INVENTOR

Stanford R. Ovshinsky

1922 - 2012

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Stanford Robert Ovshinsky (November 24, 1922 – October 17, 2012) was an American engineer, scientist and inventor who over a span of fifty years was granted well over 400 patents, mostly in the areas of energy and information. Many of his inventions have had wide-ranging applications. Among the most prominent are: the nickel-metal hydride battery, which has been widely used in laptop computers, digital cameras, cell phones, and electric and hybrid cars; flexible thin-film solar energy laminates and panels; flat panel liquid crystal displays; rewritable CD and DVD discs; hydrogen fuel cells; and nonvolatile phase-change memory. Ovshinsky opened the scientific field of amorphous and disordered materials in the course of his research in the 1940s and 50s in neurophysiology, neural disease, the nature of intelligence in mammals and machines, and cybernetics. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in 17 different languages on Wikipedia. Stanford R. Ovshinsky is the 399th most popular inventor (up from 404th in 2024), the 11,181st most popular biography from United States (up from 11,494th in 2019) and the 115th most popular American Inventor.

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Among INVENTORS

Among inventors, Stanford R. Ovshinsky ranks 399 out of 426. Before him are Bette Nesmith Graham, Elmer Ambrose Sperry, Lewis Howard Latimer, Jerry Lawson, John F. Seitz, and Granville Woods. After him are John Whitehurst, Roger C. Field, Joy Mangano, Charles Ammi Cutter, Herbert E. Ives, and Clarence Birdseye.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1922, Stanford R. Ovshinsky ranks 411. Before him are Maja Bošković-Stulli, William Schallert, Willi Heeks, Franz Fühmann, Royal Dano, and Coleen Gray. After him are John Anderson, Paul Winchell, Kai Winding, Ágnes Nemes Nagy, George R. Price, and Turhan Bey. Among people deceased in 2012, Stanford R. Ovshinsky ranks 429. Before him are Ronald Stretton, Maja Bošković-Stulli, Manuel Preciado Rebolledo, Deborah Raffin, Terry Callier, and Roman Totenberg. After him are Joe South, Robert B. Sherman, Colin Davis, Turhan Bey, Nicolaas Govert de Bruijn, and Johnny Otis.

Others Born in 1922

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Others Deceased in 2012

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Among INVENTORS In United States

Among inventors born in United States, Stanford R. Ovshinsky ranks 115. Before him are Bette Nesmith Graham (1924), Elmer Ambrose Sperry (1860), Lewis Howard Latimer (1848), Jerry Lawson (1940), John F. Seitz (1892), and Granville Woods (1856). After him are Joy Mangano (1956), Charles Ammi Cutter (1837), Herbert E. Ives (1882), Clarence Birdseye (1886), Marc Andreessen (1971), and Alfred Carlton Gilbert (1884).

American born Inventors

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