Inventor: Lewis Nixon

• Invented in 1906 by Lewis Nixon
• A measuring instrument that sends out an acoustic pulse in water and measures distances in terms of the time for the echo of the pulse to return

The first sonar type listening device was made to detect icebergs. Then during World War I, research on sonar devices increased in way of detecting submarines. Paul Langévin was the inventor who took Nixon’s sonar further and successfully came up with a device that detected submarines. By 1918, the sonar system had developed so that it was possible to both listen to and send out signals.

Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com/Sonar. 9 April 2004. <http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/sonar>

• This site provides a definition of sonar

Bellis, Mary. The History of Sonar. 9 April 2004. <http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blsonar.htm>

• This site gives good information about the development of sonar

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