Emile Berliner

Berliner, Emile (1851–1929), inventor who contributed to early telephone and phonograph developments. A year following Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone, Berliner developed a powerful transmitter that enhanced the telephone receiver. He also created the flat phonograph disc, or record, and a process that employed a needle moving horizontally, thus minimizing distortion of Thomas Edison's earlier method. Berliner later produced a method for mass-duplication of records from one master disc. Born in Hanover, Germany, Berliner moved to the United States in 1870.

See also: Phonograph; Telephone.