Herbert Earl Grier (July 3, 1911 — March 17, 1999) was an American electrical engineer. While starting his engineering career with

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

during the 1930s to 1940s, Grier co-invented a miniature

stroboscope A stroboscope, also known as a strobe, is an instrument used to make a cyclically moving object appear to be slow-moving, or stationary. It consists of either a rotating disk with slots or holes or a lamp such as a flashtube which produces br ...

and handheld

flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid F ...

with Harold Edgerton and Kenneth Germeshausen. During World War II, Grier built a firing mechanism during the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

that was used in the

Fat Man "Fat Man" (also known as Mark III) is the codename for the type of nuclear bomb the United States detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, the fir ...

bomb. After he, Edgerton and Germeshausen created

EG&G EG&G, formally known as Edgerton, Germeshausen, and Grier, Inc., was a United States national defense contractor and provider of management and technical services. The company was involved in contracting services to the United States government ...

in 1947, Grier was involved in several nuclear tests including

Operation Sandstone Operation Sandstone was a series of nuclear weapon tests in 1948. It was the third series of American tests, following Trinity in 1945 and Crossroads in 1946, and preceding Ranger. Like the Crossroads tests, the Sandstone tests were carried ou ...

and

Operation Ranger Operation Ranger was the fourth American nuclear test series. It was conducted in 1951 and was the first series to be carried out at the Nevada Test Site. All the bombs were dropped by B-50D bombers and exploded in the open air over Frenchma ...

. With EG&G, Grier was president until 1976 and served as a consultant from 1983 to 1994. Apart from electrical engineering, he took part in

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

safety boards that assessed

Skylab Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations ...

and the preparation of the first

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...

. Grier was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1985 and the

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...

in 1989.

Early life and education

Grier was born on July 3, 1911, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. At the age of eleven, Grier and his family left Chicago to live in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. For his post-secondary education, Grier graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

and

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

in the early 1930s.

Career

Grier started his career as an electrical engineer for MIT from 1934 to 1947. During this time period, Grier co-invented a miniature

alongside Harold Edgerton and Kenneth Germeshausen in 1934. Years later, Grier and his colleagues created a

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

handheld

for newspaper photographers in 1940. While working on

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing airc ...

for Edgerton during World War II, Grier joined the

and built the firing mechanism used in the

bomb. After forming

with Edgerton and Germeshausen in 1947, Grier was involved in nuclear testings between the late 1940s and early 1950s. These included

and Operation Ivy. With EG&G, Grier was the company's president until 1976 and was a consultant from 1983 to 1994. Other executive roles Grier had were president of GEC Geonuclear Company from 1965 to 1983 and chairman of Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Company from 1969 to 1971. Outside of electrical engineering, Grier was selected for a 1973

advisory board on safety that reviewed

. He also led a 1980 safety committee that assessed the preparation of the first NASA

Awards and honors

Grier was a recipient of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1985 and the

in 1989.

Personal life

Grier died on March 17, 1999, in

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. He was married and had three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grier, Herbert E. 1911 births 1999 deaths Scientists from Chicago Scientists from New York City Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni American electrical engineers 20th-century American inventors 20th-century American businesspeople American company founders American business executives Manhattan Project people NASA people Kodak people National Medal of Science laureates Recipients of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal