Thomas Darlington Cope (December 28, 1880 – December 13, 1964) was an American

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

of science who published numerous articles concerning the Mason-Dixon survey in America, providing the most thorough record of the scientific accomplishments and historical importance of the survey. From 1939 to 1956, Cope published more than 20 articles on the scientific and boundary survey work of Charles Mason and

Jeremiah Dixon Jeremiah Dixon (27 July 1733 – 22 January 1779), British surveyor and astronomer, created the Mason–Dixon line with Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, which became significant during the American Civil War. Early life and education Dixon wa ...

in America, Africa, and Europe. His work appeared in ''Pennsylvania History'', ''Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science'', '' Scientific Monthly'', ''Nature'', ''Sky and Telescope'', ''

Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society In academia and librarianship, conference proceedings are a collection of academic papers published in the context of an academic conference or workshop. Conference proceedings typically contain the contributions made by researchers at the confer ...

'', and ''Notes and Records of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

of London''. Cope tends to focus on the scientific importance of the Mason-Dixon survey as an accomplishment of Enlightenment ingenuity applied to a geographically and politically difficult problem. Cope’s research is thought to serve as a significant source for the historical basis of Thomas Pynchon’s novel '' Mason & Dixon''. Cope served as Professor of Physics at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

from 1902 to 1952. He earned his A.B. (1903) and Ph.D. (1915) from the University of Pennsylvania and studied at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

in 1912-13 under

Max Planck Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (; ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German Theoretical physics, theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quantum, quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918. Planck made many substantial con ...

. His collected notes, held at the library of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in Philadelphia, also include notes on lectures of relativity (1921) by

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

.Catlett, J. Stephen, ed. ''A New Guide to the Collections in the Library of the American Philosophical Society''. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society, 1987. p 59.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cope, Thomas D, 1880 births 1964 deaths