INVENTOR

Harold Stephen Black

1898 - 1983

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Harold Stephen Black (April 14, 1898 – December 11, 1983) was an American electrical engineer, who revolutionized the field of applied electronics by inventing the negative feedback amplifier in 1927. To some, his invention is considered the most important breakthrough of the twentieth century in the field of electronics, since it has a wide area of application. This is because all electronic devices (vacuum tubes, bipolar transistors and MOS transistors) are inherently nonlinear, but they can be made substantially linear with the application of negative feedback. Negative feedback works by sacrificing gain for higher linearity (or in other words, smaller distortion/intermodulation). Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Harold Stephen Black is the 408th most popular inventor (up from 416th in 2019), the 12,629th most popular biography from United States (up from 14,260th in 2019) and the 122nd most popular American Inventor.

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Among INVENTORS

Among inventors, Harold Stephen Black ranks 408 out of 426. Before him are Charles Ammi Cutter, Herbert E. Ives, Clarence Birdseye, Kamil Tolon, Marc Andreessen, and Alfred Carlton Gilbert. After him are Lawrence Hargrave, Charles F. Kettering, Arunachalam Muruganantham, Arthur Fry, Walter Frederick Morrison, and Sarah E. Goode.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1898, Harold Stephen Black ranks 308. Before him are Stephen Vincent Benét, Tom Whittaker, Gracie Fields, Wiley Post, Molly Picon, and Ludwig Bemelmans. After him are William O. Douglas, Happy Chandler, Yefim Dzigan, George Chandler, Rod La Rocque, and Magnus Goodman. Among people deceased in 1983, Harold Stephen Black ranks 268. Before him are Derek J. de Solla Price, Merle Travis, Terence Cooke, John Le Mesurier, Rezső Somlai, and Vic Lindquist. After him are Alexei Guryshev, Keith Holyoake, William Demarest, Elisabeth Lutyens, Billy Fury, and Ruby Myers.

Others Born in 1898

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Harold Stephen Black ranks 12,633 out of 20,380. Before him are Brian Acton (1972), Bobby Goldsboro (1941), Jackie Fields (1908), Blake Shelton (1976), Hughie Thomasson (1952), and Steven Lindsey (1960). After him are Roger L. Jackson (1958), Jenifer Lewis (1957), Ralph Merkle (1952), Walter Bahr (1927), Anderson Cooper (1967), and George Whitefield Chadwick (1854).

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Among INVENTORS In United States

Among inventors born in United States, Harold Stephen Black ranks 122. Before him are Joy Mangano (1956), Charles Ammi Cutter (1837), Herbert E. Ives (1882), Clarence Birdseye (1886), Marc Andreessen (1971), and Alfred Carlton Gilbert (1884). After him are Charles F. Kettering (1958), Arthur Fry (1931), Walter Frederick Morrison (1920), Sarah E. Goode (1855), David Hahn (1976), and Jack Andraka (1997).

American born Inventors

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