Eldon Conrad Hall
- Birthdate
- 1923/06/15
- Death date
- 2022/05/25
- Associated organizations
- MIT
- Fields of study
- Aerospace
Biography
Eldon Conrad Hall was born in Payette, Idaho on June 15, 1923, and grew up in eastern Oregon, moving to Payette, Idaho after his father's death. After graduating high school, he lived with his aunt in Seattle, and was briefly enrolled in the University of Washington, before joining the Army in World War II. The Army sent him to Rutgers University, where he studied Electrical Engineering, and after the war finished his degree at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, Massachusetts and earned a master's in physics at Boston University.
After Boston University, he enrolled in Harvard to earn a PhD in physics at Harvard, and here became employed at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory. At MIT, he designed the computer for the submarine-launched Polaris missile, and led the development of the Apollo Guidance Computer, where he convinced NASA to use integrated circuits, then a new technology.
After retirement, he wrote the book "Journey to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Guidance Computer," which was published in 1996, and remained an active speaker for many years.
Eldon died on May 25, 2022.
