TAYLOR, ALBERT HOYT

born Jan. 1, 1874, Chicago, Ill., U.S. died Dec. 11, 1961, Claremont, Calif. American physicist and radio engineer whose work underlay the development of radar in the United States. Taylor was trained at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., and the University of Gttingen, Germany. He taught at Michigan State College in East Lansing and at the universities of Wisconsin at Madison and North Dakota at Grand Forks. He supervised the radio division of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory from 1923 until 1945. Taylor's studies in electromagnetic radiation concentrated on shortwaves, examining their polarization and refraction; his research confirmed the Heaviside radio roof theory in 1925. His work in the 1920s and '30s on radio echoes and the upper atmosphere contributed to the development of radar. In 1938 Taylor installed the first combat radar unit, on the battleship New York, and by 1939 radar equipment was being commercially manufactured in the United States.