John Edson Sweet
John Edson Sweet(Pompey, New York,October 21, 1832 –Syracuse, New York,May 8, 1916) was an Americanmechanical engineer,inventor, professor, businessman and president of theAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineersfrom 1884–1885. He is known for building the firstmicrometer caliperin 1873, for making tools, and for inventing the "straight line" engine.[1]
Biography
[edit]Born inPompey, New Yorkin 1832, Sweet got only some schooling at the district school. He started working young as a farm hand, became a carpenter's apprentice, and settled as architect and builder in the South.[2]
At the outbreak of theAmerican Civil Warin 1861 he returned to the North.[2]From 1862 to 1864 Sweet worked as mechanical draftsman in England, and upon his return to the States was engaged in bridge building and invented several things. At theParis Exhibition of 1867he introduced alinotype machine.[3]
From 1873 to 1878 he was professor of practical mechanics at theSibley College of Mechanic ArtsofCornell University,which he also headed.[4]Afterwards he was founding president of straight line engine works.[5]At theWorld's Columbian Expositionin 1893 he was expert for the government, and one of the jurors on machine tools.[4]
In 1880 Sweet was a key founder of theAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers(ASME), and its third president in the year 1884–1885. In 1914 the ASME awarded him the John Fritz Medal "for his achievements in machine design, and for his pioneer work in applying sound engineering principles to the construction and development of the high-speed steam engine." In 1914 he also received the honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering fromSyracuse University.[2]
In 1894, Sweet admitted that his relatives had carved thePompey stoneas a hoax.[6]
Publications
[edit]- Sweet, John E. (1906).Things that are usually wrong.New York: Hill Publishing Company.LCCN06021207.OCLC3700573.
- Sweet, John E. (1908)."The Industrial School".Report on the Committee on Education.Syracuse Chamber of Commerce. pp. 12–15.LCCNe09001178.OCLC40000018.
- Patents, a selection[7]
- Patent US 121261, Improvement in the manufacture of guards for harvesting-machines,1871
- Patent US 261967, tool post for lathe,1881
- Patent US 532296, steam and water separator,1884–85
- Patent US 624575, Steam-separator,1896–98
- Patent US 682507, Changeable-speed gearing,1899–1901
References
[edit]- ^ASME History and Heritage (1980).Mechanical Engineers in America Born Prior to 1861: A Biographical Dictionary.New York: ASME.LCCN79-57364.OCLC6579756.
- ^abc"John Edson Sweet".Journal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.38.American Society of Mechanical Engineers: 473–477. 1916.
- ^Skrabec, Jr., Quentin R. (2005).The Metallurgic Age: The Victorian Flowering of Invention and Industrial Science.McFarland & Company.p. 32.ISBN0-7864-2326-9.
- ^ab"John Edson Sweet, Once Cornell Professor, Dead".The Cornell Daily Sun.Vol. XXXVI, no. 162. 9 May 1916.
- ^"Dr. Sweet wins famous medal".Iron Trade Review.55:1095. 1914.
- ^Beauchamp 1911,pp. 8–10.
- ^For more patents, seehere
- Beauchamp, William M. (April–June 1911)."The Pompey Stone".The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal:12–15.ISSN1068-3321.
Further reading
[edit]- Smith, Albert William (1925).John Edson Sweet: A Story of Achievement in Engineering and of Influence Upon Men.The American Society of Mechanical Engineers.LCCN25008850.OCLC559844.
External links
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Media related toJohn Edson Sweetat Wikimedia Commons
