Edwin H. Colpitts

Edwin H. Colpitts, retired vice‐president of Bell Telephone Laboratories and pioneer in the development of long‐distance and transoceanic telephone, died March 6, at the age of seventy‐seven. Best known for having developed the vacuum‐tube oscillator circuit which bears his name, he is remembered as well for his work with magnetic coils, his developments in the application of thermodynamic tubes to long‐distance communication, and his studies of capacity unbalance between adjacent telephone circuits. In 1948 he was awarded the Cresson Medal of the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia in recognition of his scientific achievements. He was a fellow of the American Physical Society and the Acoustical Society of America.