Percy Spencer
Sign in to saveAlso known as Percy Lebaron Spencer
American engineer and inventor (1894–1970)
Key facts
- Born
- Percy Spencer , ( 1894-07-19 ) July 19, 1894, Howland, Maine , U.S.
- Died
- September 8, 1970 (1970-09-08) (aged 76), Newton, Massachusetts , U.S.
- Resting place
- Newton Cemetery, Newton, Massachusetts
- Education
- United States Navy
- Occupations
- Physicist inventor electrical Engineer
- Employer
- Raytheon
- Known for
- Inventor of microwave oven
- Spouses
- Louise Spencer Lillian Ottenheimer Spencer
via Wikipedia infobox
~6 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Percy LaBaron Spencer (July 19, 1894 – September 8, 1970) was an American physicist, electrical engineer, and inventor of the microwave oven. As a boy he was twice orphaned and began work at a young age, never finishing grammar school. During the night shift, he taught himself topics such as calculus, trigonometry, physics, and chemistry, establishing a lifelong habit of self-education or "solving my own situation" as he called it.
Spencer led the power tube division at Raytheon during World War II that expanded massively and continued at the company as an executive and senior member of the board. Even among physicists and top researchers, he was famous for his insatiable knowledge absorption.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Percy Spencer” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.