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Encyclopedia > John R. Pierce

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John Robinson Pierce (March 27, 1910 - April 2, 2002), was an American engineer and author. He worked extensively in the fields of radio communication, computer music, and science fiction. Born in Iowa, he earned his Ph.D. from Caltech, and died in California. A colleague of Claude Shannon at Bell Labs, he wrote on information theory and developed jointly the concept of Pulse code modulation. At the request of another colleague, Walter Brattain, he also coined the term transistor. He did significant research into satellites, including a leadership role in the development of the first commercial communications satellite, Telstar 1. He was also prominent in the research of computer music, as Visiting Professor of Music, Emeritus at Stanford's CCRMA (along with John Chowning and Max Mathews). Besides many technical books, Pierce wrote much science fiction under the pseudonym J.J. Coupling. He seems to have been a firm believer in the connection between literary imagination and practical innovation. Categories: 1910 births | 2002 deaths | American scientists

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	Pierce, John Robinson (1910-2002) (243 words) A leading applied physicist who is commonly referred to as the father of the communications satellite for his work on it, beginning in 1954 (although the concept had first been suggested by Arthur C. Clarke. Pierce was employed for 35 years as an engineer at Bell Telephone Laboratories (rising to become executive director of the Research-Communications Principles Division), where he coined the term "transistor," and then at the California Institute of Technology and JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Pierce was among several engineers and scientists who, in the early years of the Space Age, cast doubt on the feasibility of interstellar travel.
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