Riding the Waves: A Life in Sound, Science, and Industry

Abstract

Leo Beranek’s mother offered him this advice when he was young – advice he followed and still remembers: “Leo, study hard, get ready for college, and make a decent life for yourself.” Twenty-one years later he earned the Doctor of Science degree in Communication Engineering from Harvard University, specializing in the field of acoustics and 62 years later, he was invited to a ceremony at the White House to receive the 2002 National Medal of Science from President George W. Bush “For his leadership, dedication and contribution to the art and science of acoustics, for co-founding one of the world’s foremost acoustical research and consulting firms, and for sustained contributions to scientific societies and civic organizations.” Leo’s family asked him to write a memoir about his nine decades of experiences, and this memoir appears in the book Riding the Waves; A Life in Sound, Science, and Industry, published recently by MIT Press. His life journey is told in 10 chapters filled with interesting details and insights describing “the roller-coaster swings – the success and failures, joys and sorrows,” along with “what worked so well for me – and what clearly did not.” And I was prompted to write this editorial especially to draw attention to this book and to “what worked . . . and what did not.” Leo grew up in Solon, IA, a small farming town where his great-grandparents from Bohemia had settled and his grandfather and father had been born. By the time he was a high school student, he had taken a correspondence course in how radios work and established a repair shop for radios above his father’s hardware store. Money he earned was saved for college expenses. While at college, he continued working at many part-time jobs, including radio repair, electrical wiring, waiting tables at a restaurant, playing drums for local dance bands, and assisting engineers at a radio company. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Cornell College in 1936, he was accepted on a scholarship to the Graduate School of Engineering of Harvard University. He worked hard in this challenging environment, received high grades, and earned his Master of Science degree the following year. He then continued his studies as Professor Frederick V. (Ted) Hunt’s first doctoral student at Harvard’s Cruft Laboratory and served as his assistant working in room acoustics and electro-acoustics. From 1940 to 1945, Leo directed important and urgent wartime projects at Harvard’s laboratories. These projects dealt with, for example: enhancing systems for MIT Press, $24.95, 6 ¥ 9 in., 335 pages, ISBN: 9780-262-02629-1, http://mitpress.mit.edu.