Insisting On the Impossible : The Life of Edwin Land

by Victor K. McElheny

If a single life exemplifies the inner drive that fires a great inventor, it is the life of Edwin Land. The major innovations that he was able to achieve in photography, optics, industry, and science policy carry priceless lessons for readers today.Insisting on the Impossible is the first full-scale biography of this Magellan of modern technology. Victor McElheny reveals the startling scope and dating spirit of Land's scientific and entrepreneurial genius. Second only to Edison in the number of patents he received (535), Land build a modest enterprise into a gigantic ”invention factory,” turning out not only polarizers and the first instant cameras, but also high-speed and X-ray film, identification systems, 3-D and instant movies, and military devices for night vision and aerial reconnaissance. As a scientist, Land developed a new theory of color vision; as a science advisor to Eisenhower during the Cold War he spearheaded the development of the U-2 spyplane and helped design NASA.Behind these protean achievements was a relentless curiosity, a magical public presence, and a willful optimism that drew him again and again to conquer ”the impossible.” In an era when these qualities are needed more than ever, this masterly biography will speak to anyone involved or interested in business, science, photography, educational reform of government.

Genres: Biography, Business, Nonfiction, Photography, History, Science, Technology

544 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 1998

Reviews

[Jonathan Cassie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read this book, it is no surprise that Steve Jobs considered Land such a powerful inspiration. Land was Jobs before Jobs - driven, innovative, creative, fearless, monomaniacal and able to see futures that others couldn't even dream of. It is staggering the lengths to which his invention reached. He's one of less than a half-dozen Americans who holds more than 500 patents.

The work required to make instant color photography possible (and which now seems so blase) is a scientific thriller across multiple realms. The chemistry required to pull it off staggers the imagination.

At the end of the day, the book only gets 3-stars from me because it is almost more a biography of Polaroid than Land himself. He was a difficult subject, McElheny did good work, but in the end I wanted to see more into the heart of the man, rather than just his work.

[Tara van Brederode · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for its descriptions of Land's patent battles with my great-grandfather, Robert Armstrong Smith. Fascinating stuff, but incomplete...my grandmother wrote a little profile of her father that included a mention of Land as a person, not just as a scientist. I love the image of Edwin Land asleep on my great-grandma's shoulder during field tests of polarized headlights at night. We also have family film of him mugging for a camera in his lab in about 1940. He was brilliant, but I would have enjoyed a bit more of his personality.

[Jeff Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's great fun to spend time in close contact with a genius, a great leader of other intellectuals. The book is a joy to read until he gets into the minutiae of the business deals.. tht's a bit heavy-handed. And it's disappointing to read of Land's later stumbling with the biggest project... the Polaroid SX-70. But what gems along the way... Land's work for the government in satellites was fascinating. His multi-tasking kept hordes of brilliant minds spinning a great machine. What an amazing mind, an amazing life.

[J.B.P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best, most comprehensive, biography that I have read. Land was a monument to unbridled scientific passion and this book does him justice.

[Mihai Parparita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could really have used some diagrams, and perhaps some introductory chemistry lessons.

[Matthew Ackerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is detailed in its description of Land, Polaroid, and the innovations behind the accomplishments. However, the structure of the book makes it, at time, dense and challenging to read.

[EL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly comprehensive biography. Dense but worth it.

[Richard Cytowic · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspiration. A hero. Everything an independent scientist might be. That was Edwin Land. Though our household had an early Polaroid camera in the 1950s, the work that hooked me was Land's theory of color vision, which put to rest 100 years' of conjecture.
Land demonstrated that color vision does not depend on wavelength (if it did then an object's color would change constantly given that illumination sources continually change). So, the oft-repeated claim that something looks red because it "reflects more red wavelengths" is FALSE. Land's conclusion is counterintuitive, but a demonstration before one's own eyes renders it undeniable. His Retinex theory influenced my own work with Synesthesia.
As Land put it, we don't see light, we see with light.
As a scientist Land did pure science for the fun of it; as an entrepreneur he was the Steve Jobs of his time.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this description of the phenomenal story of Edwin Land's scientific drive and inspirational success. Was fascinated to read of his many scientific contributions, including the polarizing filters that gave his company its name, his war work, his interest in color vision, and, of course, instant photography and its evolution from a black and white peel-apart process to the elegant one-step color images that became synonymous with Polaroid during my childhood. As a chemist and a photographer, I found the scope of the science and the vision involved truly mind-boggling. While in a few places descriptions of business related interests, stocks etc. failed to hold my interest, the overall portrait of the man and the genius in definitely worth a close read.

[Mira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts about colour theory really useful and interesting.