John Givan Davis Mack (September 5, 1867 – February 24, 1924) was a professor of engineering at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. He was also curator of the museum of the

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of N ...

. He was for many years State Chief Engineer.

Biography

John Givan Davis Mack was born in

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

on September 5, 1867. He graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1888. In 1893 he started work at the University of Wisconsin as an instructor.On the Presentation of the Mack Portrait to the State Historical Society
''The Wisconsin Magazine of History'' Vol. 8, No. 1 (September 1924), pp. 74-77 Wisconsin Historical Society In 1898 he registered the patent of the ''Mack Improved Mannheim Simplex Slide Rule'', which he then assigned to

Eugene Dietzgen Eugene Dietzgen (1862–1929) was a German-American manufacturer of engineering supplies. He was also a writer and promoter of the ideas of his father, the socialist philosopher Joseph Dietzgen. Early life Eugene Dietzgen, the eldest son of J ...

who put the slide rule into production. He died from a heart attack in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

on February 24, 1924. Upon his death, a portrait of Professor Mack was given to the Wisconsin Historical Society Library to mark over thirty years involvement with the University. It was painted by his friend Morton Grenhagen.

Publications

* ''Efficiency tests of steam engine governors, and the variation in speed, during the single revolution'', (1888) with Charles Billings Dix, Cornell University

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mack, John Givan Davis 1867 births 1924 deaths American engineers Cornell University alumni People from Terre Haute, Indiana University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty