Samuel Ruben, 88; Holder of More Than 300 Patents

Samuel Ruben, who taught himself physics by borrowing books and visiting classrooms at Columbia University and parlayed that knowledge into more than 300 patents, including one for the omnipresent alkaline battery, has died in Milwaukie, Ore., where he retired three years ago after spending most of his life in New York City.

Ruben, named inventor of the year in 1965 by the Patent, Trademark and Copyright Institute in Washington after he developed a battery for heart pacemakers, hearing aids and watches, was 88 when he died Saturday, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

Unable to attend college because of a need to contribute to his family’s income, Ruben’s innate interest in science came to the attention of a Columbia physics professor, Bergen Davis, who let the budding inventor attend lectures and use the university library. Armed with that knowledge, Ruben opened the first of his laboratories in the 1920s and began to develop the batteries, condensers and electric motors that made him widely known in industrial circles.

One of his earliest and most important inventions was a device that converted household current so that it could power radios. Leaky lead-acid batteries had been used before his invention.

During World War II Ruben devised a sealed mercury battery unaffected by temperature, which was used by the military in mine detectors, two-way radios and other items vital to the war effort.

In 1976 Columbia created a chair in electrochemistry at its School of Engineering and Applied Science to honor Ruben and Peter G. Viele, the head of Duracell Inc. and a longtime colleague of Ruben’s who died that year.