Edwin H. Land

AKA:
Dr. Land
Birth Name:
Edwin Herbert Land
Birth Date:
May 7, 1909
Birth Place:
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Death Date:
March 1, 1991
Place of Death:
Prospect Hill, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Age:
81
Cause of Death:
Undisclosed
Cemetery Name:
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Claim to Fame:
Science
Edwin H. Land was an American scientist and inventor, best known as the co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation and the inventor of instant photography. “Dr. Land,’’ as most people referred to him, left Harvard College before graduation to start inventing in a Cambridge garage. In 40 years, Land built up a company that did about $1.4 billion of business all over the world in 1979 with over 20,000 employees. He stuck to his guns, never diversified into other businesses, never sold out to another company, and never borrowed money on a long-term basis. Land was awarded more than 500 patents, and other Polaroid researchers hundreds more. The Polaroid company was a juggernaut of innovation. In modern terms, Polaroid was the Apple of its time with a brilliant leader in Edwin Land, a scientist who guided the company as the CEO for several decades. But the company suffered a long decline starting in the ’80s leading to bankruptcy in the 2000s.

Fun Fact

When Edwin died on March 1, 1991 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, upon his specific instructions his trusted personal assistant destroyed all his personal papers and his notes. Oddly enough shortly after his death his historic Cambridge mansion burned to the ground.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Mount Auburn Cemetery

580 Mount Auburn Street

Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138

USA

North America

Map:

Map of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts
Map of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts

Grave Location:

Aronia Path, Lot 10123, Space 1

Grave Location Description

The the intersection of Pond Road, Bradlee Road, Willow Pond Path and Aronia Path take a short walk up Aronia Path just past the Butternut Path and look to your right and you will see the final resting place of the brilliant Dr. Land and his wife about 50 feet from the path.

Grave Location GPS

42.36758888, -71.14714891

Photos:

[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]

Read More About Edwin H. Land:

Videos Featuring Edwin H. Land:

See More:

Christa McAuliffe

popular name: Christa McAuliffe

date_of_death: January 28, 1986

age: 37

cause_of_death: Space shuttle accident

claim_to_fame: Science

best_know_for: Christa McAuliffe was an American teacher and astronaut from Concord, New Hampshire, who was killed on the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L where she was serving as a payload specialist. On January 28, 1986, McAuliffe boarded Challenger with the other six crew members of STS-51-L. Seventy-three seconds into its flight at an altitude of 48,000 ft (14.630 km), the shuttle broke apart, resulting in the deaths of all seven crew members. According to NASA, it was in part because of the excitement over her presence on the shuttle that the accident had such a significant effect on the nation. Many schoolchildren were viewing the launch live, and media coverage of the accident was extensive.

Camille Flammarion

popular name: Camille Flammarion

date_of_death: June 3, 1925

age: 83

cause_of_death: Natural causes

claim_to_fame: Science

best_know_for: Camille Flammarion was a famous French astronomer, author, magazine publisher and notable psychical researcher. He was a prolific author of more than fifty titles, including popular science works about astronomy, several notable early science fiction novels, and works on psychical research and related topics. He also published the magazine L'Astronomie, starting in 1882. He maintained a private observatory at his home in Juvisy-sur-Orge, France which is open to the public today.

Eugene Wigner

popular name: Eugene Wigner

date_of_death: January 1, 1995

age: 92

cause_of_death: Pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Science

best_know_for: Eugene Paul "E. P." Wigner was a Hungarian theoretical physicist who also contributed to mathematical physics. He obtained American citizenship in 1937, and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963 "for his contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles". Wigner and Hermann Weyl were responsible for introducing group theory into physics, particularly the theory of symmetry in physics. Along the way he performed ground-breaking work in pure mathematics, in which he authored a number of mathematical theorems. In particular, Wigner's theorem is a cornerstone in the mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics.

Back to Top