Description
Inventor of the concept of optical digital recording and playback, Russell joined the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of Battelle Memorial Institute in Richland in 1965. There, that same year, he developed the overall concept of optical digital recording and playback. The earliest patents by Russell, US 3,501,586 and 3,795,902, were filed in 1966 and 1969, respectively. He built prototypes, and the first was operating in 1973.
In 1973, 1974, and 1975, his prototype was viewed by about 100 companies, including Philips and Sony engineers, and more than 1,500 descriptive brochures were sent out to various interested parties. The concept was picked up by many technical and media magazines beginning in 1972.
