Russell Kirsch, Inventor of the Pixel, Passed Away This Week

Computer scientist Russell A. Kirsch, the inventor of the pixel and an undisputed pioneer of digital imaging, passed away on Tuesday in his Portland home from complications arising from a form of Alzheimer's disease. He was 91 years old. From a report: Russell Kirsch may not be a name that you immediately recognize, but his contributions to computer science made digital imaging possible. Born June 20, 1929 in New York City to immigrant parents from Russia and Hungary, Kirsch attended Bronx High School, then NYU, Harvard, and eventually MIT. In 1951, he joined the National Bureau of Standards, where he worked for 50 years and helped to invent the pixel and create the first digital photograph. This 172 x 172 pixel image of his son Walden -- created in 1957 -- is now iconic, and was named one of Life magazine's "100 Photographs That Changed the World" in 2003.

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