John Williams Nystrom ( sv, Johan Vilhelm Nyström) (1825–1885) was a Swedish born, American

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

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 ...

, and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. He served as an assistant Secretary and Chief Engineer of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Background

He was born Johan Vilhelm Nyström in

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...

province,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. He received his engineering degree from the

Royal Institute of Technology The KTH Royal Institute of Technology ( sv, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, lit=Royal Institute of Technology), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technolo ...

(''Kungliga Tekniska högskolan'') in

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropoli ...

. He emigrated to the United States in the 1840s, and became an American citizen in 1854. He maintained residence in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, where he died on May 11, 1885."History of Computers and Computing, Calculating tools, Gadgets, Nystrom"
/ref>

Inventions and patents

Nystrom received many patents for inventions such as a

marine steam engine A marine steam engine is a steam engine that is used to power a ship or boat. This article deals mainly with marine steam engines of the reciprocating type, which were in use from the inception of the steamboat in the early 19th century to their ...

, a

refrigerator A refrigerator, colloquially fridge, is a commercial and home appliance consisting of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump (mechanical, electronic or chemical) that transfers heat from its inside to its external environment so th ...

, and

calculating machines A mechanical calculator, or calculating machine, is a mechanical device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic automatically, or (historically) a simulation such as an analog computer or a slide rule. Most mechanical calculators we ...

. His slide ruler invention (U. S. patent #7961) was filed with the

United States Patent Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...

on 4 March 1851. Nystrom is most notable for his proposal to switch from

decimal The decimal numeral system (also called the base-ten positional numeral system and denary or decanary) is the standard system for denoting integer and non-integer numbers. It is the extension to non-integer numbers of the Hindu–Arabic numeral ...

hexadecimal In mathematics and computing, the hexadecimal (also base-16 or simply hex) numeral system is a positional numeral system that represents numbers using a radix (base) of 16. Unlike the decimal system representing numbers using 10 symbols, hexa ...

as defined in his 1862 publication titled ''Project of a New System of Arithmetic, Weight, Measure and Coins, Proposed to be Called the Tonal System, with Sixteen to the Base''.

Numeral systems

Tonal system (hexadecimal)

In 1859, Nystrom proposed a

(base 16) system of notation,

arithmetic Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...

, and

metrology Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to standardise units in Fran ...

called the Tonal system. In addition to new weights and measures, his proposal included a new

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...

with sixteen months, a new system of

coinage Coinage may refer to: * Coins, standardized as currency * Neologism, coinage of a new word * ''COINage'', numismatics magazine * Tin coinage, a tax on refined tin * Protologism, coinage of a seldom used new term See also * Coining (disambiguatio ...

, and a hexadecimal clock with sixteen hours in a day.

Duodenal system (duodecimal)

In 1875, Nystrom proposed a new

duodecimal The duodecimal system (also known as base 12, dozenal, or, rarely, uncial) is a positional notation numeral system using twelve as its base. The number twelve (that is, the number written as "12" in the decimal numerical system) is instead wri ...

(base 12) system of notation,

, and

called the Duodenal system as an appendix in his book ''A New Treatise on Elements of Mechanics Establishing Strict Precision in the Meaning of Dynamical Terms''.

Selected works

*''A treatise on screw propellers and their steam-engines, with practical rules and examples how to calculate and construct the same ... accompanied with A treatise on bodies in motion in fluid ... also, a full description of a calculating machine'' (Philadelphia: H. C. Baird. 1852) *''Project of a new system of arithmetic, weight, measure and coins, proposed to be called the tonal system, with sixteen to the base'' (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co.; London: Trubner & Co. 1862) *''On technological education and the construction of ships and screw propellers, for naval and marine engineers'' (Philadelphia: H.C. Baird. 1866) *''Informe al supremo gobierno del Perú, sobre una espedición al interior de la república'' (Lima: E. Prugue. 1868) Spanish *''Pocket-book of mechanics and engineering'' (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & co.; London: Trübner & Co. 1869) *''Principles of dynamics'' (Philadelphia: J. P. Murphy, printer. 1874) *''A new treatise on elements of mechanics establishing strict precision in the meaning of dynamical terms accompanied with an appendix on duodenal arithmetic and metrology'' (Philadelphia: Porter & Coates. 1875) *''A new treatise on steam engineering, physical properties of permanent gases, and of different kinds of vapor'' (Philadelphia: London: J.B. Lippincott & Co. 1876)

References

External links

* * Nystrom, John W
''On a new system of arithmetic and metrology, called the tonal system'' Part 1Part 2Part 3
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nystrom, John W. 1825 births 1885 deaths People from Småland 19th-century American engineers American civil engineers Swedish civil engineers Swedish emigrants to the United States