Bernard Silver
Encyclopedia
Bernard Silver was an early developer of barcode
technology alongside Norman Joseph Woodland
.
Silver earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Drexel Institute of Technology
in 1947. In 1948 Silver paired with Norman Joseph Woodland
to come up with an automated way to read product data after overhearing the conversation of a local grocery store president. Their initial results, a system of lines and circles based on Morse code
, was replaced with a bulls eye pattern so it could be scanned from any direction. Silver and Woodland filed a patent for their system on October 20, 1949. The patent was granted on October 7, 1952 as patent No. 2,612,994.
During his life Silver served as a physics instructor at Drexel and as vice-president of Electro Nite Inc. He died August 28, 1963 at the age of 38. In 2011 Silver, alongside Woodland, was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame
.
Barcode
A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data, which shows data about the object to which it attaches. Originally barcodes represented data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or 1 dimensional . Later they evolved into rectangles,...
technology alongside Norman Joseph Woodland
Norman Joseph Woodland
Norman Joseph Woodland is best known as one of the inventors of the barcode, for which he received US Patent 2,612,994 in October 1952. He is also known as N. Joseph Woodland and N.J. Woodland.-Personal life:...
.
Silver earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Drexel Institute of Technology
Drexel University
Drexel University is a private research university with the main campus located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a noted financier and philanthropist. Drexel offers 70 full-time undergraduate programs and accelerated degrees...
in 1947. In 1948 Silver paired with Norman Joseph Woodland
Norman Joseph Woodland
Norman Joseph Woodland is best known as one of the inventors of the barcode, for which he received US Patent 2,612,994 in October 1952. He is also known as N. Joseph Woodland and N.J. Woodland.-Personal life:...
to come up with an automated way to read product data after overhearing the conversation of a local grocery store president. Their initial results, a system of lines and circles based on Morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
, was replaced with a bulls eye pattern so it could be scanned from any direction. Silver and Woodland filed a patent for their system on October 20, 1949. The patent was granted on October 7, 1952 as patent No. 2,612,994.
During his life Silver served as a physics instructor at Drexel and as vice-president of Electro Nite Inc. He died August 28, 1963 at the age of 38. In 2011 Silver, alongside Woodland, was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame
National Inventors Hall of Fame
The National Inventors Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recognizing, honoring and encouraging invention and creativity through the administration of its programs. The Hall of Fame honors the men and women responsible for the great technological advances that make human,...
.