Sperry, Elmer Ambrose (1860-1930), was an American scientist, inventor, and manufacturer. He is best known for developing the gyroscope for use in navigation (see Gyroscope ). His enterprises included the manufacture of arc lamps in Chicago, of electric railways in Cleveland, and of gyroscopes in New York City.
Sperry was born on Oct. 12, 1860, in Cortland, New York. He studied at the State Normal and Training School and at Cornell University. While in college, he built an arc lamp with a dynamo to run it. The lamp was much more efficient than any other then used to light streets. At the age of 19, Sperry set up his first factory in Chicago to produce his lamps. Forty years after that, he developed a beacon and searchlights later used by many armies and navies. In the meantime, he also developed electrical mining equipment, automobiles, and streetcars.
Sperry used the gyroscope in 1911 to develop a new kind of compass for ships. The increase in the amount of steel used in shipbuilding had made magnetic compasses unreliable. Sperry’s gyrocompass successfully solved this problem (see Gyrocompass ). The gyroscopic stabilizer for aircraft, which Sperry devised with his son Lawrence, was successfully demonstrated in 1914. From his gyrocompass, Sperry developed the gyropilot that steers a ship automatically (see Automatic flight control system (AFCS) ). Later he installed giant gyroscopes that could steady the rolling motions of ships. After the United States entered World War I (1914-1918), Sperry developed a number of important instruments for gun control. These inventions increased the effectiveness and range of gunfire and torpedoes. Sperry also produced an aerial torpedo that was controlled by a gyroscope.
Today’s naval gunnery methods would be impossible without the inventions that grew out of Sperry’s original gyroscope. During World War II (1939-1945), the gyroscope was adapted for use in many complex military instruments, such as naval gunsights. Sperry’s inventions were equally important for aircraft navigation. Sperry died on June 16, 1930.
