Bradley A. Fiske

Rear Admiral Bradley Allen Fiske was an officer in the United States Navy who was noted as a technical innovator. During his long career, Fiske invented more than a hundred and thirty electrical and mechanical devices, with both Naval and civilian uses, and wrote extensively on technical and professional issues The New Yorker called him one of the notable naval inventors of all time. One of the earliest to understand the revolutionary possibilities of naval aviation, he wrote a number of books of important effect in gaining a wider understanding of the modern Navy by the public. For inventing the rangefinder, he was awarded the Elliott Cresson Medal of The Franklin Institute in 1891.

Fiske was born in Lyons, New York onJune 1854 to Rev. William Allen Fiske and Susan Mathews Fiske. He was appointed to the United States Naval Academy from the State of Ohio in 1870, graduating four years later and receiving his commission as an Ensign in July 1875.

Source: Wikipedia