Phillip Hagar Smith

For other people named Philip Smith, see Philip Smith (disambiguation).

Phillip Hagar Smith (April 29, 1905 – August 29, 1987) was an American electrical engineer, who became famous for his invention of the Smith chart.

Smith was born in Lexington, Massachusetts in 1905, and graduated from Tufts College in 1928 with a BS degree in electrical engineering. While working for Bell Telephone Laboratories,[1] he invented his eponymous Smith chart[2][3][4][5] (which was also invented independently in 1937 by Tōsaku Mizuhashi (水橋東作)[6][7] and in 1939 by Amiel R. Volpert [ru] (Амиэ́ль Р. Во́льперт)[8]).

When asked why he invented the chart, Smith explained, "From the time I could operate a slide rule, I've been interested in graphical representations of mathematical relationships." In 1969 he published the book Electronic Applications of the Smith Chart: In Waveguide, Circuit, and Component Analysis, a comprehensive work on the subject.[9][10] He retired from Bell Labs in 1970. He was elected a fellow of the Institute of Radio Engineers in 1952.

Although best known for his Smith chart, he made important contributions in a variety of fields, including radar, FM, and antennas (including use of the Lüneburg lens).[1][5]

The IEEE History Center conducted an interview with Smith in 1973, the edited transcript and audio clips from which are on the web.[11]

Smith died in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey in 1987.

References

1. Rhea, Randall "Randy" W. (1995). "Philip H. Smith: A Brief Biography". Spread Spectrum Scene. SSS Online, Inc. Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2022-03-03. (NB. This is an edited version of the foreword to Smith's book by Noble Publishing Corporation.)
2. Smith, Phillip Hagar (January 1939). "Transmission Line Calculator - A "cut-out" calculator for determining impedance and attenuation, in terms of the length of open-wire transmission lines" (PDF). electronics - radio, communication, industrial applications of electron tubes ... engineering and manufacture. Vol. 12, no. 1. New York, USA: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, Inc. pp. 29–31. ISSN 0013-5070. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-07-08. Retrieved 2023-07-09. (3 pages)
3. Smith, Phillip Hagar (January 1944). "An Improved Transmission Line Calculator - An extension of the "calculator" originally published in ELECTRONICS in January 1939. New parameters have been added and accuracy has been improved" (PDF). electronics. Vol. 17, no. 1. New York, USA: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, Inc. pp. 130–133, 318, 320, 322, 324–325. ISSN 0013-5070. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-01-31. Retrieved 2023-07-09. (4+5 pages)
4. "Phillip H. Smith: Originator of the Smith Chart". Microwave Journal. 1 (1): 44–45. July–August 1958.
5. Inan, Aziz S. (2005-07-03). Written at School of Engineering, University of Portland, Portland, Oregon, USA. Remembering Phillip H. Smith on his 100th Birthday (PDF). 2005 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium Digest. Vol. 3B. Washington, D.C., USA: IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. pp. 129–132. doi:10.1109/APS.2005.1552450. eISSN 1947-1491. ISBN 0-7803-8883-6. ISSN 1522-3965. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-07-02. Retrieved 2023-07-02. (NB. This is a corrected version of the originally published paper.)
6. "Smith Chart". ETHW.org. 2018-02-26. Archived from the original on 2023-07-04. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
7. Mizuhashi [水橋], Tōsaku [東作] (December 1937) [1937-11-19]. "Sì duānzǐ huílù no inpīdansu hensei to seigō kairo no riron" 四端子回路のインピーダンス変成と整合回路の理論 [Theory of Four-Terminals Impedance Transformation Circuit and Matching Circuit] (PDF). The Journal of the Institute of Electrical Communication Engineers of Japan [電気通信学会雑誌] (in Japanese). 1937 (12). Institute of Electrical Communication Engineers of Japan [電気通信学会]: 1053–1058 (29–34). ISSN 0914-5273. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-11-16. (6 pages)
8. Volpert [Во́льперт], Amiel Rafailovich [Амиэ́ль Рафаи́лович] [in Russian] (February 1940). "Nomogramma dlya rascheta dlinnykh liniy" Номограмма для расчета длинных линий [Nomogram for calculating long lines]. Производственно-технический бюллетень (Proizvodstvenno-tekhnicheskiy byulleten') [Industrial and technical bulletin] (in Russian). Vol. 1940, no. 2. Leningrad, СССР. НК.ЭП.
9. Smith, Phillip Hagar (June 1969). Written at Pine Brook, New Jersey, USA. Electronic Applications of the Smith Chart: In Waveguide, Circuit and Component Analysis (1 ed.). New York, USA: McGraw-Hill Book Company / Kay Electric Company. ISBN 0-07058930-5. LCCN 69-12411. ISBN 978-0-07058930-8. (xxvii+1+222 pages + envelope with 4 translucent plastic overlays + Kay Electric Company postcard) (NB. There is a 1983 reprint of the first edition by Robert E. Krieger Publishing Company with ISBN 978-0-89874-552-8, 0-89874-552-7, and a second edition by Noble Publishing Corporation.)
10. Smith, Phillip Hagar (October 2000) [1995]. Electronic Applications of the Smith Chart: In Waveguide, Circuit and Component Analysis (2 ed.). Atlanta, Georgia, USA: Noble Publishing Corporation. ISBN 1-884932-39-8. LCCN 00-045239. ISBN 978-1-884932-39-7. (xxvi+237+1 pages + envelope with 4 translucent plastic overlays) (NB. There is a 2006 reprint of the second edition by SciTech Publishing, Inc. under the same ISBN and LCCN.)
11. Smith, Phillip Hagar (1973-01-19). Polkinghorn, Frank A. (ed.). "Oral History: Philip H. Smith" (Interview). IEEE History Center, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. Interview #003. Archived from the original on 2023-07-02. Retrieved 2022-03-03 – via ETHW.org.