Max D. Liston

Max Davis Liston (born March 16, 1918) is an American pioneer in the development of instruments for infrared spectrophotometry and non-dispersive infrared analysis.

Two of his innovations, the breaker-type direct-coupled amplifier and the vacuum thermocouple, were essential to the development of infrared spectrometry technology.

Among others, Liston has developed instruments for capnometry, the measurement of carbon dioxide in respiratory gases, used to monitor patients.

Max Davis Liston was born on March 16, 1918, in Oswego, Kansas, United States to Virdon (or Verdon) Milne Liston and Madge Ruth Davis.

He had an older sister, Lorene.

His father was a superintendent of schools.

Liston attended high school in Fort Scott, Kansas.

Because the science options there were limited, he took summer classes in physics at Northwestern University.

Liston received a B.A. in electrical engineering with a minor in communications (electronics) from the University of Minnesota in 1940.

In his junior year he wrote a paper on "Modulation of incandescent lamps", winning an IEEE prize.

In his senior year he wrote a "Study of the negative transconductance of pentodes".

He was the first undergraduate to be admitted into the University of Minnesota Sigma Psi chapter.

Hired by the Chrysler Corporation, he worked at Chrysler from 1940 to 1942, receiving his M.S. in mechanical engineering in 1941 through an innovative work-study program, the Chrysler Institute of Engineering.

He developed a bonded strain gauge pressure sensor, modifying a previous Pullman Company design, and presented the work to the American Automotive Society.

In 1942 Liston joined General Motors.

A number of projects at GM were related to World War II, and involved researchers in other companies, universities and government.

Initially Liston worked with a group led by Charles F. Kettering at GM to develop a sensor to detect submarines and with Harrison M. Randall of the University of Michigan on the improvement of infrared spectroscopy equipment for analysis of high-octane Triptane aviation fuel.

In 1943, Liston developed the breaker-type direct-coupled amplifier.

This allowed a signal to be sent directly from a thermocouple to a recording device.

It was initially classified as top-secret because of its use in military applications.

These included submarine detection instruments, heat-tracking sensors for experimental glide bombs, oximeters for high-altitude aviation, and instruments to measure thermal radiation released in atomic bomb tests for the Manhattan Project.

In 1946, Richard Scott Perkin recruited Liston to join Perkin-Elmer as a chief engineer.

Liston, John U. White, Van Zandt Williams and Vincent J. Coates formed the double-beam spectrophotometer research group.

Liston's breaker amplifier and the Reeder thermocouple were incorporated into designs for the Perkin-Elmer Model 12 single-beam and Model 21 double-beam spectrophotometers, which became extremely successful.

He also developed instruments to measure smog and car exhaust emissions, essential to attempts to improve Los Angeles air quality in the 1950s.

In 1950, Morris Folb and Max Liston formed the Liston-Folb company, focusing on the development of nondispersive infrared analyzers.

In 1951, they received backing from Albert Austin and Richard S. Becker, who created the Liston-Becker Instrument Company to handle instrument sales.

The Liston-Becker plant was located in Springdale, Connecticut.

They developed and sold the Model 16 capnograph and Mark II and Mark III atmospheric analyzers for the US Navy's submarines.

Liston's initial development work on the capnograph occurred before the formation of Liston-Folb.

Capnometry is the measurement of the concentration of carbon dioxide in the respiratory gases, an important monitoring tool for patients undergoing anesthesia and in intensive care.

Liston-Becker was one of a number of companies seeking to develop instruments to measure using infrared absorption.

Liston published a paper on the d.c. amplifier in 1954.

Through his war work, Liston met James Elam and George Saxton.

He also met August Herman Pfund of Johns Hopkins University, who had patented both early positive and negative IR-analyzers.

While visiting the Naval Research Laboratories, Liston was able to identify positive type infrared analyzers which had been brought back from Germany at the end of the war.

When GM and Dupont decided to build their own spectrophotometers, Liston and David Frye from GM apprenticed with Harrison Randall at the University of Michigan to learn more about spectrophotometry.

They then helped Dr. Downing at Dupont Experimental Station to build a spectrophotometer for use in petrochemical classification and plastics research.

To further improve GM's spectrophotometer, Liston worked with Charles Morris Reeder to develop a vacuum thermocouple that eliminated the problem of thermal drift in spectroscopy measurements.

The breaker-type direct-coupled amplifier and the vacuum thermocouple became essential contributions to the development of infrared spectrometry technology.