(1900-1979) Hungarian-born British physicist. In 1947 he invented the holographic method of three-dimensional photography (see holography). He was awarded a Nobel prize 1971.
Born in Budapest, Gabor studied at the Budapest Technical University and then at the Technishe Hochschule in Berlin. He worked in Germany until he fled to Britain in 1933 to escape the Nazis. He was professor of applied electron physics at the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, 1958–67.
When Gabor began work on the holograph, he considered the possibility of improving the resolving power of the electron microscope, first by using the electron beam to make a hologram of the object and then by examining this hologram with a beam of coherent light. But coherent light of sufficient intensity was not achievable until the laser was demonstrated 1960.
Gabor's other work included research on high-speed oscilloscopes, communication theory, and physical optics. In 1958 he invented a type of color TV tube of greatly reduced depth. He took out more than 100 patents for his inventions.