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Leo Beranek | |
|---|---|
 Leo Beranek, 2011 | |
| Born | Leo Leroy Beranek (1914-09-15)September 15, 1914 Solon, Iowa, US |
| Died | October 10, 2016(2016-10-10) (aged 102) |
| Alma mater | Cornell College (Mount Vernon, Iowa) Harvard University |
| Known for | Acoustics (1954, 1986) Acoustics: Sound Fields and Transducers (2012) Music, Acoustics, and Architecture (1962, 2004) |
| Awards | Wallace Clement Sabine Medal(1961) Audio Engineering Society Gold Medal Award (1971) ASA Gold Medal(1975) National Medal of Science in Engineering(2002)Technical Grammy Special Merit Award(2025)[1] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Acoustics Electrical engineering |
| Institutions | Bolt, Beranek and Newman Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) |
| Doctoral advisor | Frederick Vinton Hunt |
| Doctoral students | Kenneth N. Stevens James L. Flanagan |
Leo Leroy Beranek (September 15, 1914 – October 10, 2016) was an Americanacoustics expert, formerMIT professor, and a founder and former president ofBolt, Beranek and Newman (now BBN Technologies). He authoredAcoustics, considered a classic textbook in this field, and its updated and extended version published in 2012 under the titleAcoustics: Sound Fields and Transducers. He was also an expert in the design and evaluation ofconcert halls andopera houses, and authored the classic textbookMusic, Acoustics, and Architecture, revised and extended in 2004 under the titleConcert Halls and Opera Houses: Music, Acoustics, and Architecture.
Beranek was born in 1914, inSolon, Iowa. His father Edward Fred Beranek was a farmer whose ancestors came fromBohemia (in what is now theCzech Republic) and his mother Beatrice Stahle, previously a schoolteacher, had become a farmwife.[2] Edward's paternal grandparents Josef Beránek and Anna Šimandlová were fromNynice andJarov respectively.[3]
Beranek first started school in aone-room schoolhouse inTipton, Iowa. After his first year, he rode in a horse-drawn school bus on a two-hour trip to a somewhat larger school. In 1922 his family moved back to Solon, where he was soon skipped over third grade and moved directly into fourth grade classes.[2]: 5 Around that time, a baby brother was born, named Lyle Edward Beranek.
In 1924, Beranek's father brought home a battery-powered radio containing a singlevacuum tube. His eldest son became fascinated with both the technology and the musical aspects of radio. In the harsh winter of January 1926, Beranek's mother died suddenly, leaving his father with huge debts and forcing his father to sell the farm within two months. In junior high school Beranek earned his first independent money by sellingsilkstockings and fabric. Beranek's father remarried and moved the family to the nearby town ofMount Vernon, Iowa, where he became co-owner of ahardware store. At his father's suggestion, Beranek learned radio repair via acorrespondence course, andapprenticed to an older repairman. The younger Beranek quickly learned the trade, and was soon able to buy aModel T automobile. He also earned some spare cash by playingtrap drums in a 6-person dance band. He continued to excel in his studies, including a typing class (rarely studied by boys) where he was the top performer.[2]: 11
Beranek applied for and was accepted at nearbyCornell College inMount Vernon, Iowa. In the aftermath of theWall Street Crash of 1929, money was tight, but he had managed to save $500. Worried about the shaky financial situation, he went to his bank and managed to withdraw $400 to pay his college tuition in advance. Thebank failed the next day, and Beranek lost the remaining $100.[2]: 12 During freshman year at college, Beranek was told by his father that he could not expect any family money and that he was on his own. In the summers of 1932 and 1933, Beranek worked as afield hand on local farms, to earn tuition money and to improve his physical condition. Beranek moved into two rooms above a bakery, shared with three other students to save money. He also continued to repair radios and played in a dance band, but falling income forced him to consider dropping down to a single class (in mathematics) during the next academic year.
In August 1933, Beranek was invited to accompany the family of a local dentist to theCentury of ProgressWorld's Fair inChicago. This was his first trip to a big city and it was a revelation. He attended concert performances by theChicago Symphony andDetroit Symphony daily, was dazzled by the displays of industrial products and technology, and fascinated by the international pavilions. He lived on a shoestring, spending a total of $12 for four days, but felt compelled to make a return trip the following summer.[2]: 14–15
In college, Beranek became friends with a fellow student who had anamateur radio setup, inspiring him to studyMorse Code and to earn his ownamateur radio license. In fall of 1933, he bought an earlydisc sound recorder to earn a modest fee by recording students before and after taking aspeech training class. This was his first hands-on experience with the developing science ofacoustics. By early 1934 he was forced to drop out of college and work full-time to earn more tuition money. He found a position at the fledglingCollins Radio Company ofCedar Rapids, Iowa, where he studiedGerman in his spare time. While there, he also met and dated Florence "Floss" Martin, abusiness school student. He was able to save enough money to attend the Spring 1935 semester at Cornell College, then returned to Collins Radio for the summer.
In August 1935, Beranek had a chance encounter with a stranger whose car had developed aflat tire while passing through Mount Vernon. While helping the stranger (who turned out to beGlenn Browning), he learned that the passing motorist had written a technical paper on radio technology. When Beranek mentioned plans for graduate school, Browning encouraged him to apply toHarvard University, a possibility he had regarded as financially out of reach.[2]: 20
Beranek was very busy in his final year at Cornell, running a radio repair and sales business and then transitioning tohouse wiring for electricity, while carrying a full course load. He managed three major wiring jobs for Cornell, including designing and installing amaster antenna system in a new men's dormitory then under construction.[2]: 23 He also continued to date his girlfriend Floss. Beranek graduated from Cornell College in summer 1936 with a Bachelor of Arts. He continued studies atHarvard University, where he received a doctorate in 1940.
DuringWorld War II, Beranek managed Harvard's electro-acoustics laboratory, which designed communications andnoise reduction systems for World War II aircraft, while at the same time developing other military technologies. During this time he built the firstanechoic chamber, an extremely quiet room for studying noise effects which later would inspireJohn Cage's philosophy of silence.
In 1945, Beranek became involved with a small company calledHush-A-Phone, which marketed a cup that fit over the mouthpiece of a telephone receiver in order to prevent the person speaking from being overheard. Although Hush-A-Phone had been around since the 1920s, Beranek used his acoustical expertise to develop an improved version of the device.AT&T threatened Hush-A-Phone users with termination of their telephone service. At the time, AT&T maintained a monopoly on American telephone service and telephones were leased from AT&T, rather than owned by customers. The resulting legal case,Hush-A-Phone v. United States, resulted in a victory for Hush-A-Phone. In finding that AT&T did not have the right to restrict use of the Hush-A-Phone, the courts established a precedent that would eventually lead to thebreakup of AT&T's monopoly.[4]
Beranek joined the staff at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology as professor ofcommunications engineering from 1947 to 1958. In 1948, he helped foundBolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN), serving as the company's president from 1952 to 1969. He continued to serve as chief scientist of BBN through 1971, as he led Boston Broadcasters, Inc. which (after a court battle) took control of television stationWCVB-TV.[5]
It has been remarked that if one selects his own components, builds his own enclosure, and is convinced he has made a wise choice of design, then his own loudspeaker sounds better to him than does anyone else's loudspeaker. In this case, the frequency response of the loudspeaker seems to play only a minor part in forming a person's opinion.[6]
Beranek's 1954 book,Acoustics, is considered the classic textbook in this field; it was revised in 1986. In 2012, at the age of 98, he collaborated with Tim Mellow to produce an updated and extended revision, published under the new titleAcoustics: Sound Fields and Transducers.[7] His famous humorous adage was "Beranek's Law", about the psychological effect of somebody's own design in comparison to other designs.
Beranek's 1962 book,Music, Acoustics, and Architecture, developed from his analysis of 55concert halls throughout the world, also became a classic; the 2004 edition of the text expanded the study to 100 halls. Beranek participated in the design of numerous concert halls andopera houses, and traveled worldwide to conduct research and enjoy musical performances.
From 1983 to 1986, Beranek was chairman of the board of theBoston Symphony Orchestra, where he remained a Life Trustee. The Beranek Room at theSymphony Hall is named after him. He also served on theMIT Council for the Arts, "an international volunteer group of alumni and friends established to support the arts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology".[8] In 2008 he publishedRiding the Waves : A Life in Sound, Science, and Industry, anautobiography about his lengthy career and research in sound and music. Heturned 100 in September 2014, an occasion marked by a special celebration atBoston Symphony Hall.[9] TheLeo and Gabriella Beranek Scholarship in Architectural Acoustics and Noise Control was established in 2016 to support graduate study in the fields of architectural acoustics and noise control. Beranek died on October 10, 2016, at the age of 102.[5][10]His last paper, "Concert hall acoustics: Recent findings", had been published earlier that year.[11]
Beranek died in 2016 inWestwood, Massachusetts age 102.
Beranek appeared on the television game showTo Tell the Truth in 1962, around the time of the opening ofPhilharmonic Hall atLincoln Center for the Performing Arts inNew York City. All four panelists selected him as "the real" Leo Beranek.[citation needed]
