Hudson Maxim (February 3, 1853 – May 6, 1927), was an American

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

and

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 invented a variety of

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ex ...

s, including

smokeless gunpowder Finnish smokeless powder Smokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to black powder. Because of their similar use, both the original black powder formula ...

, Thomas Edison referred to him as "the most versatile man in America". He was the brother of

Hiram Maxim Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (5 February 1840 – 24 November 1916) was an American-born British inventor best known as the creator of the first automatic machine gun, the Maxim gun. Maxim held patents on numerous mechanical devices such as hai ...

, inventor of the

Maxim gun The Maxim gun is a Recoil operation, recoil-operated machine gun invented in 1884 by Hiram Maxim, Hiram Stevens Maxim. It was the first automatic firearm, fully automatic machine gun in the world. The Maxim gun has been called "the weapon most ...

and uncle of

Hiram Percy Maxim Hiram Percy Maxim (September 2, 1869 – February 17, 1936) was an American radio pioneer and inventor, and co-founder (with Clarence D. Tuska) of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). Hiram Percy Maxim is credited with inventing and sell ...

, inventor of the Maxim Silencer.

Career

Maxim started his career in 1881 as the publisher of ''Real Pen Work - Self Instructor in Penmanship'', a book addressing the arts of calligraphy and

penmanship Penmanship is the technique of writing with the hand using a writing instrument. Today, this is most commonly done with a pen, or pencil, but throughout history has included many different writing implement, implements. The various generic a ...

, and the sale of special inks,

pen PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

s, and other supplies related to penmanship. Later he joined his brother

Hiram Stevens Maxim Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (5 February 1840 – 24 November 1916) was an American-born British inventor best known as the creator of the first automatic machine gun, the Maxim gun. Maxim held patents on numerous mechanical devices such as hai ...

's workshop in the United Kingdom, where they both worked on the improvement of

. After some disputes, Hudson Maxim returned to the United States and developed a number of stable high explosives, the rights of which were sold to the

DuPont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...

company. Maxim wrote a book, ''Defenseless America'', first issued in 1912, in which he pointed out the inferiority of the American defense system and the vulnerability of the country against attacks of foreign aggressors. At that time, the United States army according to Maxim, had a total strength of 81,000 men of which 29,000 were assigned to man coastal artillery batteries at major ports. This explains the need for the United States to use National Guard troops in its campaign against Mexico in 1916. The book was reissued in 1916 after his good friend, Elbert Hubbard, died on the

RMS Lusitania RMS ''Lusitania'' was a United Kingdom, British ocean liner launched by the Cunard Line in 1906. The Royal Mail Ship, the world's largest passenger ship until the completion of her sister three months later, in 1907 regained for Britain the ...

when it was torpedoed by a German submarine. This event fueled his belief that the USA should improve its defenses and join the war against Germany on the side of the Entente. Maxim also wrote the book ''The Science of Poetry and the Philosophy of Language'' about the nature and writing of

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

. In this work, he contended that words, like chemical particles, had natural laws that governed the manner in which they could be combined into verse, and that poetry perceived as excellent was in fact one that conformed to those laws. He also argued that certain famous poets (

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...

) had discovered those laws and put them to use in their poetry. During his experimental career, he lost his left hand in a mercury fulminate explosion in 1894.

Personal life

During the last 25 years of his life, Maxim spent most of his time at his home on the shores of

Lake Hopatcong Lake Hopatcong is the largest freshwater body in New Jersey, United States, about in area. Located from the Delaware River and from Manhattan, New York City, the lake forms part of the border between Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex and Morris ...

, New Jersey. He was a great promoter and supporter of the development of Lake Hopatcong and the Borough of Hopatcong and is honored by memorials in Hopatcong State Park and the Borough of Hopatcong's Maxim Glen Park. He spoke and wrote prolifically on many topics - from his opposition to maintaining the

Morris Canal The Morris Canal (1829–1924) was a toll road, common carrier Anthracite, anthracite coal canal across North Jersey, northern New Jersey that connected the two industrial canals in Easton, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River from its weste ...

, to his disdain of Prohibition, to his love of poetry and boxing. Maxim appeared as King Neptune during the first two years of the

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

Pageant in 1921 and 1922, arriving on a great float and presenting the trophy to the winner. He was an important member of the College of

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

s of the Academy of Nations.

Bibliography

*
Man's Machine-Made Millennium
', future-predicting article in ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'', Vol. 45, No. 6, November 1908, pag. 568, illustrated by William R. Leigh. *''The Science of Poetry and The Philosophy of Language''. By Hudson Maxim, Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1910. *''Lake Hopatcong the Beautiful''. By Hudson Maxim, The McConnell Printing Co., New York, New York, 1913. *
Dynamite Stories
'. By Hudson Maxim, Hearst's International Library Co. 1916. *''Defenseless America''. By Hudson Maxim, Hearst's International Library Co. 1916. *
The Science of Poetry and the Philosophy of Language
' By Hudson Maxim Funk and Wagnalls Company, New York *''Leading Opinions Both For and Against National Defense''. Compiled by Hudson Maxim, Hearst's International Library Co., 1916 *''Hudson Maxim, Reminiscences and Comments''. By Clifton Johnson, Doubleday, Page & Company, 1924.

References

Lake Hopatcong News

External links

Hudson Maxim School
in Hopatcong, NJ

Hudson Maxim
in ACADEMY OF NATION - CLIC Digital Collections
Hudson Maxim papers
(1851-1925) at

Hagley Museum and Library The Hagley Museum and Library is a nonprofit educational institution in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, near Wilmington. Covering more than along the banks of the Brandywine Creek, the museum and grounds include the first du Po ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maxim, Hudson 1853 births 1927 deaths American chemists 19th-century American inventors 20th-century American inventors People from Piscataquis County, Maine People from Hopatcong, New Jersey Naval Consulting Board Kents Hill School alumni Scientists from Maine Maxim family