Armstrong, Edwin

Armstrong, Edwin (Howard)

(1890–1954) electrical engineer, inventor; born in New York City. A 1913 graduate of Columbia University, he studied aircraft detection methods during World War I. His work in the frequency-modulation system of radio transmission, which he pursued while a professor at Columbia (1935–54), virtually eliminated the problem of static interference. Contentious, and much addicted to lawsuits, he took his own life in a fit of depression.