Albert H. Taylor

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Albert H. Taylor, known as “Radar” Taylor, was an American electrical engineer and a pioneer in radar technology. He was born January 1, 1879 in Chicago and died December 11, 1961 in Los Angeles.

Education and early career
Taylor studied at Northwestern University, starting in 1896. He worked for Western Electric in 1899, then returned to Northwestern in 1900. Lacking funds to finish, he took a teaching job at Michigan State College while continuing his studies. He earned a Bachelor of Science from Northwestern in 1902 and taught at the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1903 to 1908. He went to Germany for graduate work and earned a Ph.D. from the University of Göttingen in 1909. He then joined the University of North Dakota, building an experimental radio station and researching antennas and wave propagation until 1917.

World War I service
Taylor joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in March 1917. He held several communications and aviation radio positions in the Navy, was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1918 and to commander later that year, and resigned from active duty in 1922, continuing as a civilian with the Navy.

Radar research and the Naval Research Laboratory
In fall 1922, while working on radio experiments with Leo C. Young, they noticed a wooden ship in the Potomac River interfering with signals. This demonstrated the first continuous-wave interference detector. In 1923 the U.S. Navy founded the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), and Taylor became head of its Radio Division. In the early 1930s, Taylor and Young conceived the idea of pulsing a transmitter to detect targets and measure range. He asked Robert Morris Page to build a working prototype, which in December 1934 demonstrated a plane detected at about one mile away.

By 1937, Taylor’s team had developed a practical shipboard radar, CXAM, a technology closely related to Britain’s radar developments. Taylor led the NRL’s work in this area and helped lay the groundwork for modern radar.

Professional leadership and legacy
Taylor served as president of the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) in 1929 and worked with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) from 1936 to 1942, both predecessors of the IEEE. He retired from the NRL in 1948 and passed away in 1961 at age 82. He received the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1942 and the Medal for Merit for his contributions to radar.