Coolidge, William David (1873-1975)

US physical chemist. In 1910, he invented a process for the production of carbon-free tungsten filament, which revolutionized the production of light bulbs. His experiments with tungsten led to his most significant invention, the X-ray tube, which became known as the Coolidge tube, as well as to the tungsten target in X-ray machines.

He was born in Hudson, Massachusetts. He graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1896 and received his Ph.D at Leipzig in 1899. He worked at General Electric, beginning in 1905 as a research physical chemist, then succeeding Willis Whitney as director of research in 1932, he became a vice-president in 1940. During World War I, he assisted in the production of X-ray equipment for the army and later in the development of submarine detectors. During World War II, he advised the government on the feasibility of building an atomic bomb. He retired after the war, but continued consulting for General Electric until about 1965.