|
Samuel M. Genensky (born 26 July 1927 in New Bedford, Massachusetts - died 26 June 2009 in Santa Monica, California) was an American computer scientist, best known as an inventor for devices to assist sight-impaired persons. He was also well known for his advocacy on behalf of the blind. ==Early life and career== When Genensky was born, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts had a requirement that all newborn babies receive drops of dilute silver nitrate in both eyes, to prevent the possible passage of syphilis from mother to child.〔http://acbstudents.org/StuAdv/IssueSpring00/php ''One Man's Story'' by Samuel M. Genensky, Ph.D.〕 He received the required drops, but unfortunately the chemical had not been diluted, and both his eyes were badly burned. Three months later he was treated by Dr. Frederick H. Verhoeff, a highly regarded specialist in ophthalmology, who performed partial iridectomy on both eyes (thinking that glaucoma would otherwise occur). The result of the burns and the iridectomies was complete loss of vision in Genensky's left eye and near-blindness in the right eye (the best he ever achieved in vision testing was 20/1000). Genensky received elementary schooling (grades 1-8) at the Sylvia Ann Howland School in New Bedford, in special classes geared to visually impaired children. When he applied to attend high school at New Bedford High School, he was directed to the Perkins Institute for the Blind instead (in Watertown, Massachusetts). He attended Perkins for one year (1940–1941), where he learned Braille. At the end of that year he applied again to attend the regular high school, and this time he was accepted (the previous superintendent had left, and the acting superintendent's sister had been Genensky's teacher at the Howland School). Genensky entered Brown University in 1945 and graduated with a BS degree in Physics. He entered Harvard University in 1950 and received an MS degree in Mathematics in 1951, after which he worked for the US Bureau of Standards as a mathematician in the Fire Protection Section of the Building Technology Division. Genensky returned to Brown University in 1954 and received a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics in 1958. At that time he was hired by the RAND Corporation and became a member of the senior staff in its Mathematics Department. In 1976 the Santa Monica Hospital invited Genensky to come to the hospital and create a center dedicated to assisting visually impaired persons to remain (or become) an integral part of the overall society. He (along with two colleagues) did make the move, and in 1978 the Center for the Partially Sighted began providing services as part of the hospital's operations (it became an independent organization in April 1983). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Samuel Genensky」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|