We will never know whether the processors of flexible materials would still be cutting these materials manually with high-cost, error-prone and laborious manual operations to this very day had it not been for H Joseph Gerber. The author says that the automatic cutting of textiles of all sorts in its state-of-the-art form today using equipment made by a whole series of system providers for a multitude of finished products – all, and many more trendsetting technology inventions, go back to him –
Heinz Joseph Gerber.
David J Gerber has published the biography of his father’s life entitled The Inventor’s Dilemma – The Remarkable Life of H Joseph Gerber.
Born in Vienna, H Joseph Gerber escaped from demise under the Nazi regime aged 16 in 1940. After emigrating to the USA his stellar journey began. When he died in 1996, an amzing 677 patents had been filed under his name. The Smithsonian Museum in Washington even dedicates a whole department to his exhibits.
David Gerber has undertaken meticulous research, held interviews with leading personalities from the industries whose processes were decisively improved – and often revolutionised by – Joe Gerber. David also spoke to journalists and his father’s companions.
Like Irving Stone in his Michelangelo portrait, David Gerber tells us eloquently and consistently what was so extraordinary about H Joseph Gerber’s life – as a creative mind and inventor, as a family man – and also as an entrepreneur.
Just a two hour’s drive away from the place he arrived as a refugee in New England, in Hartford, Connecticut, he laid the foundation for his technology companies.
Represented in 130 countries around the globe, Gerber Scientific Inc, Gerber Technology, Gerber Products and their subsidiaries as well as spin-offs, specialise in niche technology solutions and count among the global market leaders in their respective fields.
Despite being the inventor’s son, David Gerber has managed to strike the right balance of impartiality in his descriptions. Plenty of anecdotal reference makes us ponder and often also smile.
The Inventor’s Dilemma is a volume somewhere between specialist literature and educational entertainment – a contemporary document. Readers do not have to be associated with textile processing to be fascinated by David Gerber‘s book, but for those with a connection to this industry and with a passion for smart technologies, The Inventor’s Dilemma falls into the must-read category and, what’s more, it is also pleasant reading.
