Gabor was born asGünszberg Dénes, into aJewish family inBudapest, Austria-Hungary. In 1900, his family converted toLutheranism.[16] Dennis was the first-born son of Günszberg Bernát and Jakobovits Adél. Despite having a religious background, religion played a minor role in his later life and he considered himself agnostic.[17] In 1902, the family received permission to change their surname from Günszberg to Gábor. He served with the Hungarian artillery in northern Italy duringWorld War I.[18]
He began his studies in engineering at theBudapest University of Technology and Economics in 1918, later in Germany, at theTechnische Hochschule Charlottenburg inBerlin, now known asTechnische Universität Berlin.[19] At the start of his career, he analysed the properties of high voltage electric transmission lines by using cathode-beam oscillographs, which led to his interest in electron optics.[19] Studying the fundamental processes of theoscillograph, Gabor was led to other electron-beam devices such aselectron microscopes and TV tubes. He eventually wrote his PhD thesis on Recording of Transients in Electric Circuits with the Cathode Ray Oscillograph in 1927, and worked onplasma lamps.[19]
In 1933 Gabor fled fromNazi Germany, where he was considered Jewish, and was invited toBritain to work at the development department of theBritish Thomson-Houston company inRugby, Warwickshire. During his time in Rugby, he met Marjorie Louise Butler, and they married in 1936. He became aBritish citizen in 1946,[20] and it was while working at British Thomson-Houston in 1947 that he invented holography, based on anelectron microscope, and thus electrons instead of visible light.[21] He experimented with a heavily filteredmercury arc light source.[19] The earliest visual hologram was only realised in 1964 following the 1960 invention of thelaser, the firstcoherent light source. After this, holography became commercially available.
Gabor's research focused on electron inputs and outputs, which led him to the invention of holography.[19] The basic idea was that for perfect optical imaging, the total of all the information has to be used; not only the amplitude, as in usual optical imaging, but also the phase. In this manner, a complete holo-spatial picture can be obtained.[19] Gabor published his theories of holography in a series of papers between 1946 and 1951.[19]
Gabor also researched how human beings communicate and hear; the result of his investigations was the theory ofgranular synthesis, althoughGreek composerIannis Xenakis claimed that he was actually the first inventor of this synthesis technique.[22] Gabor's work in this and related areas was foundational in the development oftime–frequency analysis.
In 1948 Gabor moved from Rugby toImperial College London, and in 1958 became professor ofApplied Physics until his retirement in 1967. His inaugural lecture on 3 March 1959, 'Electronic Inventions and their Impact on Civilisation' provided inspiration forNorbert Wiener's treatment of self-reproducing machines in the penultimate chapter in the 1961 edition of his bookCybernetics.
As part of his many developments related to CRTs, in 1958 Gabor patented a newflat screen television concept. This used anelectron gun aimed perpendicular to the screen, rather than straight at it. The beam was then directed forward to the screen using a series of fine metal wires on either side of the beam path. The concept was significantly similar to theAiken tube, introduced in the US the same year. This led to a many-yearspatent battle which resulted in Aiken keeping the US rights and Gabor the UK. Gabor's version was later picked up byClive Sinclair in the 1970s, and became a decades-long quest to introduce the concept commercially. Its difficult manufacturing, due to the many wires within the vacuum tube, meant this was never successful. While looking for a company willing to try to manufacture it, Sinclair began negotiations withTimex, who instead took over production of theZX81.[23]
In 1963 Gabor publishedInventing the Future which discussed the three major threats Gabor saw to modern society: war, overpopulation and the Age of Leisure. The book contained the now well-known expression that "the future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented." ReviewerNigel Calder described his concept as, "His basic approach is that we cannot predict the future, but we can invent it..." Others such asAlan Kay,Peter Drucker, andForrest Shaklee have used various forms of similar quotes.[24] His next book,Innovations: scientific, technological, and social which was published in 1970, expanded on some of the topics he had already earlier touched upon, and also pointed to his interest in technological innovation as mechanism of both liberation and destruction.
Gabor in 1971
In 1971 he was the single recipient of theNobel Prize in Physics with the motivation "for his invention and development of the holographic method"[25] and presented the history of the development of holography from 1948 in his Nobel lecture.
While spending much of his retirement in Italy atLavinio Rome, he remained connected with Imperial College as a senior research fellow and also became staff scientist ofCBS Laboratories, inStamford, Connecticut; there, he collaborated with his lifelong friend, CBS Labs' presidentDr. Peter C. Goldmark in many new schemes of communication and display. One of Imperial College's new halls of residence in Prince's Gardens,Knightsbridge is named Gabor Hall in honour of Gabor's contribution to Imperial College. He developed an interest in social analysis and publishedThe Mature Society: a view of the future in 1972.[26] He also joined theClub of Rome and supervised a working group studying energy sources and technical change. The findings of this group were published in the reportBeyond the Age of Waste in 1978, a report which was an early warning of several issues that only later received widespread attention.[27]
Following the rapid development of lasers and a wide variety of holographic applications (e.g., art, information storage, and the recognition of patterns), Gabor achieved acknowledged success and worldwide attention during his lifetime.[19] He received numerous awards besides the Nobel Prize.
1989 – theRoyal Society of London began issuing theGabor Medal for "acknowledged distinction of interdisciplinary work between the life sciences with other disciplines".[31]
^abAllibone, T. E. (1980). "Dennis Gabor. 5 June 1900 – 9 February 1979".Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society.26: 106.doi:10.1098/rsbm.1980.0004.S2CID53732181.
^Brigham Narins (2001).Notable Scientists from 1900 to the Present: D-H. Gale Group. p. 797.ISBN978-0-7876-1753-0.Although Gabor's family became Lutherans in 1918, religion appeared to play a minor role in his life. He maintained his church affiliation through his adult years but characterized himself as a "benevolent agnostic".
^Xenakis, Iannis (2001).Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Composition. Vol. 9th (2nd ed.). Pendragon Pr. pp. preface xiii.ISBN1-57647-079-2.
^Adamson, Ian; Kennedy, Richard (1986).Sinclair and the 'sunrise' Technology. Penguin. pp. 91–92.
