Mansfield Merriman (March 27, 1848 June 7, 1925) was an American

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

, born in Southington,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. He graduated from Yale's Sheffield Scientific School in 1871, was an assistant in the United States Corps of Engineers in 187273, and was an instructor in civil engineering at Sheffield from 1875 to 1878. He was

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of civil engineering at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

from 1878 to 1907 and, thereafter, a consulting civil and hydraulic engineer. From 1880 to 1885, Merriman was also an assistant at the

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey ( USC&GS; known as the Survey of the Coast from 1807 to 1836, and as the United States Coast Survey from 1836 until 1878) was the first scientific agency of the Federal government of the United State ...

. His research in

hydraulics Hydraulics () is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counterpart of pneumatics, which concer ...

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

s, strength of materials, and pure

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

are important. He was elected as a member to 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 1881. Merriman's chief publications, many of them widely used as textbooks, are: *
Method of Least Squares
' (1884; eighth edition, 1901) *
Mechanics of Materials
' (1885; tenth edition, 1912) * with Jacoby, ''A Text-Book on Roofs and Bridges'' (four volumes, 1888–98; fifth edition, 1912) *
Treatise on Hydraulics
' (1889; ninth edition, 1914) *
Handbook for Surveyors
' (1895; third edition, 1903) * ''Strength of Materials'' (1897; sixth edition, 1913) *
Precise Sanitary Engineering
' (1898; third edition, 1906) *
The solution of equations
' (1906) *
Elements of Hydraulics
' (1912) * "American Civil Engineers' Handbook", Mansfield Merriman, Editor-In-Chief (fourth edition, 1920) * ''Recreations in Mathematics'' (1917), under the pseudonym of H. E. Licks In addition, he was editor-in-chief of the ''American Civil Engineers' Pocket Book'' (1911). He published ''Recreations in Mathematics'' in 1917 under the pseudonym H. E. Licks, which included a story, "The Diaphote Hoax", a republication of a detailed newspaper report from February 10, 1880 which purported to describe the scientific demonstration of a device that transmitted images by electricity. The report is peppered throughout with scientific jokes including mentions of "Dr. H. E. Licks" ('helix'), "Prof. M. E. Kannick" ('mechanic'), "Col. A. D. A. Biatic" ('adiabatic'), and "Prof. L. M. Niscate" ('lemniscate').

References

External links

at Lehigh University.

about Merriman and the Diaphote Hoax, with much biographical information. * Th

of the Diaphote Hoax. *
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merriman, Mansfield Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science alumni American civil engineers American non-fiction writers People from Southington, Connecticut Lehigh University faculty 1848 births 1925 deaths United States Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel