Peter Goldmark, BorN 1906
inventor of the long playing record
Peter Carl Goldmark, a Hungarian-born physicist and engineer who later became a U.S. citizen, is best known for his invention of the long-playing record. It revolutionized the recorded music industry and dominated sales for 40 years. Spending most of his career as an engineer at CBS, he also contributed to the development of color television, photocopying, audio cassettes, and the video cassette recorder. Goldmark was born in Budapest, the son of Sandor Goldmark, a businessman, and Emma Steiner. His great-uncle, the chemist Joseph Goldmark, discovered red phosphorus, used in making matches, and invented percussion caps for rifles, first used in the U.S. Civil War. Another great-uncle, Karl Goldmark, is one of Hungary's greatest composers.
As a boy, Goldmark received training in piano and cello. From an early age he developed a respect for both science and music. Goldmark remembers as a child living on the Danube River in Budapest in 1919, during the Hungarian civil war. As a string quartet performed in their home, rebels who were cruising on the Danube shot into the open windows, as a warning to close the windows. Goldmark's mother directed the quartet to continue and remained in her seat. A second shot hit the ceiling and, much to the amazement of young Goldmark, the quartet continued to play. Only when the music ended did Goldmark's mother close the window. After a distinguished career at CBS, Goldmark turned his attention to social issues including the New Rural Society project. This explored the scope for telecommunications to re-vitalise rural economies.
Click below to view his life story:
Source: Part 1 was archived in 2021, with acknowledgement and thanks, from the website of the National Academy of Sciences. Part 2 was archived in 2021, with acknowledgement and thanks, from the website of the IEEE.