Hudson Maxim (February 3, 1853 – May 6, 1927), was a U.S. inventor and

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...

who invented a variety of explosives, including smokeless gunpowder, Thomas Edison referred to him as "the most versatile man in America". He was the brother of

Hiram Maxim Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (5 February 1840 – 24 November 1916) was an American- British inventor best known as the creator of the first automatic machine gun, the Maxim gun. Maxim held patents on numerous mechanical devices such as hair-curl ...

, inventor of the

Maxim gun The Maxim gun is a recoil-operated machine gun invented in 1884 by Hiram Stevens Maxim. It was the first fully automatic machine gun in the world. The Maxim gun has been called "the weapon most associated with imperial conquest" by historian ...

and uncle of

Hiram Percy Maxim Hiram Percy Maxim (September 2, 1869 – February 17, 1936) was an American radio pioneer and inventor, and co-founder (with Clarence D. Tuska) of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). Hiram Percy Maxim is credited with inventing and sellin ...

, inventor of the Maxim Silencer.

Career

Maxim started his career in 1881 as the publisher of ''Real Pen Work - Self Instructor in Penmanship'', a book addressing the arts of calligraphy and

penmanship Penmanship is the technique of writing with the hand using a writing instrument. Today, this is most commonly done with a pen, or pencil, but throughout history has included many different implements. The various generic and formal hist ...

, and the sale of special inks,

pen A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...

s, and other supplies related to penmanship. Later he joined his brother

Hiram Stevens Maxim Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (5 February 1840 – 24 November 1916) was an American- British inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, ...

's workshop in the United Kingdom, where they both worked on the improvement of smokeless gunpowder. After some disputes, Hudson Maxim returned to the United States and developed a number of stable high explosives, the rights of which were sold to the DuPont company. Maxim wrote a book, ''Defenseless America'', first issued in 1912, in which he pointed out the inferiority of the American defense system and the vulnerability of the country against attacks of foreign aggressors. At that time, the United States army according to Maxim, had a total strength of 81,000 men of which 29,000 were assigned to man coastal artillery batteries at major ports. This explains the need for the United States to use National Guard troops in its campaign against Mexico in 1916. The book was reissued in 1916 after his good friend,

Elbert Hubbard Elbert Green Hubbard (June 19, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher. Raised in Hudson, Illinois, he had early success as a traveling salesman for the Larkin Soap Company. Hubbard is known best as th ...

, died on the RMS Lusitania when it was torpedoed by a German submarine. This event fueled his belief that the USA should improve its defenses and join the war against Germany on the side of the Entente. Maxim also wrote the book ''The Science of Poetry and the Philosophy of Language'' about the nature and writing of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

. In this work, he contended that words, like chemical particles, had natural laws that governed the manner in which they could be combined into verse, and that poetry perceived as excellent was in fact one that conformed to those laws. He also argued that certain famous poets (

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

) had discovered those laws and put them to use in their poetry. During his experimental career, he lost his left hand in a

mercury fulminate Mercury(II) fulminate, or Hg(CNO)2, is a primary explosive. It is highly sensitive to friction, heat and shock and is mainly used as a trigger for other explosives in percussion caps and detonators. Mercury(II) cyanate, though its chemical formu ...

explosion in 1894.

Personal

During the last 25 years of his life, Maxim spent most of his time at his home on the shores of

Lake Hopatcong Lake Hopatcong is the largest freshwater body in New Jersey, United States, about in area. Located from the Delaware River and from Manhattan, New York City, the lake forms part of the border between Sussex and Morris counties in the state's ...

, New Jersey. He was a great promoter and supporter of the development of Lake Hopatcong and the Borough of Hopatcong and is honored by memorials in

Hopatcong State Park Hopatcong State Park is a state park in the Landing section of Roxbury Township, New Jersey. Operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry, the park consists of two parcels of land: one that encompasses Lake Hopatcong ...

and the Borough of Hopatcong's Maxim Glen Park. He spoke and wrote prolifically on many topics - from his opposition to maintaining the

Morris Canal The Morris Canal (1829–1924) was a common carrier anthracite coal canal across northern New Jersey that connected the two industrial canals at Easton, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River from its western terminus at Phillipsburg, New Jers ...

, to his disdain of Prohibition, to his love of poetry and boxing. Maxim appeared as King Neptune during the first two years of the Miss America Pageant in 1921 and 1922, arriving on a great float and presenting the trophy to the winner. He was an important member of the College of

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

s of the Academy of Nations.

Bibliography

*
Man's Machine-Made Millennium
', future-predicting article in '' Cosmopolitan'', Vol. 45, No. 6, November 1908, pag. 568, illustrated by William R. Leigh. *''The Science of Poetry and The Philosophy of Language''. By Hudson Maxim, Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1910. *''Lake Hopatcong the Beautiful''. By Hudson Maxim, The McConnell Printing Co., New York, New York, 1913. *
Dynamite Stories
'. By Hudson Maxim, Hearst's International Library Co. 1916. *''Defenseless America''. By Hudson Maxim, Hearst's International Library Co. 1916. *
The Science of Poetry and the Philosophy of Language
' By Hudson Maxim Funk and Wagnalls Company, New York *''Leading Opinions Both For and Against National Defense''. Compiled by Hudson Maxim, Hearst's International Library Co., 1916 *''Hudson Maxim, Reminiscences and Comments''. By Clifton Johnson, Doubleday, Page & Company, 1924.

References

Lake Hopatcong News

External links

Hudson Maxim School
in Hopatcong, NJ
Hudson Maxim
in ACADEMY OF NATION - CLIC Digital Collections
Hudson Maxim papers
(1851-1925) at Hagley Museum and Library * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maxim, Hudson 1853 births 1927 deaths American chemists 19th-century American inventors 20th-century American inventors People from Piscataquis County, Maine People from Hopatcong, New Jersey Naval Consulting Board Kents Hill School alumni Scientists from Maine