Sidney Harman, 1918-2011

In an ideal life one wouldn't have to choose between the pursuit of wealth and the pursuit of knowledge. By that standard and many others, Sidney Harman—the scientist, stereo mogul, Under Secretary of Commerce, professor, philanthropist, and magazine publisher who died on Apr. 14—lived ideally.

Born in Montreal, Harman grew up in New York, where his father worked at a hearing-aid company. He graduated from City College in 1939 with a degree in physics and found an engineering job at a loudspeaker company where his boss was a man named Bernard Kardon. In 1953 each kicked in $5,000 to make the first integrated hi-fi receiver, the Festival D1000. By combining the amplifier and tuner into one visually appealing machine, Harman quickly became the Steve Jobs of his day. College campuses, wrote Harman in a 2003 memoir, "were the breeding grounds for a generation who loved the music and felt that the best way to listen to it was in the dorm with our equipment. Harman Kardon was the symbol of hip, the mark of the cognoscenti."