Alexander M. Nicolson

Nicolson worked for Western Electric and AT&T among other industrial and telecommunication companies. He was active in research on piezoelectricity, radio communication, and television during the 1910s and 1920s. In addition to the crystal oscillator, Nicolson received patents for several other devices, including early television transmission systems (1923) and numerous radio accessories. His work led contemporaries to describe him as a "video pioneer." == Inventions and patents ==

• 1918 – Patent filed for a crystal-controlled oscillator using Rochelle salt (granted 1940). • 1923 – Patent related to television image transmission. • Several other patents on radio and acoustic devices assigned to Western Electric. == Legacy ==

Nicolson’s 1917 oscillator was the first practical demonstration of piezoelectric frequency control. Although Walter Guyton Cady’s quartz oscillator (1921) became more commercially influential, later surveys of frequency control and time measurement cite Nicolson’s work as an important precursor in the development of modern electronics. == Death ==

Nicolson died in New York City on February 3, 1950, at the age of 69. == References ==