oi.ii'f-K iir.irisiiu- 35.5 



will hv nmsidtTi'd by those who kiu-w him and his work to l)i' a 

 national niisfortune. Of roiirso, the 'nation' knows nothing about 

 it. or why it should i)e so " 



DurinR the last 20 years or mori.-, tin- siKnidiMiui.- and luminous 

 i|ualily of the work of Heaviside has been increasing by acknowledge;! 

 mathematicians and by practical telephone, telegraph and radio 

 engineers. To other electrical engineers his treatment of wave- 

 transmission has not yet apjK'aled (|uite so strongly. 



Probably his first recognition came from his contribution to the 

 problem — "Electromagnetic Induction and its Propagation" in the 

 Electrician. It appeared as a .scries of articles between January, 

 1885 and December. 1887. His "Electrical Papers" were written 

 at various times and were published in two volumes in 18!)2. Then 

 followed his three volumes on "Electromagnetic Theory" — on the 

 basis of the Electrician articles— published in 18!>3, 1899 and 1912. 

 He also wrote, in 1902, the article on the "Theory of the Electric 

 Telegraph" in the "F^ncyclopedia Britannica." 



In 1891. the Royal Society made him a Eellow. In 1899, the 

 -American Academy of Arts and Sciences elected him an Honorary 

 Member. In 1908 the Institution of Electrical Engineers did the 

 same, followed by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 

 1917. The Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester also 

 elected him an Honorar\- Member. He was an Hon. Ph.D. of the 

 University of Gottingen. and in 1921, the Institution of Electrical 

 Engineers conferred upon him the highest award in their gift — the 

 Faraday Medal. He was the first recipient of this Medal which was 

 established to commemorate the ,50th anniversary of the founding of 

 the original Society of Telegraph Engineers and of Electricians, and 

 since then the medal has been bestowed upon -Sir Charles Parsons, 

 Dr. S. Z. de Ferranti, and Sir J. J. Thom.son. 



From time to time there were reports of his li\ing in great poverty, 

 and attempts were made to help him. These reports lacked propor- 

 tion, but it is true he had not much money and perhaps still le.ss com- 

 fort; he was a difficult man to help. Towards the end of his life he 

 received from the British Government a Civil Pension. His inde- 

 pendent character rendered it necessar>- that offers of assistance should 

 be tactfully made and apparently this was not always the case, as I 

 believe help was sometimes refused; but there were those who suc- 

 ceeded. Another difficulty was his unconventional mode of living 

 which cause<l him, in his last years, to live as a recluse, cooking and 

 looking after his house alone. 



