Editing Bode plot (section)

== Overview ==

Among his several important contributions to [[Network analysis (electrical circuits)|circuit theory]] and [[control theory]], engineer [[Hendrik Wade Bode]], while working at [[Bell Labs]] in the 1930s, devised a simple but accurate method for graphing [[Gain (electronics)|gain]] and phase-shift plots. These bear his name, ''Bode gain plot'' and ''Bode phase plot''. "Bode" is often pronounced in English as {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|oʊ|d|i}} {{respell|BOH|dee}}, whereas in Dutch it is usually {{IPA|nl|ˈboːdə|}}, closer to English {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|oʊ|d|ə}} {{respell|BOH|də}}, which is preferred by his family, but less common among researchers.<ref name="Van Valkenburg">Van Valkenburg, M. E. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, "In memoriam: Hendrik W. Bode (1905-1982)", [[IEEE]] Transactions on Automatic Control, Vol.&nbsp;AC-29, No&nbsp;3., March 1984, pp.&nbsp;193–194. Quote: "Something should be said about his name. To his colleagues at Bell Laboratories and the generations of engineers that have followed, the pronunciation is boh-dee. The Bode family preferred that the original Dutch be used as boh-dah."</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Vertaling van postbode, NL>EN |url= http://www.mijnwoordenboek.nl/vertalen.php?s1=&s2=NL+%3E+EN&s3=NL+%3E+EN&woord=postbode |publisher=mijnwoordenboek.nl |access-date=2013-10-07}}</ref><!--Should this be moved to the beginning of the page? I have no preference, but pronounciation information is usually listed at the beginning of an article.-->

Bode was faced with the problem of designing stable [[amplifier]]s with [[feedback]] for use in telephone networks. He developed the graphical design technique of the Bode plots to show the [[gain margin]] and [[phase margin]] required to maintain stability under variations in circuit characteristics caused during manufacture or during operation.<ref>David A. Mindell ''Between Human and Machine: Feedback, Control, and Computing Before Cybernetics'' JHU Press, 2004, {{ISBN|0801880572}},  pp.&nbsp;127–131.</ref> The principles developed were applied to design problems of [[servomechanism]]s and other feedback control systems. The Bode plot is an example of analysis in the [[frequency domain]].