Bolton, Henry Carrington (28 January 1843–19 November 1903), chemist and historian, was born in New York City, the only child of Jackson Bolton, a physician, and Anna Hinman North. Bolton graduated from Columbia College in 1862 after showing aptitude in mathematics and chemistry. Over the next four years he studied chemistry with some of the best minds in Europe: Jean-Baptiste-André Dumas at the Sorbonne and Charles-Adolphe Wurtz of the École de Médicine in Paris; Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, Hermann Franz Moritz Kopp, and Gustav Robert Kirchhoff at the University of Heidelberg; Friedrich Wöhler at Göttingen; and August Wilhelm von Hofmann of the University of Berlin. In 1866, the year his father died, he was awarded a Ph.D. at the University of Göttingen for his work “On the Fluorine Compounds of Uranium.” Throughout his stay in Europe, Bolton traveled the whole of the Continent, particularly in Switzerland, where he became an expert alpine climber....
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Bolton, Henry Carrington (1843-1903), chemist and historian
Herbert T. Pratt
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Cushing, Harvey Williams (1869-1939), neurosurgeon, medical historian, and bibliophile
Jeremiah A. Barondess
Cushing, Harvey Williams (08 April 1869–07 October 1939), neurosurgeon, medical historian, and bibliophile, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in the Western Reserve of Connecticut, the son of Henry Kirke Cushing, a physician, and Betsey Maria Williams. In addition to his father, Cushing’s paternal grandfather, great grandfather, and great-great grandfather were all physicians in general practice. Cushing’s childhood was a happy and full one with strong parental role models. He found opportunities at home to consort, through books, with the world of ideas, and to explore history. His early education was in the public schools of Cleveland and from his mother, who taught him French and introduced him to general literature and poetry. In 1887 Cushing entered Yale University, where he spent four happy years, achieving election to Scroll and Key (a matter of considerable importance to him) and securing the short-stop position on the Yale freshman baseball team and, later, membership on the varsity nine....
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Darton, Nelson Horatio (1865-1948), geological mapper, groundwater specialist, and bibliographer
Ellis L. Yochelson
Darton, Nelson Horatio (17 December 1865–28 February 1948), geological mapper, groundwater specialist, and bibliographer, was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of William Darton, Jr., a shipbuilder and civil engineer, and Caroline Matilda Thayer. Darton was a self-trained geologist who dropped out of public school before the age of thirteen to apprentice as a chemist in his uncle’s business. He became a member of the American Chemical Society at age sixteen and shortly thereafter started his own business, selling distilled water. As a practical chemist he became interested in minerals and collected in New Jersey. By age seventeen, Darton had spoken before the New York Academy of Sciences and published his first paper. The conclusion he derived from fieldwork was that some of the rock strata in eastern New Jersey were ancient lava flows, a new concept at that time, but one that was immediately accepted....
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Eastman, William Reed (1835-1925), engineer, clergyman, and librarian
Kathleen Molz
Eastman, William Reed (19 October 1835–25 March 1925), engineer, clergyman, and librarian, was born in New York City, the son of the Reverend Ornan Eastman, an ordained evangelist, and Mary Reed. Eastman descended from an old New England family. Like his father, Eastman attended Yale University, where he achieved election to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated in 1854 with honors. During the first of his three distinctive professional endeavors, he worked as a civil engineer, initially on the enlargement of the Erie Canal, subsequently on the construction of the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad, and finally on the survey of the first railroad from Vera Cruz to Mexico City....
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Garrison, Fielding Hudson (1870-1935), medical librarian, bibliographer, and historian
Nancy Whitten Zinn
Garrison, Fielding Hudson (05 November 1870–18 April 1935), medical librarian, bibliographer, and historian, was born in Washington, D.C., the son of John Rowzee Garrison II, a comptroller for the federal government, and Jennie Davis. Garrison graduated from Washington Central High School in 1886. After a year’s concentration at home on music and college preparation, he matriculated at Johns Hopkins University in 1887. There he focused on classical and modern languages, with some physics and mathematics, graduating in 1890. Garrison’s facility in languages and literature was apparent throughout his career and in his correspondence....
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Harris, Thaddeus William (1795-1856), librarian and entomologist
Clark A. Elliott
Harris, Thaddeus William (12 November 1795–16 January 1856), librarian and entomologist, was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, the son of Unitarian clergyman Thaddeus Mason Harris and Mary Dix. He graduated from Harvard College in 1815 and in 1820 received the M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School. During the years 1820–1831 Harris practiced medicine, first in Milton (with the older physician Amos Holbrook) and later in Dorchester, Massachusetts. In 1824 he married Catherine Holbrook, a daughter of his mentor. Of the twelve children born to the couple, two predeceased their father....
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Holden, Edward Singleton (1846-1914), astronomer and librarian
Donald E. Osterbrock
Holden, Edward Singleton (05 November 1846–16 March 1914), astronomer and librarian, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Edward Holden and Sarah Frances Singleton. His mother died when he was three years old, and he was sent to live with his aunt, the wife of a Boston attorney, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This family (and his own) were related to ...
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Howe, James Lewis (1859-1955), chemist and bibliographer of the platinum metals
George B. Kauffman
Howe, James Lewis (04 August 1859–20 December 1955), chemist and bibliographer of the platinum metals, was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the son of Francis Augustine Howe, a physician, and Mary Frances Lewis. The Howe family was noted for its progressive and liberal outlook. Howe originally intended to become a physician like his father, but during high school in Newburyport he became interested in chemistry. He received his B.A. degree in 1880 from Amherst College, his father’s alma mater....
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Uhler, Philip Reese (1835-1913), entomologist and librarian
Keir B. Sterling
Uhler, Philip Reese (03 June 1835–21 October 1913), entomologist and librarian, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of George Washington Uhler, a wealthy merchant, and Anna Maria Reese. Uhler studied at a local Latin School and at Baltimore College, a preparatory institution. He was particularly well grounded in foreign languages, notably Latin and German. From the age of ten, he spent considerable time on a farm his father owned near Reisterstown, Maryland. There he developed an interest in entomology by collecting beetles, butterflies, and moths. One of his earliest papers, “Descriptions of a Few Species of ...
