BLACK HISTORY SPOTLIGHT: The Spark of Genius: Otis Boykin’s Groundbreaking

Otis Boykin made everyday electronic devices, such as the television and computers, more efficient and affordable.

After working in electronics, Boykin developed a special interest in resistors. Resistors slow the flow of electricity, allowing a safe amount of electricity to move through a device. In 1959, he patented a “wire precision resistor,” which allowed specific amounts of electrical currents to flow for a specific purpose. Soon after, he created a new resistor that could withstand shifts in temperature and air pressure. It was a huge breakthrough that allowed many electronic devices to be made more cheaply and more reliably than ever before. Boykin’s resistors were used in products from televisions and IBM computers to military missiles. Boykin also famously invented a control unit for the pacemaker, a device implanted in the body to help the heart beat normally. Boykin’s invention allowed the pacemaker to be more precisely regulated.