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Table of Contents
Chester F. Carlson was an American physicist and patent attorney who invented xerography, a dry photocopying technique. His invention was developed and commercialized by the Xerox Corporation. Carlson is regarded as “the father of xerographic printing.”
See the fact file below for more information on the Chester F. Carlson or alternatively, you can download our 23-page Chester F. Carlson worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
- Chester Floyd Carlson was born on February 8, 1906, in Seattle, Washington.
- When Carlson was still a child, his father fell ill with tuberculosis and his mother contracted malaria.
- His parents’ illnesses forced Carlson to be the breadwinner of the family from a young age.
- By the time he was 13 years old, he would work before and after his classes.
- His mother died of tuberculosis when Carlson was 17, and his father died when he was 27.
- Continuing to work as he attended college, he obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1930.
- At a young age, Carlson already thought about reproducing print materials.
- At ten years old, he created a newspaper called This and That, which he made by hand and distributed among his friends.
- In 1916, his aunt gifted him a toy typewriter as a Christmas gift, which became his most prized possession.
- He went on to work for a local printing company when he was in high school, which cultivated in him a frustration with traditional duplicating methods.
EARLY CAREER
- Carlson earned his Bachelor of Science degree at the beginning of the Great Depression, which made it difficult for him to secure a job as a physicist in California.
- Consequently, in 1930, he moved to New York City, where he was offered a position in the patent department at the P. R. Mallory Company, an electrical manufacturing company.
- At P.R. Mallory, he learned about patent law. He also learned about the flaws in the existing photostat process for reproducing documents.
INVENTION OF ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY
- Carlson became the head of the patent department at P.R. Mallory where he remained until 1945.
- He also attended the New York Law School beginning in 1936, taking night classes while working at P.R. Mallory.
- He obtained his law degree in 1939 and was admitted to the New York bar the following year.
- While studying law, he would copy longhand from law books at the public library because he could not afford to purchase his own.
- This experience contributed to his drive to invent a more efficient duplication method.
- He conducted research on a procedure that would quickly create copies without using the same elements needed for photographic reproduction such as film, photo paper, and chemical solutions.
- As he read existing literature on printing and copying technology, he became convinced that it was possible to duplicate documents using photoconductivity.
- As an alternative to the wet process of photographic reproduction, Carlson came up with a dry method called electrophotography.
- Carlson applied what he learned from working as a patent attorney by creating very comprehensive patents for his invention.
- Carlson filed his first patent application on October 18, 1937, and since then patented his further developments.
- Over a year later, Carlson successfully produced copies using the electrophotographic process, with the help of his assistant Otto Kornei.
SUCCESS OF XEROGRAPHY
- On October 6, 1942, Carlson’s patent on electrophotography was granted.
- Carlson’s proof-of-concept was not met with excitement by commercial companies who could make it into a usable commercial product, as he was turned down for funding by over 20 companies between 1939 and 1944.
- In 1944, he was able to interest the Battelle Development Corporation in his invention.
- By 1945, Battelle agreed to act as Carlson’s agent for his patents and fund further research on xerography.
- Finally, in 1946, a major company called the Haloid Company showed interest in Carlson’s product.
- Haloid was a manufacturing company of photographic paper, and John Dessauer, chief of research at the Haloid Company, read an article about Carlson’s invention.
- Dessauer thought that electrophotography might be Haloid’s ticket to dominating an area that their rival company Kodak had not expanded thus far.
- In December 1946, Carlson, Battelle, and Haloid signed the first agreement, a $10,000 contract, to license electrophotography for a commercial product.
- Battelle was responsible for the research aspect while Haloid focused on the product’s commercialization.
- In 1959, the first commercial xerographic machine was marketed by Haloid, which renamed itself the Xerox Corporation.
- The process was also renamed xerography, which is derived from the Greek words for “dry” and “writing.”
PERSONAL LIFE AND LEGACY
- Carlson married his first wife Elsa von Mallon in the fall of 1934; they were divorced in 1945.
- While working through Haloid and Battelle patent negotiations, Carlson married his second wife, Dorris Helen Hudgins.
- In 1968, Fortune magazine ranked Carlson among the wealthiest people in the United States.
- Carlson did not hoard his wealth and devoted much of it to philanthropic purposes, donating more than $150 million to charitable causes.
- He was an active supporter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
- In honor of Carlson, awards were named after him by the American Society for Engineering Education, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Science, IVA, and the Society for Imaging Science and Technology.
- On September 19, 1968, Carlson died of a heart attack while watching the film ‘He Who Rides a Tiger’ at the Festival Theatre in New York City.
- Dorris Hudgins held a small service in New York City.
- Xerox arranged a larger service in its corporate auditorium on September 26, 1968.
Chester F. Carlson Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Chester F. Carlson across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Chester F. Carlson worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Chester F. Carlson who was an American physicist and patent attorney who invented xerography, a dry photocopying technique. His invention was developed and commercialized by the Xerox Corporation. Carlson is regarded as “the father of xerographic printing.”
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
- Chester F. Carlson Facts
- Early Life Quotes
- Sequencing Events
- Terminology Review
- Correct Copies
- Carlson’s Crossword
- Accurate Retelling
- Xerox Newsletter
- More Efficient Method
- Inventor Hall Of Fame
- A Man Of Great Character
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