558 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LI. No. 1327 



teclmical publications and especially in charts, 

 stereopticon slides, and extension bulletins. 

 Max W. Gabdnee, 

 Geo. K. K. Link 



WILLIAM DIXON WEAVER 



, Dr. Willum D. Weaver, for a number of 

 years editor of tbe Electrical World, a man of 

 tbe true scientific spirit, a friend of education 

 and scholarsbip, a devotee of literature, an 

 upholder of the finer things of life, and one 

 of the most delightful of companions, died at 

 his home in Charlottesville, Va., on Novem- 

 ber 2, 1919. 



Dr. Weaver was bom on August 30, 1857, 

 at Greensburg, Pa. After a year spent in pre- 

 liminary study at the University of Kentucky, 

 he entered the United States Naval Academy, 

 from whicih he graduated as cadet engineer in 

 1880. Only a few months ago Dr. Weaver re- 

 ceived the honorary degree of LL.D. from the 

 University of Kentucky. After graduation the 

 young officer served in the Navy for twelve 

 years except for one year's leave of absence in 

 1884, during which he studied electricity and 

 conducted some investigations in the electrical 

 laboratory of the Sorbonne, Paris, and the 

 School of Electrical Engineering, London. 

 In 1883 he was a member of the U. S. S. 

 Yantic expedition sent to the relief of Lieu- 

 tenant Greely, the Arctic explorer. When he 

 resigned from the Navy in 1892 he held the 

 relative rank of ensign. 



, Mr. Weaver's life work was that of an edi- 

 torial exponent of the science, art and indus- 

 try of electricity. After resigning from the 

 Navy he si)ent a year in the business of manu- 

 facturing electrical appliances, and he became 

 editor of the Electrical World in 1893. In 

 1896 the American Electrician was established, 

 and this magazine, a monthly, with Mr. Weaver 

 as editor, became notably successful. Mr. 

 Weaver accomplished the difficult task of ma- 

 king a magazine that was useful and interest- 

 ing to the " practical " man and at the same 

 time of high technical standing. His gifts as 

 a technical journalist were indeed of a high 

 order. In 1906 the American Electrician was 



absorbed by. the Electrical World, and Mr. 

 Weaver retaining his connection with that 

 paper until May, 1912, when he retired, re- 

 moving to Charlottesville, Va. 



Of a modest, retiring nature, Mr. Weaver 

 did a great deal for electrical advancement, 

 although often he remained in the background, 

 cooperating with others whose names appeared 

 in connection with the particular task in hand. 

 He became an associate of the American Insti- 

 tute of Electrical Engineers in 1887 and be- 

 came successively a member and a fellow of 

 the society. For six years Mr. Weaver served 

 as manager of the institute, and it is probable 

 that he could have been elected president had 

 he not refused to entertain the honor. On 

 May 16, 1919, as the result of the work of a 

 group of friends and admirers, a bronze tablet 

 was unveiled at the headquarters of the Ameri- 

 can Institute of Electrical Engineers in recog- 

 nition of Mr. Weaver's services. It bears a 

 bas-relief portrait and this inscription: 



This tablet is dedicated to William Dixon 

 Weaver, engineer, journalist, scholar, to record his 

 influence in the development and promotion of the 

 art and science of electrical engineering. 



In 1900 Mr. Weaver was appointed by the 

 United States government as an official dele- 

 gate to the International Electrical Congress 

 at Paris, but, upon his suggestion, the ap- 

 pointment was transferred to Dr. A. E. Ken- 

 nelly, of Harvard University. He had much 

 to do with the St. Louis (1904) International 

 Electrical Congress, of which he was treasurer 

 and business manager. With Dr. Kennelly, 

 who was general secretary, he supervised the 

 publication of the Transactions of that con- 

 gress in three large volumes, published in 

 1905. 



An excellent judge of engineering literature, 

 Mr. Weaver was for several years chairman of 

 the Library Committee of the American In- 

 stitute of Electrical Engineers. In 1901 Dr. 

 S. S. Wheeler purchased the Latimer fJlark 

 collection of electrical books and pamphlets 

 and presented it to the institute. Thereafter, 

 as a labor of love, Mr. Weaver edited the 

 Catalogue of the Wheeler Gift of Books, 



