Arthur Dehon Little (December 15, 1863 – August 1, 1935) was an American

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

and

chemical engineer A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...

. He founded the consulting company Arthur D. Little and was instrumental in developing

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT). He is credited with introducing the term unit operations to chemical engineering and promoting the concept of industrial research.

Life

Little was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, in 1863 and studied chemistry at MIT from 1881 to 1884.Keyes, Frederick George, (1937) Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 71, No. 10, pp. 513–519 "Arthur Dehon Little (1863–1935)" In 1901 he married Henrietta Rogers Anthony. He died August 1, 1935, in Northeast Harbor,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. He was the uncle of Royal Little (1896–1989), founder and chair of

Textron Textron Inc. is an American industrial Conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Providence, Rhode Island. Textron's subsidiaries include Arctic Cat, Bell Textron, Kautex, Textron Aviation (which itself includes the Beechcraft and Cessna b ...

, and considered to be the father of conglomerates.

Career

In 1886, he joined Richmond Paper Company in East Providence, Rhode Island, as a chemist, later becoming superintendent of a paper mill, and effectively recognised that the chemical engineering design was wrong: by correcting this, he came to his first patent. Further research and patents followed, mainly related to paper processing technology. Little left and formed his own company. He was joined by a colleague from Richmond Paper, Roger Griffin forming a new company in 1886, Little & Griffin, which was located in

where MIT was also located. Griffin and Little prepared a manuscript for ''The Chemistry of Paper-making'' which was for many years an authoritative text in the area. The book had not been entirely finished when Griffin was killed in a laboratory accident in 1893. After this tragedy, Little carried on in the business alone for a number of years. During these years he founded the Cellulose Products Company demonstrating that

cellulose acetate In biochemistry, cellulose acetate refers to any acetate ester of cellulose, usually cellulose diacetate. It was first prepared in 1865. A bioplastic, cellulose acetate is used as a film base in photography, as a component in some coatings, and ...

could be used in producing nonflammable wire insulation and artificial silk. The company didn't do well financially, and when it was dissolved,

Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

purchased the company's patents for the first nonflammable motion picture film and the Lustron Company bought the artificial silk patents becoming the only American manufacturer of acetate silk. He collaborated with MIT and William Hultz Walker of the MIT Chemistry department, forming a partnership, Little & Walker, which lasted from 1900 to 1905, while both MIT and Little's company were still located in Boston. The partnership dissolved in 1905 when Walker dedicated his full-time to being in charge of the new Research Laboratory of Applied Chemistry at MIT. Little continued on his own and formally incorporated the company, Arthur D. Little (ADL), in 1909. He conducted analytical studies, the precursor of the consulting studies for which the firm would later become famous. As chairman of the visiting committee of the department of chemistry and chemical engineering at MIT, he was responsible for the introduction of the Chemical Engineering Practice School. He also taught papermaking at MIT from 1893 to 1916.

Honors

Little was president of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

for 1912–1914, and president of the

American Institute of Chemical Engineers The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a professional organization for chemical engineers. AIChE was established in 1908 to distinguish chemical engineers as professionals independent of chemists and mechanical engineers. Curr ...

for 1919, and president of the

Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-in ...

1928–29. In 1931, he was awarded the Perkin Medal.

Selected works

* Little, A.D.; Griffin, R.B.
"The Chemistry of Paper-Making, together with the principles of general chemistry; a handbook for the student and manufacturer"
New York : Howard Lockwood & Co., 1894. * Little, A.D.
"The Paper-Makers's Trouble Book"
1910. * Little, A.D., "Industrial Research in America", ''Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry'', v.5, 1913, p. 793 * Little, A.D.
"Industrial Research in America"
''

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

'' 7, November 1913: 643–656. (presidential address at the forty eighth meeting of the American Chemical Society, Rochester, New York) * Little, A.D., "The Handwriting on the Wall: A Chemist's Interpretation (Essays)". Little, Brown, 1928.van Klooster, H.S. (Henry Sjoerd)
"Book review: The Handwriting on the Wall by Arthur D. Little"
''The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'', Vol. 144, No. 1, p.157 (1929)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Arthur Dehon 1863 births 1935 deaths American chemists American chemical engineers American inventors Scientists from Boston Engineers from Boston People from Northeast Harbor, Maine Engineers from Maine Chemists from Maine Chemists from Massachusetts Presidents of the American Chemical Society