume 13 (2010)

Chapter: JOHN R. PIERCE

« Previous: ANTONI K. OPPENHEIM
Suggested Citation:"JOHN R. PIERCE." National Academy of Engineering. 2010. Memorial Tributes: Volume 13. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12734.
×
Page 194
Suggested Citation:"JOHN R. PIERCE." National Academy of Engineering. 2010. Memorial Tributes: Volume 13. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12734.
×
Page 195
Suggested Citation:"JOHN R. PIERCE." National Academy of Engineering. 2010. Memorial Tributes: Volume 13. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12734.
×
Page 196
Suggested Citation:"JOHN R. PIERCE." National Academy of Engineering. 2010. Memorial Tributes: Volume 13. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12734.
×
Page 197

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

Final Tribute Vol 13.indd 194 3/23/10 3:42:27 PM

J O H N R. P I E R C E 1910 –2002 Elected in 1965 “Leading electronics engineer and satellite communications expert.” BY EDWARD E. DAVID JOHN PIERCE, the “father” of modern communication satellites, died in April 2002. Three of his former colleagues wrote the following: “Above all, John Pierce was a man of strict integrity. He knew the difference between speculation, wishful thinking, and factual evidence. Pretence was not his way. These principles permeated his life, his contributions to science and technology, and his person. We will not often see his kind again.” 1 John Pierce was born March 27, 1910, in Des Moines, Iowa. He attended the California Institute of Technology, where he studied electrical engineering, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1933, master’s degree in 1934, and doctorate in 1936. He began working as an engineer for Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey in 1936. Pierce’s career at Bell Telephone Laboratories lasted more than 35 years. He became director of electronics research in 1952 and research director of communications principles in 1958, and held the position of executive director, research, communication division upon his departure in 1971. His John Robinson Pierce 1910-2002, A Biographical Memoir by Edward E. David, Jr., 1 Max V. Mathews, and A. Michael Noll 195 Final Tribute Vol 13.indd 195 3/23/10 3:42:27 PM

196 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES devotion to Bell Labs was based on the organization’s integrity and focus in developing the performance and scholarship of each individual. This principle reinforced his personal philosophy of strict ethics. He would have been distressed at the outcome of the federal lawsuit that broke up the Bell System and eventually fragmented Bell Labs, which is no longer the Goliath of research. After retirement from Bell Labs, Pierce joined the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech), his alma mater, where he spent the rest of his career in productive work and imaginative research, especially on computer music and sound perception. During this time, he was also chief technologist of Jet Propulsion Labs, a leader in space research in which he had a lasting interest. In the 1980s, Pierce arrived at Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) to pursue his longtime interests in computer music and psychoacoustics. He held the title of visiting professor of music, emeritus, and “visited” for more than 12 years, bringing intellectual and much-needed financial support to the center. John Pierce was the originator and developer of technologies that set the stage for the “digital revolution” and was instrumental in the development of early communications satellites, such as Echo and Telstar. But he always gave credit to Arthur C. Clarke, whose proposal preceded the concrete steps leading to the demonstration of actual satellite communications, which were performed by Pierce’s colleagues at Bell Labs. Among the technological inventions and realizations in which Pierce had a hand (with Shannon and Oliver) was pulse-code modulation (PCM), which set the stage for the so- called digital revolution. Pierce originated and developed high- frequency microwave amplifiers in the form of travelling-wave tubes, reflex klystrons, and electron-multiplier tubes, which for many years were main components in electronics systems. His many prizes and awards included the National Medal of Science, Japan Prize, and IEEE Medal of Honor, and he shared the prestigious Charles Stark Draper Prize with communications satellite collaborator Harold Rosen. He held 10 honorary doctoral degrees, in addition to his own “earned” one. He Final Tribute Vol 13.indd 196 3/23/10 3:42:27 PM

JOHN R. PIERCE 197 participated in many NAE activities, as well as studies for federal government agencies and the White House Office of Science and Technology. But Pierce was not all business. He loved to write fiction, and he published several imaginative studies under the pseudonym J. J. Coupling (after a physics concept). He was also a musician, both performer and composer. He was involved in early computer music and concerts, including recordings for playback. John was extremely creative; for example, he coined the word “transistor” to name the first solid-state amplifier. He was also an inventor; he held more than 80 significant patents, and many of his inventions are still in use. Less tangible, but of prime significance, Pierce had the ability to lead and inspire people, especially engineers and scientists. In 1977, he received the National Academy of Engineering Founders Award for his scholarship “in documenting the disciplines involved [in the above contributions] and authoring treatises to encourage learning and accomplishment.” He always considered himself an engineer, although he recognized that science was a necessary handmaiden. John Pierce’s example highlights the importance of individual contributions to engineering research and innovation. Pierce is survived by his wife Brenda Woodard-Pierce of Palo Alto; a son, John Jeremy Pierce of Bloomfield, NJ; and a daughter, Elizabeth Anne Pierce of Summit, NJ. Final Tribute Vol 13.indd 197 3/23/10 3:42:27 PM

Next: EBERHARDT RECHTIN »
Memorial Tributes: Volume 13 Get This Book
×
Buy Hardback | $107.00
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

This is the thirteenth volume in the series of Memorial Tributes compiled by the National Academy of Engineering as a personal remembrance of the lives and outstanding achievements of its members and foreign associates. These volumes are intended to stand as an enduring record of the many contributions of engineers and engineering to the benefit of humankind. In most cases, the authors of the tributes are contemporaries or colleagues who had personal knowledge of the interests and the engineering accomplishments of the deceased.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!