August Dvorak

{{Short description|American educational psychologist (1894–1975)}}

{{Infobox person

|name = August Dvorak

|image =

|image_size = 220px

|caption =

|birth_date = {{birth date|mf=yes|1894|05|05}}

|birth_place = Glencoe, Minnesota, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|1975|10|9|1894|05|05|mf=y}}

|death_place = Seattle, Washington, U.S.

|occupation = Psychologist, Professor, Designer

|spouse = Hermione D. Dvorak

|parents =

|children = 3 daughters

| relatives = John C. Dvorak (nephew)

}}

August Dvorak (May 5, 1894 – October 9, 1975)Cassingham, R. C. (1986). The Dvorak Keyboard. Freelance Communications. {{ISBN|0-935309-10-1}}. Page 5. was an American educational psychologist and professor of educationCassingham, page 32. at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.Dvorak, August et al. (1936). Typewriting Behavior. American Book Company. Title page. He and his brother-in-law, William Dealey, are best known for creating the Dvorak keyboard layout in the 1930s as a replacement for the QWERTY keyboard layout.

While his name is pronounced {{IPA|cs|ˈdvor̝aːk|}}, with the ř roughly as a simultaneous trilled {{IPA|[r]}} and {{IPA|[ʒ]}} due to him being of Czech descent, Dvorak's family in the U.S. pronounces it {{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|v|ɔr|æ|k}}, with an English r.Cassingham, page 15.{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1985-09/1985_09_BYTE_10-09_Homebrewing#page/n329/mode/2up | title=PC, Peripherals, Programs, and People | work=BYTE | date=September 1985 | accessdate=27 October 2013 | author=Pournelle, Jerry | pages=347}}

Keyboard development

In the 1940s, Dvorak designed keyboard layouts for people with the use of one hand.The first such machine built in accordance with Dvorak's one-handed layout was designed and constructed by Martin Tytell, also known as "Mr. Typewriter", of New York City. Kursh, Harry. Mechanix Illustrated, January 1951, pp. 74 et seq. See [http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2009/01/25/meet-mr-typewriter Meet Mr. Typewriter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226222604/http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2009/01/25/meet-mr-typewriter/ |date=2009-02-26 }}

Dvorak and Dealey, together with Nellie Merrick and Gertrude Ford, wrote the book Typewriting Behavior, published in 1936. The book is an in-depth report on the psychology and physiology of typing.

Military service

Dvorak served with the American Army Field Artillery during the punitive expedition against Pancho Villa and was wounded during the campaign. Afterward he was discharged and enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve, teaching mathematics and navigation until World War I, during which he served aboard the captured German privateer USS Callao bringing troops home until his discharge in 1919.{{Cite journal|date=1923-01-01|title=War Service Records of Enlisted Men|jstor=20257337|journal=The Phi Delta Kappan|volume=6|issue=2|pages=16–18}} Later, he was the captain of a Gato-class submarine in the United States Navy during World War II.{{r|pournelle198509}}

Life and family

Dr. August Dvorak died in Seattle on October 9, 1975.{{cite news |date=October 15, 1975 |agency=UPI |title=Simplified typewriter inventor dies |work=The Press Democrat |place=Seattle |publication-place=Santa Rosa, California |page=37 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-press-democrat-simplified-typewriter/127278124/ |access-date=June 28, 2023}}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20121104234353/http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2Fimlsmohai&CISOPTR=2101&DMSCALE=109.37500&DMWIDTH=700&DMHEIGHT=590.625&DMMODE=viewer&DMTEXT=%20photograph%20August%20Dvorak&REC=1&DMTHUMB=0&DMROTATE=0 Photograph: August Dvorak and typing class at University of Washington, Seattle] (November 14, 1932)
[https://www.mit.edu/~jcb/Dvorak/ Dvorak Keyboard Claims]
[http://www.dvzine.org/ Dvorak Keyboard Magazine]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20180119120138/http://djelibeibi.unex.es/dvorak/ Dvorak keyboard layout, Spanish variant]

Category:1894 births

Category:1975 deaths

Category:American people of Czech descent

Category:University of Washington faculty

Category:United States Navy officers

Category:United States submarine commanders

Category:People from Glencoe, Minnesota

Category:Military personnel from Minnesota