George Washington Pierce

Who was George Washington Pierce?

George Washington Pierce was an American physicist. He was a professor of physics at Harvard University and inventor in the development of electronic telecommunications.

The son of a Texas cattle rancher, he distinguished himself in school at Taylor and in the University of Texas before beginning his enduring relationship with Harvard in 1898. He wrote three innovative texts, many learned papers, and was assigned 53 patents. The most notable is the single-stage crystal oscillator circuit, which became the touchstone of the electronics communication art. Süsskind says that he was “an exceedingly warm and droll individual, much revered by his students.”