View source for Russell Kirsch

{{Short description|American computer scientist (1929–2020)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| image                     = Russell-Kirsch-and-Joel-Runyon.jpg
| alt                       = Photograph of Russell Kirsch
| caption                   = Russell Kirsch (left) in Portland, Oregon with Joel Runyon<ref name=Image/> in 2012
| birth_date                = {{Birth date|1929|6|20}}
| birth_place               = [[Manhattan]], New York, U.S.
| death_date                = {{Death date and age|2020|8|11|1929|6|20}}
| death_place               = [[Portland, Oregon]], U.S.
| education                 = [[Bronx High School of Science]] (1946), [[Bachelor of Electrical Engineering|BEE]] [[New York University]] (1950), [[Master of Science|SM]] [[Harvard University]] (1952), [[American University]], [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]<ref name=Bio/>
| occupation                = [[Computer scientist]]
| known_for                 = First digital image scanner
| spouse                    = Joan (née Levin) Kirsch
| children                  = Walden Kirsch ([[KGW]] reporter), 3 other children<ref name=Woodward2007/>
}}
'''Russell A. Kirsch''' (June 20, 1929 – August 11, 2020) was an American engineer at the National Bureau of Standards (now known as the [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]]).  He was recognized as the developer of the first digital [[image scanner]], and subsequently scanned the world's first digital photograph – an image of his infant son.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Computer Scientist, Pixel Inventor Russell Kirsch Dead at 91 |date=2020-08-13 |location=[[Portland, Oregon]] |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/computer-scientist-pixel-inventor-russell-kirsch-dead-at-91 |language=en-us |access-date=2022-09-10 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |website=[[PBS NewsHour]] |archive-date=September 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910025355/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/computer-scientist-pixel-inventor-russell-kirsch-dead-at-91 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:NBSFirstScanImage.jpg|thumb|Pioneering digitally [[Image scanner|scanned]] image of Russell Kirsch's son Walden, 1957]]
Kirsch was born in [[Manhattan]] on June 20, 1929. His parents were Jewish emigrants from [[History of the Jews in Russia|Russia]] and [[History of the Jews in Hungary|Hungary]].<ref name=Rogoway/> He attended the [[Bronx High School of Science]], graduating in 1946. He continued his education at [[New York University]] in 1950, [[Harvard University]] in 1952, and later the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]].<ref name=Bio/><ref name=Rogoway/>

==Career==
In 1951 Kirsch joined the National Bureau of Standards as part of the team that ran [[SEAC (computer)|SEAC]] (Standards Eastern Automatic Computer).<ref name="Bio" /> SEAC was the U.S.'s first [[stored-program computer]] to become operational, having entered service in 1950.<ref name="one" />

In 1957, Kirsch's group developed a digital [[image scanner]], to "trace variations of intensity over the surfaces of photographs", and made the first digital scans. One of the first photographs scanned,<ref name="Earliest" /> a picture of Kirsch's three-month-old son, was captured as just 30,976 [[pixel]]s,<ref>Kirsch, R. A., et. al (December, 1957), [https://web.archive.org/web/20161221131913/http://www.mel.nist.gov/msidlibrary/doc/kirsch_experiments_pict.pdf "Experiments in Processing Pictorial Information with a Digital Computer"]'','' [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]], archived from [http://www.mel.nist.gov/msidlibrary/doc/kirsch_experiments_pict.pdf the original] on December 21, 2016</ref> a 176&nbsp;×&nbsp;176 array, in an area 5&nbsp;cm&nbsp;×&nbsp;5&nbsp;cm (2" x 2").<ref name="two" /> The [[Color depth|bit depth]] was only one [[bit]] per pixel, stark black and white with no intermediate shades of gray, but, by combining several scans made using different scanning thresholds, [[grayscale]] information could also be acquired.<ref name="Earliest" /> They used the computer to extract [[line drawing algorithm|line drawings]], count objects, [[Optical character recognition|recognize alphanumeric characters]], and produce [[oscilloscope]] displays.<ref name="two" />  He also proposed the [[Kirsch operator]] for edge detection in images.<ref name=obit/>

Later in life, Kirsch became the director of research of the Sturvil Corporation and an advisory editor for the [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]] (IEEE). He was the advisory editor of the journal ''Languages of Design''.<ref name="Bio" />

==Personal life==
Kirsch was married to Joan (née Levin) Kirsch for 65 years until his death. Together, they had four children: Walden, Peter, Lindsey, and Kara.<ref name=Rogoway/> Kirsch spent most of his professional life in Washington, D.C., where he was affiliated with the [[National Bureau of Standards]] for nearly 50 years.  He moved to [[Portland, Oregon]], in 2001<ref name=Rogoway/> after his retirement.<ref name=Woodward2007/><ref name="Square" />

==Death==
Kirsch died on August 11, 2020, at his home in Portland at age 91. According to his son Walden, Kirsch's cause of death was [[frontotemporal dementia]], a form of [[Alzheimer's disease]].<ref name="Langer" />

==Accomplishments==
In 2003 Kirsch's scanned picture of his son was named by [[Life (magazine)|''Life'' magazine]] one of the "100 Photographs That Changed the World"<ref name="two" /> due to its importance in the development of [[digital photography]]. The original image is in the [[Portland Art Museum]].<ref name=Woodward2007/> Although Kirsch did not work for [[NASA]], his invention led to technology crucial to [[space exploration]], including the [[Apollo program|Apollo Moon landing]].<!-- Commenting out the statement that "Without the ability to scan digital photographs from a camera, today’s images of planets, the Sun, Earth’s surface (among others) would not exist.", which is irrational -- "today's images" from space are not the result of "scan[ning] digital photographs from a camera", they are natively digital files of data output from solid-state image sensors, not scanners. --> Medical advancements such as Sir [[Godfrey Hounsfield]]’s CAT scan can also be attributed to Kirsch's research.<ref name="two" />

==See also==
* [[Digitization]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Bio">{{Citation |last=Kirsch |first=Russell A. |title=Russell A. Kirsch |work=NISTS Museum; SEAC and the Start of Image Processing at the National Bureau of Standards |url=http://museum.nist.gov/panels/seac/KIRSCH.HTM |url-status=dead |publisher=[[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809014144/http://museum.nist.gov/panels/seac/KIRSCH.HTM |archive-date=August 9, 2012}}</ref>

<ref name="Earliest">{{Citation |last=Kirsch |first=Russell A. |title=Earliest Image Processing |work=NISTS Museum; SEAC and the Start of Image Processing at the National Bureau of Standards |url=http://museum.nist.gov/panels/seac/EARLIEST.HTM |url-status=dead |publisher=[[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719103629/http://museum.nist.gov/panels/seac/EARLIEST.HTM |archive-date=July 19, 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="Woodward2007">{{Citation |last=Woodward |first=Steve |title=Russell Kirsch: The Man Who Taught Computers to See |date=May 11, 2007 |work=[[The Oregonian]], [[OregonLive.com]] |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2007/05/russell_kirsch_the_man_who_tau.html |access-date=August 12, 2012 |archive-date=December 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215210847/http://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2007/05/russell_kirsch_the_man_who_tau.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Image">{{Citation |last=Runyon |first=Joel |title=An Unexpected Ass Kicking |date=August 2, 2012 |work=ImpossibleHQ.com |url=http://impossiblehq.com/an-unexpected-ass-kicking |access-date=September 12, 2014 |archive-date=November 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191107150511/https://impossiblehq.com/an-unexpected-ass-kicking/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="one">{{Cite journal |last=Kirsch |first=Russell A. |date=January 2001 |editor-last=Lide |editor-first=David R. |title=Computer Development at the National Bureau of Standards |url=https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/sp958-lide/086-089.pdf |journal=A Century of Excellence in Measurements, Standards, and Technology: A Chronicle of Selected NBS/NIST Publications, 1901-2000 |publisher=[[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] |volume=Spec. Publ. 958 |pages=86–89 |access-date=July 13, 2024 |archive-date=July 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711012856/https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/sp958-lide/086-089.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Rogoway">{{Cite news |last=Rogoway |first=Mike |date=August 12, 2020 |title=Russell Kirsch, Inventor of the Pixel, Dies in Oregon at Age 91 |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2020/08/russell-kirsch-inventor-of-the-pixel-dies-in-oregon-at-age-91.html |access-date=August 12, 2020 |work=[[The Oregonian]] |archive-date=June 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602214844/https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2020/08/russell-kirsch-inventor-of-the-pixel-dies-in-oregon-at-age-91.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="obit">{{Cite news |date=August 11, 2020 |title=Russell A. Kirsch – Obituary |url=https://obits.oregonlive.com/obituaries/oregon/obituary.aspx?n=russell-a-kirsch&pid=196629194 |access-date=August 12, 2020 |work=[[The Oregonian]]}}</ref>

<ref name="Square">{{Cite news |last=Ehrenberg |first=Rachel |date=June 28, 2010 |title=Square Pixel Inventor Tries to Smooth Things Out |url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/06/smoothing-square-pixels/ |access-date=July 1, 2010 |work=[[Wired News]] |archive-date=February 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226095317/http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/06/smoothing-square-pixels |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="two">{{Citation |last=Newman |first=Michael E |title=Tech Beat |date=May 24, 2007 |type=news release |chapter-url=https://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/image_052407.cfm |chapter=Fiftieth Anniversary of First Digital Image Marked |publisher=[[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] |access-date=March 31, 2010 |archive-date=August 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828110231/http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/image_052407.cfm |url-status=live }}.</ref>

<ref name="Langer">{{Cite news |last=Langer |first=Emily |date=August 13, 2020 |title=Russell Kirsch, Computer Scientist Who Scanned the First Digital Image, Dies at 91 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/russell-kirsch-computer-scientist-who-scanned-first-digital-image-dies-at-91/2020/08/13/a234a22c-dccd-11ea-b205-ff838e15a9a6_story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402233208/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/russell-kirsch-computer-scientist-who-scanned-first-digital-image-dies-at-91/2020/08/13/a234a22c-dccd-11ea-b205-ff838e15a9a6_story.html |archive-date=2022-04-02 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=2024-07-13}}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
* {{Citation |title=Computer Development (SEAC and DYSEAC) |date=January 25, 1955 |work=Circular |volume=551 |url=http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/circ/1955/circ551-scan1.pdf |place=[[Washington, D.C.]] |publisher=[[National Bureau of Standards]]}}.

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF0TA9O3Dc8&t=304s Kirsch talking about the SEAC computer]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirsch, Russell}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:American computer scientists]]
[[Category:Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni]]
[[Category:Polytechnic Institute of New York University alumni]]
[[Category:The Bronx High School of Science alumni]]
[[Category:Scientists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Jewish American scientists]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]