Mansfield Merriman (March 27, 1848 June 7, 1925) was an 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 ...
, born in
Southington
Southington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, it had a population of 43,501. Southington contains the villages of Marion, Milldale, and Plantsville.
Geography
Southington is situ ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
.
He graduated from
Yale's Sheffield Scientific School
Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffield, ...
in 1871,
was an assistant in the
in 187273, and was an instructor in civil engineering at Sheffield from 1875 to 1878. He was
professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
of civil engineering at
Lehigh University
Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...
from 1878 to 1907 and, thereafter, a consulting civil and hydraulic engineer.
From 1880 to 1885, Merriman was also an assistant on the
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (abbreviated USC&GS), known from 1807 to 1836 as the Survey of the Coast and from 1836 until 1878 as the United States Coast Survey, was the first scientific agency of the United States Government. It ...
. His researches in hydraulics, bridges, strength of materials, and pure mathematics are important. He was elected as a member to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1881.
Merriman's chief publications, many of them widely used as textbooks, are:
*
Method of Least Squares' (1884; eighth edition, 1901)
*
Mechanics of Materials' (1885; tenth edition, 1912)
* with
Jacoby, ''A Text-Book on Roofs and Bridges'' (four volumes, 1888–98; fifth edition, 1912)
*
Treatise on Hydraulics' (1889; ninth edition, 1914)
*
Handbook for Surveyors' (1895; third edition, 1903)
* ''Strength of Materials'' (1897; sixth edition, 1913)
*
Precise Sanitary Engineering' (1898; third edition, 1906)
*
The solution of equations' (1906)
*
Elements of Hydraulics' (1912)
* "American Civil Engineers' Handbook", Mansfield Merriman, Editor-In-Chief (fourth edition, 1920)
* ''Recreations in Mathematics'' (1917), under the pseudonym of H. E. Licks
In addition, he was editor-in-chief of the ''American Civil Engineers' Pocket Book'' (1911).
He published ''Recreations in Mathematics'' in 1917 under the pseudonym H. E. Licks, which included a story, "The Diaphote Hoax", a republication of a detailed newspaper report from February 10, 1880 which purported to describe the scientific demonstration of a device that transmitted images by electricity.
[ The report is peppered throughout with scientific jokes including mentions of "Dr. H. E. Licks" ('helix'), "Prof. M. E. Kannick" ('mechanic'), "Col. A. D. A. Biatic" ('adiabatic'), and "Prof. L. M. Niscate" ('lemniscate').
]
References
External links
at Lehigh University.
about Merriman and the Diaphote Hoax, with much biographical information.
* Th
of the Diaphote Hoax.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merriman, Mansfield
Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science alumni
American civil engineers
American non-fiction writers
People from Southington, Connecticut
Lehigh University faculty
1848 births
1925 deaths
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel