born May 7, 1909, Bridgeport, Conn., U.S.
died March 1, 1991, Cambridge, Mass.
U.S. inventor and physicist.
After briefly attending Harvard University, he cofounded the Land-Wheelwright Laboratories in Boston in 1932. Interested in light polarization , in 1932 he developed the polarizer (which he called the Polaroid J sheet), for which he envisioned numerous uses. By 1936, Land began to use types of Polaroid material in sunglasses and other optical devices. It was later used in camera filters and other optical equipment. In 1937 Land founded the Polaroid Corp. in Cambridge, Mass. In 1947 he demonstrated the revolutionary Polaroid Land Camera, which produced a finished print in 60 seconds; he introduced colour Polaroid film in 1963. His interest in light and colour resulted in a new theory of colour perception. He received more than 500 patents.