Beckman, Arnold

Beckman, Arnold (Orville)

(1900–  ) electrical engineer, inventor; born in Cullom, Ill. He worked as a Bell Telephone research engineer and taught at the California Institute of Technology before establishing his own firm, Beckman Instruments, to produce scientific instruments of his own invention. His quartz spectrophotometer made automatic chemical analysis possible. His company developed a long line of products used in medicine, space exploration, and other fields. The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation contributes to the advancement of scientific research.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.