Ralph Hartley

Ralph Hartley
Born(1888-11-30)November 30, 1888
DiedMay 1, 1970(1970-05-01) (aged 81)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Utah
Oxford University
Known forHartley function
Hartley modulator
Hartley oscillator
Hartley transform
Shannon–Hartley theorem
AwardsIEEE Medal of Honor (1946)
Scientific career
FieldsElectrical engineering

Ralph Vinton Lyon Hartley (November 30, 1888 – May 1, 1970) was an American electronics researcher. He invented the Hartley oscillator and the Hartley transform, and contributed to the foundations of information theory.

His legacy includes the naming of the hartley, a unit of information equal to one decimal digit, after him.