Journal of 



Applied Microscopy. 



Volume I. 



SEPTEMBER, 1898. 



Number 9 



William A. Rogers, A. M., Ph. D,, LL. D, 



Professor Rogers was a man of such 

 strong character and able mind that he 

 naturally became a member of all the 

 great societies which came within the 

 limits of his activitj'. His main work 

 was in Astronomy and Physics, fields 

 in which accurate measurement is as 

 important as in Microscopy. 



To insure accurate measurement he in- 

 vestigated the various standard meas- 

 ures of length available, and came to 

 appreciate the high value of the micro- 

 scope in this investigation. Therefore, 

 while he was an astronomer and physic- 

 ist and used the microscope only as an 

 instrument of precision, his sympathies 

 turned to the group of men then known 

 as the American Society of Micros- 

 copists, noting that among their efforts 

 the realization of accurate micrometers 

 was earnestly sought. ■ 



In 1882 he joined this society and at 

 nearly every meeting since that time he 

 presented one or more papers bearing 

 upon micrometers or micrometry, and 

 the question of expansion and contraction 

 which so vitally concern their accuracy. 



While his interest in accurate meas- 

 urement might have been the primary 

 reason for joining the society, his broad 

 and generous mind entered into sym- 

 pathy with the society's work as a whole. 

 At the time of joining in 1882 he w.as 

 fifty years old and had a national if not 

 an international reputation, hence he 

 was in a position to render great as- 

 sistance in the genei-al management of 

 the society. His general good sense acted 

 as a brake on some of the radical mem- 

 bers, but as I look back over his career 

 among us, what appeals to me most 

 strongly was his interest in the younger 

 members. His words of encouragement 

 and praise for any creditable work were 

 so genuine that one could not help feel- 

 ing that one would do his best to make 

 the next work more worthy of the 

 generous recognition. 



Prof. Rogers, in spite of his other 

 duties and engagements, never hesitated 

 to bear more than his share of the bur- 

 den of the society. In turn the society 

 gave to him all the honors it had to of- 

 fer; and although it had not the reputa- 

 tion of many of the societies of which he 

 was a member, yet in the performance 

 of his duties toward this society no one 

 could be more conscientious and pains- 

 taking. I presume the preparation of no 

 address by a president of the Micro- 

 scopical Society ever cost more labor and 

 solicitude than the one given by him at 

 the tenth annual meeting in Pittsburg, 

 in 1887. 



It has just been said that Prof. Rogers 

 came in to be one of us, to give his un- 

 stinted labor and impart some of his 

 wholesome enthusiasm and faith in the 

 value of our work. He did all this and 

 more. In times of depression, he gave 

 not only general encouragement, but 

 showed in detail how to advance the in- 

 terests and increase the success of the 

 society. 



That the honor was to us rather than 

 to him, is shown from the fact that the 

 year before joining the American society, 

 he had been made an honorary fellow 

 of the Royal Microscopical Society of 

 London. 



He was a fellow of the American As- 

 sociation for the Advancement of Science 

 and was three times honored by a chair- 

 manship of its sections. In 1873 he was 

 elected to membership in the American 

 Academy of Arts and Sciences. 



Yale College conferred upon him the 

 honorary degree of A. M. in 1880 in recog- 

 nition of his work in Astronomy. In 1886 

 Alfred University, at its semi-centennial, 

 gave him Ph. D., and finally in 1892, 

 thirty-five years after graduation, his 

 alma mater, Brown University, conferred 

 upon him the degree of LL. D. 



Prof. Rogers was a teacher and an in- 

 vestigator. His warm heart and noble 



