Edward Wilson Davis (May 8, 1888 – December 3, 1973) was an American
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
and
inventor
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
famous for pioneering early research into
taconite. As a researcher at the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
, Davis developed an engineering process to economically extract
iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
from hard taconite rocks, making taconite valuable as iron ore for the
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
and
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
industries. He worked closely with industrial firms such as the
Mesabi Iron Company and the
Reserve Mining Company
Reserve or reserves may refer to:
Places
* Reserve, Kansas, a US city
* Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish
* Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County
* Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...
to transform his research into a working industry on northeast
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
's
Iron Range
The term Iron Range refers collectively or individually to a number of elongated iron-ore mining districts around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada. Much of the ore-bearing region lies alongside the range of granite hills formed by ...
. Davis was known as "Mr. Taconite" for his efforts.
History
Davis was born on May 8, 1888, in
Cambridge City, Indiana
Cambridge City is a town in Jackson Township, Wayne County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 1,870 at the 2010 census.
History
Cambridge City was laid out and platted in 1836. The community was named after the city of Cambridge, ...
. He pursued courses in science and engineering and received a degree in
electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
from
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
in 1911. In 1912, Davis began working as a
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
instructor at the University of Minnesota.
In 1913, Davis began working on taconite. Over the next four decades, Davis devised a process to crush the hard rock, separate the iron from the crushed rock using magnets, and roll the iron into pellets suitable for transport and use in a
blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...
. Davis earned 19
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
s for his many innovations. In the 1950s, Davis's research was used to create several taconite processing plants in northeast Minnesota. The Reserve Mining Company honored Davis by naming its
Silver Bay, Minnesota
Silver Bay is a city in Lake County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,857 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the largest population center in a natural tourism area which includes, Tettegouche State Park and the Split Rock Lig ...
, facility the E. W. Davis Works.
In addition to his taconite research, Davis was active in Minnesota politics and history. He published an account of his research, ''Pioneering With Taconite'', with the
Minnesota Historical Society in 1964.
[Edward W. Davis, ''Pioneering With Taconite'' (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1964.)]
References
External links
A Basic Explanation of Taconite Mining and Processing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Edward W.
Scientists from Minnesota
Mining in Minnesota
People from Cambridge City, Indiana
1973 deaths
1888 births
20th-century American inventors