Harger Borkenstein (1 results)

Wraps. black-&-white illustrations (illustrator). pp. 52. 8vo. This copy has small rubber stamp on the front cover. The card covers are a bit thumbed, soiled and worn, but still tightly stapled together. The contents are slightly age-toned, but otherwise in very good condition. A scarce item. For this manual, Borkenstein selected and re-wrote papers and articles originally published by Dr. Harger. Dr. Robert Borkenstein (1912-2002), a captain with the Indiana State Police, is generally regarded as the first person to create a device that accurately measured a subject's blood alcohol level based on a breath sample. However, as early as 1938, Dr. Harger had devised a machine - called the 'drunkometer' - which purported to do the same thing, although with sometimes inconsistent results. It was also somewhat cumbersome in design and not suited for 'field use'. In 1954, Brokenstein invented his breathalyzer, which used chemical oxidation and photometry to determine alcohol concentration. The invention of the portable and re-suable device provided law enforcement with a non-invasive test offering immediate results to determine a subject's blood alcohol concentration at the time of testing. When this manual was published, Borkenstein was chief laboratory technician, with the Indiana State Police, although he later left the force and became a professor at Indiana University (Bloomington).