Leonard T. Troland
Encyclopedia
Leonard T. Troland was an American physicist.
He graduated in 1912 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
with a degree in biochemistry. He then studied psychology at Harvard, where he obtained a Ph.D. in 1915. He worked for a year as a Harvard Travelling fellow at the General Electric
Nela research lab. He served as a member of committees of the National Research Council on vision and aviation psychology. At Harvard, he gave advanced courses in psychology, and he followed up his 1926 book "The Mystery of Mind" with "Fundamentals in Human Motivation" in 1928. At the same time he was chief engineer of the Technicolor
Motion Picture Corporation of California and was appointed Director of research at Technicolor in 1925.
He was elected to serve as president of the Optical Society of America
from 1922 to 1923.
At just 43, Troland died in May 1932 after falling off a cliff while out hiking. He gave his name to the troland
(symbol Td), the unit of conventional retinal illuminance. It is meant as a method for correcting photometric
measurements of luminance
values impinging on the human eye
by scaling them by the effective pupil
size.
He graduated in 1912 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
with a degree in biochemistry. He then studied psychology at Harvard, where he obtained a Ph.D. in 1915. He worked for a year as a Harvard Travelling fellow at the General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
Nela research lab. He served as a member of committees of the National Research Council on vision and aviation psychology. At Harvard, he gave advanced courses in psychology, and he followed up his 1926 book "The Mystery of Mind" with "Fundamentals in Human Motivation" in 1928. At the same time he was chief engineer of the Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
Motion Picture Corporation of California and was appointed Director of research at Technicolor in 1925.
He was elected to serve as president of the Optical Society of America
Optical Society of America
The Optical Society is a scientific society dedicated to advancing the study of light—optics and photonics—in theory and application, by means of publishing, organizing conferences and exhibitions, partnership with industry, and education. The organization has members in more than 100 countries...
from 1922 to 1923.
At just 43, Troland died in May 1932 after falling off a cliff while out hiking. He gave his name to the troland
Troland
The troland , named after Leonard T. Troland, is a unit of conventional retinal illuminance. It is meant as a method for correcting photometric measurements of luminance values impinging on the human eye by scaling them by the effective pupil size.The troland typically refers to the ordinary or...
(symbol Td), the unit of conventional retinal illuminance. It is meant as a method for correcting photometric
Photometry (optics)
Photometry is the science of the measurement of light, in terms of its perceived brightness to the human eye. It is distinct from radiometry, which is the science of measurement of radiant energy in terms of absolute power; rather, in photometry, the radiant power at each wavelength is weighted by...
measurements of luminance
Luminance
Luminance is a photometric measure of the luminous intensity per unit area of light travelling in a given direction. It describes the amount of light that passes through or is emitted from a particular area, and falls within a given solid angle. The SI unit for luminance is candela per square...
values impinging on the human eye
Human eye
The human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...
by scaling them by the effective pupil
Pupil
The pupil is a hole located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to enter the retina. It appears black because most of the light entering the pupil is absorbed by the tissues inside the eye. In humans the pupil is round, but other species, such as some cats, have slit pupils. In...
size.
External links
- Articles Published by early OSA Presidents Journal of the Optical Society of America