Loyd Ancile Jones (April 12, 1884 – May 15, 1954) was an American scientist who worked for

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

, where he was head of its physics department for many years. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was also a major contributor to the development of naval

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

Background

He was born Loyd Ancile Jones in

York, Nebraska York is a city in and the county seat of York County, Nebraska, United States. At the 2010 census, the city population was 7,766. It is the home of York University and the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women. History York was platted in ...

. He was educated at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1908 and master's degree in science in 1910. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

in 1933.

Career

Following graduate school, Jones moved to

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, where he worked for several years as a laboratory assistant at the U.S.

Bureau of Standards A standards organization, standards body, standards developing organization (SDO), or standards setting organization (SSO) is an organization whose primary function is developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpr ...

doing research in photometry, colorimetry, spectro-photometry, spectroscopy, and retinal sensitivity. In 1912, he joined the scientific research staff at Eastman Kodak Company, where he became chief physicist in 1916, a position he continued in until his retirement (Behrens 2009, p. 201). His research at Eastman Kodak generally related to the subject of

sensitometry Sensitometry is the scientific study of light-sensitive materials, especially photographic film. The study has its origins in the work by Ferdinand Hurter and Vero Charles Driffield (circa 1876) with early black-and-white emulsions. They dete ...

Camouflage Research

When the U.S. became involved in World War I,

George Eastman George Eastman (July 12, 1854March 14, 1932) was an American entrepreneur who founded the Kodak, Eastman Kodak Company and helped to bring the photographic use of roll film into the mainstream. After a decade of experiments in photography, he ...

offered to the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

the expertise of Jones (who served in the U.S. Naval Reserves) and others for the purpose of researching naval camouflage in relation to

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of optical instruments, instruments that use or Photodetector, detect it. Optics usually describes t ...

and

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

(Ackerman 1930, p. 310). Other people at the time argued that visual artists would be better equipped than scientists to develop camouflage. A compromise solution was reached, and on March 25, 1918, architect

Harold Van Buskirk Harold Van Buskirk (February 20, 1894 – October 25, 1980) was an American architect and fencing champion, and a three-time member of the US Olympic fencing team. During World War I, he was the officer in charge of the US Navy Camouflage Section ...

was placed in charge of a U.S. Navy camouflage unit, consisting of two major sections: A design section made up of artists, located in Washington D.C., headed by artist

Everett L. Warner Everett Longley Warner (July 16, 1877 – October 20, 1963) was an American Impressionist painter and printmaker, as well as a leading contributor to US Navy camouflage during both World Wars. Early years Warner was born in the small town of Vi ...

; and a research section made up largely of scientists, located at the Eastman laboratories in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, under the supervision of Jones (Van Buskirk 1919; Warner 1919). In connection with his research of naval camouflage, Jones and his staff developed in the laboratory an “experimental ocean,” which used an observation tank, artificial sun, movable sky, and other components that simulated outdoor viewing conditions, as miniature camouflaged ships were observed through a submarine periscope. He also developed an outdoor observation stage on the shore of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

. Painted cut-out silhouettes of camouflaged ships were suspended from a framework, at a height that made the ships appear to be floating on the water (Jones 1919; Skerrett 1919; Scientific American 1919).

Inventions

Jones was a prolific inventor. He was responsible for at least eighteen registered patents, and authored dozens of articles on such subjects as

photometry Photometry can refer to: * Photometry (optics), the science of measurement of visible light in terms of its perceived brightness to human vision * Photometry (astronomy), the measurement of the flux or intensity of an astronomical object's electr ...

physical optics In physics, physical optics, or wave optics, is the branch of optics that studies Interference (wave propagation), interference, diffraction, Polarization (waves), polarization, and other phenomena for which the ray approximation of geometric opti ...

, illuminating engineering,

colorimetry Colorimetry is "the science and technology used to quantify and describe physically the human color perception". It is similar to spectrophotometry, but is distinguished by its interest in reducing spectra to the physical correlates of color p ...

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

and

motion pictures A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

. One of his wartime inventions was a scope-like observation device called a visibility meter (U.S. Patent No. 1,437,809), which measured a ship’s visibility in an ocean setting (Ackerman 1930).

Distinctions

Jones served as President of the Optical Society of America (OSA) from 1930 to 1931, and as President of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers from 1924 to 1925. In 1943, he was awarded the

Frederic Ives Medal The Frederic Ives Medal is the highest award of the Optical Society, recognizing overall distinction in optics. The prize was established in 1928 by Herbert E. Ives in honor of his father, Frederic Ives. Initially awarded every two years, it has be ...

Optical Society of America. ''Frederic Ives Medal / Quinn Prize''. Web-page listing people, who have received this award since 1878

: “Recognizing overall distinction in optics, the Frederic Ives Medal is the highest award of the Society. It was endowed in 1928 by Herbert E. Ives, a distinguished charter member and OSA President, 1924 and 1925, to honor his father who was noted as the inventor of modern photoengraving and for his pioneering contributions to color photography, three-color process printing, and other branches of applied optics. The medalist is asked to present a plenary address at OSA's Annual Meeting. The prize is funded by the Jarus W. Quinn Ives Medal Endowment raised by members at the time of Quinn's retirement in recognition of his 25 years of service as OSA's first Executive Director. ��1943 Loyd A. Jones ��” by the

Optical Society of America Optica, founded as the Optical Society of America (later the Optical Society), is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals, organizes conferences and exhibitions, and ca ...

and he received the Progress Medal of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...

(RPS) in 1948.Royal Photographic Society. ''Progress medal''. Web-page listing people, who have received this award since 1878 (): “Instituted in 1878, this medal is awarded in recognition of any invention, research, publication or other contribution which has resulted in an important advance in the scientific or technological development of photography or imaging in the widest sense. This award also carries with it an Honorary Fellowship of The Society. ��1948 Lloyd A. Jones ��”

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20100303055428/http://www.bobolinkbooks.com/Camoupedia/DazzleCamouflage.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Loyd A. 1884 births 1954 deaths People from York, Nebraska 20th-century American physicists Presidents of Optica (society) Kodak people Fellows of the American Physical Society American optical physicists