Charles Benjamin Dudley (July 14, 1842 – December 21, 1909) 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 ...

who was an early proponent of standardisation in industry. Dudley was born in Oxford, New York, and owing to family circumstances, had to wait until 1867 before he could enter

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, supporting himself as a night editor on the '' New Haven Palladium''

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. After graduating with a B.A. degree in 1871, he eventually earned a Ph.D. from the Sheffield Scientific School in 1874. non.(2001) In 1875, he became a chemist for the Pennsylvania Railroad and started to investigate the chemical composition and metallurgical structure of

rail tracks Railway track ( and UIC terminology) or railroad track (), also known as permanent way () or "P way" ( and Indian English), is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers ( railroad ties in American ...

, breakage being a major hazard at that time. He discovered enormous variation in the properties and quality of steel and the 1878 publication of his results caused an uproar in the steel industry, who saw it as their sole domain to determine the quality of their products for sale. Dudley championed the development of the company and industry standards and demanded rigorous testing of materials to verify conformity. He developed a complete range of standards for the Pennsylvania Railroad, not only for steel, but also for

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s, and even

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s. In 1879, Dudley was elected as a member to the

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. In 1882, he was made a fellow of the

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. In 1896 and 1897, Dudley served as president of the

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. In 1898, he was one of the founders of the

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(ASTM), becoming president from 1902 to 1908. non.(1926) '' New International Encyclopedia'' He died in

Altoona, Pennsylvania Altoona ( ) is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan area, w ...

Honours

*Member of

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; *President of the ASTM, (1902-1909).

References

Bibliography

* non.(2001) "Dudley, Charles Benjamin", ''

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'', Deluxe Edition CD-ROM *Dudley, C. B. (1878) "The chemical composition and physical properties of steel rails", ''Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, Charles Benjamin 1842 births 1909 deaths People from Oxford, New York Yale College alumni Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science alumni Chemists from New York (state) 19th-century American chemists Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Presidents of the American Chemical Society 20th-century American chemists Members of the American Philosophical Society