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Thomas Corwin Mendenhall

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Thomas Corwin Mendenhall
Born(1841-10-04)October 4, 1841
Hanoverton, Ohio,US
DiedMarch 28, 1924(1924-03-28)(aged 82)
Ravenna, Ohio,US
Resting placeForest Hill Cemetery
Alma materOhio State University
Known for
Spouse
Susan Allan Marple
​
(m.1870)​
ChildrenCharles Elwood Mendenhall
RelativesThomas C. Mendenhall(grandson)
AwardsCullum Geographical Medal(1901)
Franklin Medal(1918)
Order of the Sacred Treasure(Japan)(1911)
Scientific career
Fields
Signature

Thomas Corwin Mendenhall(October 4, 1841 – March 23, 1924) was an Americanautodidactphysicistandmeteorologist.He was the first professor hired atOhio State Universityin 1873 and the superintendent of theUnited States Coast and Geodetic Survey(one of the ancestor organizations of theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) from 1889 to 1894. Alongside his work, he was also an advocate for theadoption of the metric system by the United Statesand is the father ofauthor profiling.

Biography[edit]

Mendenhall in 1890

Mendenhall was born inHanoverton, Ohio,to Stephen Mendenhall, a farmer and carriage-maker, and Mary Thomas. In 1852 the family moved toMarlboro,aQuakercommunity outside ofAkron, Ohio.His parents were strongabolitionistsand frequently opened their home to escaped slaves heading north along theUnderground Railroad.Mendenhall became principal of the local primary school in 1858. He formalized his teaching qualifications atNational Normal University[1]in 1861 with anInstructor Normalisdegree.[2]

While living inColumbus, Ohio,he married Susan Allan Marple in 1870. The couple had one child,Charles Elwood Mendenhall(1872–1935), teacher and chairman of the physics department atUniversity of Wisconsin–Madisonfor 34 years.[3]

He taught at a number of schools inOhioincludingCentral High Schoolin Columbus,[4]gaining an impressive reputation as a teacher and educator. In 1873, although he lacked conventional academic credentials, he was appointed professor ofphysicsand mechanics at the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. The college ultimately becameOhio State University,[2]Mendenhall being the first member of the original faculty.[5]He was later awarded the first ever honorary Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in 1878.[5]

Thomas Corwin Mendenhall, the first physics teacher in Tokyo, Japan with his interpreter Kikuchi (right) and grad studentsc. 1880

In 1878,[2]on the recommendation ofEdward S. Morse,[6]he was recruited to help the modernization ofMeiji EraJapan as one of theo-yatoi gaikokujin(hired foreigners), serving as visiting professor of physics atTokyo Imperial University.In connection with this appointment, he founded ameteorologicalobservatory to make systematic observations during his residence in Japan. From measurements using aKater's pendulumof the force ofgravityat sea level and at the summit ofMount Fuji,[7]Mendenhall deduced a value for the mass of the Earth that agreed closely with estimates thatFrancis Bailyhad made in England by another method. He also made a series of elaborate measurements of the wavelengths of the solar spectrum by means of a largespectrometer.[6]He also became interested in earthquakes while in Japan, and was one of the founders of theSeismological Society of Japan(SSJ).[6]During his time in Japan, he also gave public lectures on various scientific topics to general audiences in temples and in theaters.[2]

Returning to Ohio in 1881, Mendenhall was instrumental in developing the Ohio State Meteorological Service. He devised a system of weather signals for display on railroad trains. This method became general throughout the United States and Canada.

Mendenhall Gravimeter Pendulums

He became professor at theU.S. Signal Corpsin 1884, introducing of systematic observations oflightning,and investigating methods for determining ground temperatures. He was the first to establish stations in the United States for the systematic observation of earthquake phenomena. Resigning in 1886, Mendenhall took up the presidency of theRose Polytechnic InstituteinTerre Haute, Indianabefore becoming superintendent of theUnited States Coast and Geodetic Surveyin 1889. During his time as superintendent, he issued theMendenhall Orderand oversaw the consequent transition of the United States'sweights and measuresfrom the customary system, based on that ofEngland,to themetric system.[6]Mendenhall remained a strong proponent for the official adoption of the metric system all his life. Also, as superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, he was also responsible for defining the exact national boundary betweenAlaskaand Canada. TheMendenhall ValleyandGlacierinJuneau, Alaskawas named for him in 1892.[8]

This Geodetic Survey House in Sitka, Alaska was used by Dr. Mendenhall and Surveyors working to map Alaska.

Mendenhall invented the portable MendenhallGravimeterin 1890 while he was superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey,[6]and at that time it provided the most accurate relative measurements of the localgravitational fieldof the Earth. The gravimeters were used at over 340 survey stations across the US and around the world including Germany, theNetherlands,Java,Philippines,Cuba,Haiti,Bahamas,Dominican Republic,Panama,Canada, and Mexico. The swing of thependulumwas more regular than the most accurate clocks of the era, and as the "world's best clock" it was used byAlbert A. Michelsonto measure thespeed of light,for which he won a Nobel Prize in 1907.[9]An early model of the original 1890s Mendenhall Gravimeter is on display at theSmithsonian Institutionin Washington, D.C.[10]

Hermann von Helmholtzand his wife (seated),Hugo Kronecker(left),Henry Villard(center) and Thomas Corwin Mendenhall (right)—taken at the studio ofMathew Bradyin New York City, 1893

Mendenhall was appointed president of theWorcester Polytechnic Institutefrom 1894 until 1901, when he emigrated to Europe.[2]He returned to the United States in 1912. He was appointed to the board of trustees of the Ohio State University in 1919 and is remembered for his successful efforts to close the College of Homeopathic Medicine and his unsuccessful effort to limit the capacity ofOhio Stadiumto 45,000 seats, contending that it would never be able to fill to its design capacity of 63,000 seats.[5]He continued to serve as a trustee until his death atRavenna, Ohioin 1924.[2]He was buried atForest Hill Cemeteryin Madison, Wisconsin.

His portrait is currently part of the Smithsonian InstitutionNational Portrait Galleryin Washington, D.C.[11]It was painted by his former pupilAnnie Ware Sabine Siebert,who was the first recipient of a Master of Arts degree from The Ohio State University in 1886, and one of the first women to earn an architecture degree from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) in 1888.[2]A portrait by famous artist and Columbus, Ohio nativeGeorge Bellowswas commissioned by the Ohio State University in 1913.[12]

Mendenhall's grave (third from left) at Forest Hill Cemetery

The largest collection of images, historical documents and handwritten material relating to Thomas Corwin Mendenhall is with Mendenhall family member documentary filmmaker Sybil Drew.[6]

Work on stylometry[edit]

In 1887 Mendenhall published one of the earliest attempts atstylometryalso known as author profiling, the quantitative analysis of writing style.[13]Prompted by a suggestion made by the English mathematicianAugustus De Morganin 1851, Mendenhall attempted to characterize the style of different authors through thefrequency distributionof words of various lengths. In this article Mendenhall mentioned the possible relevance of this technique to theShakespeare authorship question,and several years later the idea was picked up by a supporter of thetheorythatSir Francis Baconwas the true author of the works usually attributed to Shakespeare. He paid for a team of two people to undertake the counting required, but the results did not appear to support the theory.[14]For comparison, in 1901 Mendenhall also had works byChristopher Marloweanalysed,[15]and proponents of theMarlovian theory of Shakespeare authorshipwelcomed his finding that "in the characteristic curve of his plays Christopher Marlowe agrees with Shakespeare about as well as Shakespeare agrees with himself."[16]

Honors[edit]

Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska

Bibliography[edit]

  • Mendenhall, T. C. (1887).A Century of Electricity.New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Co.
  • Mendenhall, T. C. (1887)."The Characteristic Curves of Composition".Science.IX(214): 237–248.doi:10.1126/science.ns-9.214s.237.PMID17736020.
  • Mendenhall, T. C. (1901). "A Mechanical Solution of a Literary Problem".The Popular Science Monthly.LX(7): 97–105.
  • Mendenhall, Thomas Corwin and Drew, Sybil (2017) "An American Scientist In Japan 1878-1881 And Japan Revisited After Thirty Years"Jan & BrooklynISBN978-1544897066
  • Mendenhall, Thomas Corwin and Drew, Sybil (2017) "The Alaska Boundary Line And Twenty Unsettled Miles: The History Of St. Croix River"Jan & BrooklynISBN978-1544637891

Notes[edit]

  1. ^"National Normal University, 1893 Alumnal Roster, Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio".rootsweb.ancestry.RetrievedSeptember 24,2016.
  2. ^abcdefghCarey (1999)
  3. ^"National Academy of Sciences – Biographical Memoir – Obituary"(PDF).
  4. ^"Dead body + electricity = spooky experiment conducted by first faculty".October 31, 2014.RetrievedSeptember 24,2016.
  5. ^abcd[1]The Birth of Ohio Stadium
  6. ^abcdefghDrew, Sybil (November 15, 2016).Self Styled Genius: The Life of Thomas Corwin Mendenhall(1 ed.). Jan & Brooklyn.ISBN978-0-692-79057-1.
  7. ^Hyakumeizan, Project (June 26, 2011)."One Hundred Mountains: The o-yatoi who weighed the earth".One Hundred Mountains.RetrievedSeptember 24,2016.
  8. ^abMendendall Glacier Visitor Center home page
  9. ^"Albert A. Michelson – Biographical".nobelprize.org.RetrievedOctober 3,2016.
  10. ^"Mendenhall Gravity Pendulums".National Museum of American History.RetrievedSeptember 24,2016.
  11. ^"National Portrait Gallery – Mendenhall Portrait".August 21, 2015.
  12. ^"DR. THOMAS CORWIN MENDENHALL – George Bellows Catalogue Raissone – H.V. ALLISON".
  13. ^Mendenhall (1887)
  14. ^Mendenhall (1901) p.104
  15. ^Ornes, Stephen (June 23, 2015)."Science and Culture: Charting the history of Western art with math".Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.112(25): 7619–7620.Bibcode:2015PNAS..112.7619O.doi:10.1073/pnas.1504488112.PMC4485094.PMID26106123.
  16. ^Mendenhall (1901) p.105
  17. ^"Thomas Corwin Mendenhall".American Academy of Arts & Sciences.February 9, 2023.RetrievedFebruary 9,2024.
  18. ^"American Antiquarian Society Members Directory".Americanantiquarian.org.RetrievedDecember 22,2017.
  19. ^"APS Member History".search.amphilsoc.org.RetrievedFebruary 9,2024.
  20. ^Alexander (1926)

References[edit]

Obituary

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

Government offices
Preceded by Superintendent, United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
1889–1894 		Succeeded by
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