He also stressed the practical over the theoretical, stating that progress was more likely the product of experimentation and reasoning than on mathematical calculation and the formulae of ' mathematical physics'.Īrmstrong graduated from Columbia in 1913, earning an electrical engineering degree. In one case, he recounted how he tricked a visiting professor from Cornell University that he disliked into receiving a severe electrical shock. Armstrong challenged conventional wisdom and was quick to question the opinions of both professors and peers. Morecroft, later remembered Armstrong as being intensely focused on the topics that interested him, but somewhat indifferent to the rest of his studies. Another of his instructors, Professor John H. In 1909, Armstrong enrolled at Columbia University in New York City, where he became a member of the Epsilon Chapter of the Theta Xi engineering fraternity, and studied under Professor Michael Pupin at the Hartley Laboratories, a separate research unit at Columbia. Much of his early research was conducted in the attic of his parents' house. He loved heights and constructed a makeshift backyard antenna tower that included a bosun's chair for hoisting himself up and down its length, to the concern of neighbors. Armstrong's tic and the time missed from school led him to become socially withdrawn.įrom an early age, Armstrong showed an interest in electrical and mechanical devices, particularly trains. The Smith family subsequently moved next door. To improve his health, the Armstrong family moved to a house overlooking the Hudson River, at 1032 Warburton Avenue in Yonkers. Due to this illness, he withdrew from public school and was home-tutored for two years. For the rest of his life, Armstrong was afflicted with a physical tic exacerbated by excitement or stress. Vitus' Dance), an infrequent but serious neurological disorder precipitated by rheumatic fever. The family was comfortably middle class.Īt the age of eight, Armstrong contracted Sydenham's chorea (then known as St. When the church moved north, the Smiths and Armstrongs followed, and in 1895 the Armstrong family moved from their brownstone row house at 347 West 29th Street to a similar house at 26 West 97th Street in the Upper West Side. His mother's family had strong ties to Chelsea, and an active role in church functions. His parents first met at the North Presbyterian Church, located at 31st Street and Ninth Avenue. His father began working at a young age at the American branch of the Oxford University Press, which published bibles and standard classical works, eventually advancing to the position of vice president.

1975Īrmstrong was born in the Chelsea district of New York City, the oldest of John and Emily (née Smith) Armstrong's three children. Armstrong attended Columbia University, and served as a professor there for most of his life.Įarly life Armstrong's boyhood home, overlooking the Hudson River in Yonkers, New York, c. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and included in the International Telecommunication Union's roster of great inventors. He held 42 patents and received numerous awards, including the first Medal of Honor awarded by the Institute of Radio Engineers (now IEEE), the French Legion of Honor, the 1941 Franklin Medal and the 1942 Edison Medal. Edwin Howard Armstrong (Decem – Febru) was an American electrical engineer and inventor, who developed FM ( frequency modulation) radio and the superheterodyne receiver system.

Edwin howard armstrong