Edwin Herbert Land, 1909 - 1991
Photo copyright J.J.Scarpetti from The Rowland Institute at Harvard
Born: 7 May 1909, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Died: 1 March 1991, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Biography from Wikipedia and Invent Now Hall of Fame
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Edwin H. Land quotes:
Quotes found : 32 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 3) 1 2 3 Next
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- A contemporary man who has not participated intimately in actual work in science is, in my opinion, not a modern man. I believe that this experience in science should come early in the life of all of our pupils. permalink
Edwin H. Land - "Generation of Greatness" address at MIT (22 May 1957) - An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. permalink
Edwin Land - 1909 - 1991 - An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail. Scientists made a great invention by calling their activities hypotheses and experiments. They made it permissible to fail repeatedly until in the end they got the results they wanted. In politics or government, if you made a hypothesis and it didn't work out, you had your head cut off. permalink
Edwin H. Land - I believe it is pretty well established now that neither the intuition of the sales manager nor even the first reaction of the public is a reliable measure of the value of a product to the consumer. Very often the best way to find out whether something is worth making is to make it, distribute it, and then to see, after the product has been around a few years, whether it was worth the trouble. permalink
Edwin H. Land - "Research by the Business Itself" (1945) - I believe quite simply that the small company of the future will be as much a research organization as it is a manufacturing company, and that this new company is the frontier for the next generation. permalink
Edwin H. Land - "Research by the Business Itself" (1945) - I believe that each young person is different from any other who has ever lived, as different as his fingerprints: that he could bring to the world a wonderful and special way of solving unsolved problems, that in his special way, he can be great. permalink
Edwin H. Land - "Generation of Greatness" address at MIT (22 May 1957) - I would urge that just as democracy initially meant the right of man to defend himself, to have a sword, and then meant the right to write, and then meant the right to read — so, now, democracy means the right to have the scientific experience. permalink
Edwin H. Land - "Generation of Greatness" address at MIT (22 May 1957) - If you are able to state a problem, then the problem can be solved. permalink
Edwin H. Land - If you sense a deep human need, then you go back to all the basic science. If there is some missing, then you try to do more basic science and applied science until you get it. So you make the system to fulfill that need, rather than starting the other way around, where you have something and wonder what to do with it. permalink
Edwin H. Land - In a few wretched buildings, we created a whole new industry with international significance. permalink
Edwin H. Land - statement to employees at Symphony Hall, Boston (5 February 1960) - In my opinion, neither organisms nor organizations evolve slowly and surely into something better, but drift until some small change occurs which has immediate and overwhelming significance. The special role of the human being is not to wait for these favorable accidents but deliberately to introduce the small change that will have great significance. permalink
Edwin H. Land - "Generation of Greatness" address at MIT (22 May 1957) - Market research is what you do when your product isn't any good. permalink
Edwin H. Land - Most large industrial concerns, are limited by policy to special directions of expansion within the well-established field of the company. On the other hand, most small companies do not have the resources or the facilities to support "scientific prospecting." Thus the young man leaving the university with a proposal for a new kind of activity is frequently not able to find a matrix for the development of his ideas in any established industrial organization. permalink
Edwin H. Land - statement to the Joint Hearings on Science Bills (October 1945) - My motto is very personal and may not fit anyone else or any other company. It is: Don't do anything that someone else can do. Don't undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible. permalink
Edwin H. Land - My whole life has been spent trying to teach people that intense concentration for hour after hour can bring out in people resources they didn't know they had. permalink
Edwin H. Land - "A Talk with Polaroid's Dr. Edwin Land" in Forbes (1 April 1975)
Quotes found : 32 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 3) 1 2 3 Next
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