Edward Lawry Norton (July 28, 1898 – January 28, 1983) was an accomplished engineer and scientist. He worked at

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...

and is known for

Norton's theorem In Direct current, direct-current circuit theory, Norton's theorem, also called the Mayer–Norton theorem, is a simplification that can be applied to Electrical network, networks made of Linear time-invariant system, linear time-invariant Resi ...

. His areas of active research included network theory, acoustical systems, electromagnetic apparatus, and data transmission. A graduate of MIT and Columbia University, he held nineteen patents on his work. Edward L. Norton is best remembered for development of the dual of Thevenin's equivalent circuit, currently referred to as Norton's equivalent Circuit. He was interested in communications circuit theory and the transmission of data at high speeds over telephone lines. Norton began his telephone career in 1922 with the western Electric Company's Engineering Department (which later became Bell Laboratories).

Biography

He attended the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

for two years before transferring to

M.I.T. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sci ...

and received a S.B. degree (

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

) in 1922. He received an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1925.

Work

Norton and his associates at AT&T in the early 1920s are recognized as some of the first to perform pioneering work applying Thevenin's equivalent circuit and who referred to this concept simply as

Thévenin's theorem As originally stated in terms of direct-current resistance (electricity), resistive circuits only, Thévenin's theorem states that ''"Any linear circuit, linear electrical network containing only voltage source, voltage sources, current source, c ...

. In 1926, he proposed the equivalent circuit using a current source and parallel resistor to assist in the design of recording instrumentation that was primarily current driven. Edward Lawry Norton is one of the founders of the ''

Acoustical Society of America The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is an international scientific society founded in 1929 dedicated to generating, disseminating and promoting the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications. The Society is primarily a voluntary org ...

'' (ASA). with other renowned acousticians, at the Bell headquarters in New York City, on December 27, 1928.News Notes. The Acoustical Society of America was formed at a meeting held here on December 27 (page 253) https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Bell-Laboratories-Record/20s/Bell-Laboratories-Record-1929-Feb.pdf

Death

Norton died on January 28, 1983, in King James Nursing Home,

Chatham, New Jersey "The Chathams" (, ) is a term used in reference to shared services for two neighboring municipalities in Morris County, New Jersey, United States – Chatham Borough, New Jersey, Chatham and Chatham Township, New Jersey, Chatham Township. The two a ...

References

External links

*
Edward L. Norton
Short biographical sketch. Includes photographs and quotations.
Origins of the Equivalent Circuit Concept by Don H. Johnson
Includes photos and biographical sketches of Norton and other inventors of the "equivalent circuit" concept. 1898 births Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni 1983 deaths Scientists at Bell Labs People from Rockland, Maine 20th-century American engineers {{US-engineer-stub Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni