Who invented that bleeping thing?

doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7417.719

BMJ 2003;327:719 (27 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7417.719

Filler

Who invented that bleeping thing?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

While preparing a talk on Thomas Fogarty, of balloon catheterfame, I stumbled on information about a different gentlemanwho was a joint winner with Fogarty of the much coveted MIT-Lemelsonprize. This person is someone who affects nearly all doctorsevery day. Indeed, if he had not recently died, I am sure manyof us would love to get our hands on him. However, as you readon and discover what a truly remarkable man he was, you maysee him and his invention in a different light.

Al Gross was born in 1918 in Toronto but grew up in Cleveland,Ohio. He had a childhood interest in amateur radio and wenton to study for a diploma in electronics. He was a bright student,and his area of interest lay in unexplored radio frequenciesabove 100 MHz. He wanted to invent a small, mobile, two wayradio, and . . . [Full text of this article]

Fraser Smith, research registrar

St James's Hospital, Dublin, Republic of Ireland