Marvin Camras This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. Answers- Catalyst

   www.iit.edu/publications/catal - [Cached]

   Published on: 12/16/1999   Last Visited: 8/4/2001

   Marvin Camras 3. Marvin Camras
   
   Perhaps the best known IIT alumnus , Marvin Camras started his remarkable career in magnetic recording when he was a junior in electrical engineering. His interest in recording sound came about because of his cousin's wish to be an opera singer. He asked Marv if there were an inexpensive way to record and play back his own voice. Magnetic recording is actually an old art. Camras brought to it a fresh and ingenious approach that resulted in outstanding improvements in high-frequency fidelity , signal-to-noise ratio and freedom from distortion. He earned 500 patents in advancing this technology , which are the bases for audio and video recording and computer data storage. He is commonly known as the father of magnetic recording.
   
   His curiosity had few boundaries. He took an M.S. degree in electrical engineering at the same time that he was revolutionizing a major part of that discipline. He took night courses in biology , chemistry , physics , social science and political science.
   
   His interest in sound led him in many directions. He was an expert harmonica player. He used to play the harmonica at restaurants and entertain nearby customers. Refusing to buy an overpriced violin for his daughter , who was embarking on music lessons , he claimed he could make one just as good as he could buy. He did just that , and he made many other musical instruments , as well. His daughter , now a music teacher , and her husband , principal violist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , still play them.
   
   laszlo mottoly nagy.jpg ( 8655 bytes ) Laszlo Moholy-Nagy 4. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
   
   Walter Gropius established the Bauhaus in 1919. Its name is derived from the German Bauhutte-the medieval cathedral workshop in which craftsmen and artists collaborated.