| Warren A. Marrison | |
| Birth Name: | Warren Alvin Marrison[1] |
| Birth Date: | 1896 5, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Inverary, Ontario, Canada |
| Death Place: | Palo Verdes Estates, California |
| Field: | Horology |
| Work Institution: | Bell Labs |
| Alma Mater: | Harvard University |
| Known For: | Quartz clock |
Warren A. Marrison (21 May 1896 – 27 March 1980)[2] was a Canadian engineer and inventor. Marrison was the co-inventor of the first Quartz clock in 1927.[3]
Marrison was born in Inverary, Frontenac county, Ontario.[2] He studied at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where he was part of a new program in engineering physics. He graduated in 1920 with a bachelor's degree in physics engineering;[4] his studies were interrupted by World War I when he served in the Royal Flying Corps as a radio technician.[2]
Beginning in 1921, he studied at Harvard University, ultimately receiving a master's degree.[2] He worked at first for Western Electric in New York City, but moved to Bell Laboratories in New York beginning in 1925.[2]
At Bell Labs in New York, Marrison was working on frequency standards using quartz as a reference. It was in 1927 that he developed the first quartz clock while working with J.W. Horton. The clock used a block of crystal, stimulated by electricity, to produce pulses at a frequency of 50,000 cycles per second.[5] A submultiple controlled frequency generator then divided this down to a usable, regular pulse that drove a synchronous motor.[5] While this first version of the clock was crude; Morrison produced a more refined version in 1928.[2] A New York Times headline in October 1929 reported "Electrified Quartz Crystal Displaces Clock Pendulum".[6]
The invention would lead AT&T, the subsequent owners of Bell Labs, to develop a timepiece division called Frequency Control Products.[7] This would eventually become the company Vectron International.[7]
In 1947 Marrison was awarded a Gold Medal from the British Horological Institute.[8] In 1955 the Clockmakers Company awarded him the Tompion Medal.[2]
In 2011 Marrison was inducted into the Inventor's Hall of Fame.[9]