HISTORY OF THE Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1824—1894
BY PALMER C. RICKETTS
Copyright, 1895, BY PALMER C. RICKETTS.
TO THE MEMORY
OF
Stephen Van Rensselaer
AND
Amos Eaton.
PREFACE.
Having recently been compelled to write several brief historical sketches of the Institute the writer became interested in its early history.
In preparing these narratives he found the official publications giving the characteristics of the School at the time of its foundation to have become very rare.
In fact, very few of them antedating 1840 are known to be in existence.
For these reasons he determined to expand the sketches and publish a short history of the Institution which should consist largely of a description of the development of its curriculum.
The student of the history of education will recognize the importance of an account of the early methods of instruction pursued in an institution which was, at once, the first School of Science and the first School of Civil Engineering to be established in any English-speaking country, and if the conceded originality of these methods be also considered it is believed that no excuse for the appearance of this somewhat condensed narrative will be thought necessary.
Interesting information has been obtained from the recently discovered original minutes of the board of trustees for the twenty-five years immediately following the founding of the School, which were believed to have been destroyed in the fire of 1862, and the thanks of the writer are due the President and Secretary of the present board for placing at his disposal the minutes covering the period from 1862 until the present time.
The author is also under obligation to Professor Henry B. Nason for the loan of a number of the early circulars, to A. J. Weise, Esq., for the picture of the Van Der Heyden mansion; to James Irving, Esq., for that of the building on the Infant School Lot, and to Professor William G. Raymond for the two photographs from which the pictures showing railroad and hydrographic work of students were taken.
The Bibliography at the end of the last chapter shows other sources whence information has been obtained.
P. C. R.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute,
Troy, N. Y., January 1, 1895.
HISTORY OF RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
Re: HISTORY OF RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
HISTORY RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE.
CHAPTER I.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE SCHOOL.
At the beginning of this century the study of the physical sciences in the United States was in its infancy.
All branches were included under the terms, Natural Philosophy and Natural History.
Their meaning was not well defined, although under the latter was generally included all of what was then known of astronomy, physics, chemistry and geology.
Scarcely any provision was made for scientific instruction in any of the colleges of the country.
Astronomy, physics, chemistry and botany had indeed been taught during the preceding century in a few institutions of learning, a department of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy having been created at Harvard College as early as 1727, a professorship of Botany in Columbia College in 1792, and a chair of Chemistry at Princeton in 1795.
Instruction had also been given in physics and chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania and Dartmouth College, and in physics at Union College.
This short list, however, includes all the colleges which had given the physical sciences more than an insignificant place in their curriculums.
Even in these the instruction was given by lectures, supplemented at times by experiments which the teachers performed; and anything approaching laboratory work by the student was almost wholly unknown.
When Prof. Silliman was elected, in 1801, to the chair of Chemistry, Geology and Mineralogy at Yale College, he visited Dr. Maclean, who was professor of Chemistry at Princeton, and then for the first time saw experiments in chemistry performed. *
* Education in the United States, Richard G. Boone.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
CHAPTER I.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE SCHOOL.
At the beginning of this century the study of the physical sciences in the United States was in its infancy.
All branches were included under the terms, Natural Philosophy and Natural History.
Their meaning was not well defined, although under the latter was generally included all of what was then known of astronomy, physics, chemistry and geology.
Scarcely any provision was made for scientific instruction in any of the colleges of the country.
Astronomy, physics, chemistry and botany had indeed been taught during the preceding century in a few institutions of learning, a department of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy having been created at Harvard College as early as 1727, a professorship of Botany in Columbia College in 1792, and a chair of Chemistry at Princeton in 1795.
Instruction had also been given in physics and chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania and Dartmouth College, and in physics at Union College.
This short list, however, includes all the colleges which had given the physical sciences more than an insignificant place in their curriculums.
Even in these the instruction was given by lectures, supplemented at times by experiments which the teachers performed; and anything approaching laboratory work by the student was almost wholly unknown.
When Prof. Silliman was elected, in 1801, to the chair of Chemistry, Geology and Mineralogy at Yale College, he visited Dr. Maclean, who was professor of Chemistry at Princeton, and then for the first time saw experiments in chemistry performed. *
* Education in the United States, Richard G. Boone.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
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HISTORY RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, continued ...
CHAPTER I.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE SCHOOL, continued ...
Considering the state of scientific knowledge at this period and the general lack of opportunity for the study of science even in Europe, it is not remarkable that this should have been the case in a new country the total population of which in the year 1800 scarcely exceeded that of the city of London to-day.
With the general awakening to the value of the natural sciences, during the first quarter of the century, came provision for their study in other of the academic schools of the country.
Within that time courses in various branches were inaugurated at Yale, Williams, Bowdoin, Dickinson, William and Mary, and Hobart Colleges, and in the universities of Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Facilities for practical work by the students were still wanting in nearly all of them, though the apparatus used for illustration had grown in quantity and variety.
A chemical laboratory, already mentioned, was in existence at Princeton, one was fitted up at Williams College in 1812, and one at Harvard shortly after this date.
A few others were also to be found.
They were all, of course, crude and unpretending compared with those thickly scattered over the country to-day.
Nor were the steps taken in the study of science always forward.
Thus there was organized in the University of Pennsylvania, in 1816, a department of Natural Science with five professors; and annual courses of lectures, to be publicly delivered, were required by the regulations.
The courses of instruction embraced natural philosophy, botany, natural history, mineralogy, chemistry applied to agriculture and the arts, and comparative anatomy.
The support given by the public, however, was not sufficient to compensate for the efforts put forth, the professors were badly paid and the department soon fell into neglect.
It was abolished shortly after the establishment of the Franklin Institute, in 1824, which rendered, it was said at the time, such a department in the university 'unnecessary.' *
The time had now come, not only for the addition of scientific courses to the curriculums of the institutions of learning, but for a general diffusion of scientific knowledge among those who could not have the advantage of an education higher than that afforded by the common schools.
* Historical Sketch of the University of Pennsylvania, John L. Stewart, Circular No. 2, 1892, of the U. S. Bureau of Education.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
CHAPTER I.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE SCHOOL, continued ...
Considering the state of scientific knowledge at this period and the general lack of opportunity for the study of science even in Europe, it is not remarkable that this should have been the case in a new country the total population of which in the year 1800 scarcely exceeded that of the city of London to-day.
With the general awakening to the value of the natural sciences, during the first quarter of the century, came provision for their study in other of the academic schools of the country.
Within that time courses in various branches were inaugurated at Yale, Williams, Bowdoin, Dickinson, William and Mary, and Hobart Colleges, and in the universities of Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Facilities for practical work by the students were still wanting in nearly all of them, though the apparatus used for illustration had grown in quantity and variety.
A chemical laboratory, already mentioned, was in existence at Princeton, one was fitted up at Williams College in 1812, and one at Harvard shortly after this date.
A few others were also to be found.
They were all, of course, crude and unpretending compared with those thickly scattered over the country to-day.
Nor were the steps taken in the study of science always forward.
Thus there was organized in the University of Pennsylvania, in 1816, a department of Natural Science with five professors; and annual courses of lectures, to be publicly delivered, were required by the regulations.
The courses of instruction embraced natural philosophy, botany, natural history, mineralogy, chemistry applied to agriculture and the arts, and comparative anatomy.
The support given by the public, however, was not sufficient to compensate for the efforts put forth, the professors were badly paid and the department soon fell into neglect.
It was abolished shortly after the establishment of the Franklin Institute, in 1824, which rendered, it was said at the time, such a department in the university 'unnecessary.' *
The time had now come, not only for the addition of scientific courses to the curriculums of the institutions of learning, but for a general diffusion of scientific knowledge among those who could not have the advantage of an education higher than that afforded by the common schools.
* Historical Sketch of the University of Pennsylvania, John L. Stewart, Circular No. 2, 1892, of the U. S. Bureau of Education.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
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HISTORY RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, continued ...
CHAPTER I.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE SCHOOL, continued ...
Attempts in this direction had already been made in Europe.
When Count Rumford returned from Munich to London in 1795 he endeavored to interest the people of England, as he had those of Germany, in his plans for public and domestic economy, more particularly in the economical consumption of coal, improvements in the construction of fireplaces and the heating of buildings by steam.
In 1799 he issued in London a prospectus entitled "Proposals for forming by subscription, in the metropolis of the British empire, a public institution for diffusing the knowledge and facilitating the general introduction of useful mechanical inventions and improvements, and for teaching, by courses of philosophical lectures and experiments, the application of science to the common purposes of life."
The result was the establishment, in the year 1800, of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, which had for its object the purposes outlined in his prospectus.
Other men had not been blind to the benefits which would accrue to civilization if the people generally could be instructed in the application of science to the common purposes of life.
Franklin's opinions upon this subject are well known.
John Adams believed that the state should make provision for this purpose, as is shown by the following extract from the constitution of Massachusetts, of 1780, of which he was the principal author: "to encourage private societies and public institutions, rewards and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and a natural history of the country."
Jefferson also proposed a school of technical philosophy, to be maintained wholly at public expense, where certain of the higher branches should be taught in abridged form to meet practical wants.
"To such a school", he wrote, "will come the mariner, carpenter, shipwright, pump-maker, clockmaker, machinist, optician, metallurgist, founder, cutler, druggist, brewer, vintner, distiller, dyer, painter, bleacher, soap-maker, tanner, powder-maker, salt- maker, glass-maker, to learn, as much as shall be necessary to pursue their art understandingly, of the sciences of geometry, mechanics, statics, hydrostatics, hydraulics, hydrodynamics, navigation, astronomy, geography, optics, pneumatics, acoustics, physics, chemistry, natural history, botany, mineralogy and pharmacy." *
The influence of such opinions gave impetus to the diffusion of scientific knowledge among the people on this continent as well as abroad.
Partly for this purpose the Franklin Institute at Philadelphia was founded at the end of the first quarter of the century, and the example of Count Rumford is believed to have been at least one of the causes of the foundation of another institution which has done more for science and engineering in this country than any other school.
Although, as before shown, opportunities had been offered in various colleges and universities for the study of natural science, and the above-mentioned institutions for popular lectures on its various branches had been founded here and in England, there had not been in existence in either country a school created avowedly for purposes of scientific instruction; and there was left to Stephen Van Rensselaer of Albany, N. Y., the honor of establishing, at his own expense, an institution with this as its main object.
It was called the Rensselaer school.
* Early History of the University of Virginia, as contained in the letters of Thomas Jefferson and Joseph C. Cabell. Edited by J. W. Randolph, Richmond, 1856.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
CHAPTER I.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE SCHOOL, continued ...
Attempts in this direction had already been made in Europe.
When Count Rumford returned from Munich to London in 1795 he endeavored to interest the people of England, as he had those of Germany, in his plans for public and domestic economy, more particularly in the economical consumption of coal, improvements in the construction of fireplaces and the heating of buildings by steam.
In 1799 he issued in London a prospectus entitled "Proposals for forming by subscription, in the metropolis of the British empire, a public institution for diffusing the knowledge and facilitating the general introduction of useful mechanical inventions and improvements, and for teaching, by courses of philosophical lectures and experiments, the application of science to the common purposes of life."
The result was the establishment, in the year 1800, of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, which had for its object the purposes outlined in his prospectus.
Other men had not been blind to the benefits which would accrue to civilization if the people generally could be instructed in the application of science to the common purposes of life.
Franklin's opinions upon this subject are well known.
John Adams believed that the state should make provision for this purpose, as is shown by the following extract from the constitution of Massachusetts, of 1780, of which he was the principal author: "to encourage private societies and public institutions, rewards and immunities for the promotion of agriculture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and a natural history of the country."
Jefferson also proposed a school of technical philosophy, to be maintained wholly at public expense, where certain of the higher branches should be taught in abridged form to meet practical wants.
"To such a school", he wrote, "will come the mariner, carpenter, shipwright, pump-maker, clockmaker, machinist, optician, metallurgist, founder, cutler, druggist, brewer, vintner, distiller, dyer, painter, bleacher, soap-maker, tanner, powder-maker, salt- maker, glass-maker, to learn, as much as shall be necessary to pursue their art understandingly, of the sciences of geometry, mechanics, statics, hydrostatics, hydraulics, hydrodynamics, navigation, astronomy, geography, optics, pneumatics, acoustics, physics, chemistry, natural history, botany, mineralogy and pharmacy." *
The influence of such opinions gave impetus to the diffusion of scientific knowledge among the people on this continent as well as abroad.
Partly for this purpose the Franklin Institute at Philadelphia was founded at the end of the first quarter of the century, and the example of Count Rumford is believed to have been at least one of the causes of the foundation of another institution which has done more for science and engineering in this country than any other school.
Although, as before shown, opportunities had been offered in various colleges and universities for the study of natural science, and the above-mentioned institutions for popular lectures on its various branches had been founded here and in England, there had not been in existence in either country a school created avowedly for purposes of scientific instruction; and there was left to Stephen Van Rensselaer of Albany, N. Y., the honor of establishing, at his own expense, an institution with this as its main object.
It was called the Rensselaer school.
* Early History of the University of Virginia, as contained in the letters of Thomas Jefferson and Joseph C. Cabell. Edited by J. W. Randolph, Richmond, 1856.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
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HISTORY RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, continued ...
CHAPTER I.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE SCHOOL, concluded ...
That the founder had definite ideas not only in relation to the purposes of the institution but also in regard to its general management and the methods of instruction to be pursued, is attested by a letter dated November 5, 1824, to the Rev. Samuel Blatchford of Lansingburgh.
It forms the first official notice of the foundation, and reads as follows: "Dear Sir: I have established a school at the north end of Troy, in Rensselaer county, in the building usually called the Old Bank Place, for the purpose of instructing persons, who may choose to apply themselves, in the application of science to the common purposes of life."
"My principal object is to qualify teachers for instructing the sons and daughters of farmers and mechanics, by lectures or otherwise, in the application of experimental chemistry, philosophy and natural history, to agriculture, domestic economy, the arts and manufactures."
"From the trials which have been made by persons in my employment at Utica, Whitesborough, Rome, Auburn and Geneva during the last summer, I am inclined to believe that competent instructors may be produced in the school at Troy, who will be highly useful to the community in the diffusion of a very useful kind of knowledge, with its application to the business of living."
"Apparatus for the necessary experiments has been so much simplified, and specimens in natural history have become subjects of such easy attainment, that but a small sum is now required as an outfit for an instructor in the proposed branch of science; consequently every school district may have the benefit of such a course of instruction, about once in two or three years, as soon as we can furnish a suffcient number of teachers."
"I prefer this plan to the endowment of a single public institution, for the resort of those only whose parents are able and willing to send their children from home or to enter them for several years upon the Fellenberg plan."
"It seems to comport better with the habits of our citizens and the genius of our government to place the advantages of useful improvement equally within the reach of all."
"Whether my expectations will ever be realized or not, I am willing to hazard the necessary expense of making the trial."
"Having procured a suitable building advantageously located among farmers and mechanics, and having furnished funds which are deemed sufficient by my agent in this undertaking for procuring the necessary apparatus, etc., it now remains to establish a system of organization adapted to the object."
"You will excuse me if I attach too much consequence to the undertaking."
"But it appears to me that a board of trustees to decide upon the manner of granting certificates of qualifications, to regulate the government of students, etc., is essential."
"I therefore take the liberty to appoint you a member and president of a board of trustees for this purpose."
"I appoint the following gentlemen trustees of the same board."
"The Rev. Dr. Blatchford and Elias Parmalee of Lansingburgh; Guert Van Schoonhoven and John Cramer, Esqs., of Waterford; Simmeon De Witt and T. Romeyn Beck of Albany; John D. Dickinson and Jedediah Tracy of Troy."
"And I appoint O. L. Holley, Esq., of Troy, and T. R. Beck of Albany, first and second vice-presidents of said board."
"As a few regulations are immediately necessary in order to present the school to the public, it seems necessary that I should make the following orders, subject to be altered by the trustees after the end of the first term."
"Order 1. The board of trustees is to meet at times and places to be notified by the president, or by one of the vice-presidents, in the absence or disability of the president."
"One half of the members of the board are to form a quorum for doing business."
"A majority of the members present may fill any vacancy which happens in the board; so that there may be two members resident in Troy, two in Lansingburg, two in Waterford, and two in Albany."
"The powers and duties of the trustees to be such as those exercised by all similar boards, the object of the school being always kept in view."
"Order 2. I appoint Dr. Moses Hale of Troy, secretary, and Mr. H. N. Lockwood, treasurer."
"Order 3. I appoint Amos Eaton of Troy, professor of chemistry and experimental philosophy, and lecturer on geology, land surveying, and the laws regulating town officers and jurors."
"This office to be denominated the senior professorship."
"Order 4. I appoint Lewis C. Beck of Albany, professor of mineralogy, botany and zoology, and lecturer on the social duties peculiar to farmers and mechanics."
"This office to be denominated the junior professorship."
"Order 5. The first term is to commence on the first Monday in January next, and to continue fifteen weeks."
"For admission to the course, including the use of the library and reading-room, each student must pay twenty-five dollars to the treasurer, or give him satisfactory assurances that it will be paid in one year."
"In addition to this, each section of students must pay for the chemical substances they consume and the damage they do to apparatus."
"Order 6. All the pay thus received by the treasurer, as for parts of courses of instruction, is to be paid over to said professors as the reward of their services."
"Order 7. In giving the course in chemistry the students are to be divided into sections, not exceeding five in each section."
"These are not to be taught by seeing experiments and hearing lectures, according to the usual method."
"But they are to lecture and experiment by turns, under the immediate direction of a professor or a competent assistant."
"Thus by a term of labor, like apprentices to a trade, they are to become operative chemists."
"Order 8. At the close of the term each student is to give sufficient tests of his skill and science before examiners, to be appointed by myself, or by the trustees if I do not appoint."
"The examination is not to be conducted by question and answer; but the qualifications of students are to be estimated by the facility with which they perform experiments and give the rationale; and certificates or diplomas are to be awarded accordingly."
"Order 9. One librarian, or more, to be appointed by the professors, will be keeper of the reading-room."
"All who attend at the reading-room are to respect and obey the orders of the librarian in regard to the library and conduct while in the room."
"Order 10. Any student who shall be guilty of disorderly or ungentlemanly conduct is to be tried and punished by the president or vice-president and two trustees."
"The punishment may extend to expulsion and forfeiture of the school privileges, without a release from the payment of fees."
"But a student may appeal from such decision to the board of trustees."
"This instrument, or a copy of it, is to be read to each student before he becomes a member of the school; and he is to be made to understand that his matriculation is to be considered as an assent to these regulations."
"Stephen Van Rensselaer."
"Albany, Nov. 5, 1824."
This document shows the aim of the founder of the Rensselaer School to have been substantially that of the originator of the Royal Institution, though the methods pursued in attaining the object sought were different.
He was doubtless familiar with the work and writings of Rumford, and it will be noticed that he has used in his description of the purpose of the school the same expression found in the London prospectus of 1799 — "the application of science to the common purposes of life." *
Attention will be given later to the peculiar methods of instruction outlined in this letter, and before proceeding with the history of the school a short account will be given of the lives of its founder and of another to whose talent as a teacher and scientific investigator the success of the school was largely due.
* See the address of President James Forsyth in Proceedings of the Semi-Centennial Celebration of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1874.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
CHAPTER I.
THE FOUNDATION OF THE SCHOOL, concluded ...
That the founder had definite ideas not only in relation to the purposes of the institution but also in regard to its general management and the methods of instruction to be pursued, is attested by a letter dated November 5, 1824, to the Rev. Samuel Blatchford of Lansingburgh.
It forms the first official notice of the foundation, and reads as follows: "Dear Sir: I have established a school at the north end of Troy, in Rensselaer county, in the building usually called the Old Bank Place, for the purpose of instructing persons, who may choose to apply themselves, in the application of science to the common purposes of life."
"My principal object is to qualify teachers for instructing the sons and daughters of farmers and mechanics, by lectures or otherwise, in the application of experimental chemistry, philosophy and natural history, to agriculture, domestic economy, the arts and manufactures."
"From the trials which have been made by persons in my employment at Utica, Whitesborough, Rome, Auburn and Geneva during the last summer, I am inclined to believe that competent instructors may be produced in the school at Troy, who will be highly useful to the community in the diffusion of a very useful kind of knowledge, with its application to the business of living."
"Apparatus for the necessary experiments has been so much simplified, and specimens in natural history have become subjects of such easy attainment, that but a small sum is now required as an outfit for an instructor in the proposed branch of science; consequently every school district may have the benefit of such a course of instruction, about once in two or three years, as soon as we can furnish a suffcient number of teachers."
"I prefer this plan to the endowment of a single public institution, for the resort of those only whose parents are able and willing to send their children from home or to enter them for several years upon the Fellenberg plan."
"It seems to comport better with the habits of our citizens and the genius of our government to place the advantages of useful improvement equally within the reach of all."
"Whether my expectations will ever be realized or not, I am willing to hazard the necessary expense of making the trial."
"Having procured a suitable building advantageously located among farmers and mechanics, and having furnished funds which are deemed sufficient by my agent in this undertaking for procuring the necessary apparatus, etc., it now remains to establish a system of organization adapted to the object."
"You will excuse me if I attach too much consequence to the undertaking."
"But it appears to me that a board of trustees to decide upon the manner of granting certificates of qualifications, to regulate the government of students, etc., is essential."
"I therefore take the liberty to appoint you a member and president of a board of trustees for this purpose."
"I appoint the following gentlemen trustees of the same board."
"The Rev. Dr. Blatchford and Elias Parmalee of Lansingburgh; Guert Van Schoonhoven and John Cramer, Esqs., of Waterford; Simmeon De Witt and T. Romeyn Beck of Albany; John D. Dickinson and Jedediah Tracy of Troy."
"And I appoint O. L. Holley, Esq., of Troy, and T. R. Beck of Albany, first and second vice-presidents of said board."
"As a few regulations are immediately necessary in order to present the school to the public, it seems necessary that I should make the following orders, subject to be altered by the trustees after the end of the first term."
"Order 1. The board of trustees is to meet at times and places to be notified by the president, or by one of the vice-presidents, in the absence or disability of the president."
"One half of the members of the board are to form a quorum for doing business."
"A majority of the members present may fill any vacancy which happens in the board; so that there may be two members resident in Troy, two in Lansingburg, two in Waterford, and two in Albany."
"The powers and duties of the trustees to be such as those exercised by all similar boards, the object of the school being always kept in view."
"Order 2. I appoint Dr. Moses Hale of Troy, secretary, and Mr. H. N. Lockwood, treasurer."
"Order 3. I appoint Amos Eaton of Troy, professor of chemistry and experimental philosophy, and lecturer on geology, land surveying, and the laws regulating town officers and jurors."
"This office to be denominated the senior professorship."
"Order 4. I appoint Lewis C. Beck of Albany, professor of mineralogy, botany and zoology, and lecturer on the social duties peculiar to farmers and mechanics."
"This office to be denominated the junior professorship."
"Order 5. The first term is to commence on the first Monday in January next, and to continue fifteen weeks."
"For admission to the course, including the use of the library and reading-room, each student must pay twenty-five dollars to the treasurer, or give him satisfactory assurances that it will be paid in one year."
"In addition to this, each section of students must pay for the chemical substances they consume and the damage they do to apparatus."
"Order 6. All the pay thus received by the treasurer, as for parts of courses of instruction, is to be paid over to said professors as the reward of their services."
"Order 7. In giving the course in chemistry the students are to be divided into sections, not exceeding five in each section."
"These are not to be taught by seeing experiments and hearing lectures, according to the usual method."
"But they are to lecture and experiment by turns, under the immediate direction of a professor or a competent assistant."
"Thus by a term of labor, like apprentices to a trade, they are to become operative chemists."
"Order 8. At the close of the term each student is to give sufficient tests of his skill and science before examiners, to be appointed by myself, or by the trustees if I do not appoint."
"The examination is not to be conducted by question and answer; but the qualifications of students are to be estimated by the facility with which they perform experiments and give the rationale; and certificates or diplomas are to be awarded accordingly."
"Order 9. One librarian, or more, to be appointed by the professors, will be keeper of the reading-room."
"All who attend at the reading-room are to respect and obey the orders of the librarian in regard to the library and conduct while in the room."
"Order 10. Any student who shall be guilty of disorderly or ungentlemanly conduct is to be tried and punished by the president or vice-president and two trustees."
"The punishment may extend to expulsion and forfeiture of the school privileges, without a release from the payment of fees."
"But a student may appeal from such decision to the board of trustees."
"This instrument, or a copy of it, is to be read to each student before he becomes a member of the school; and he is to be made to understand that his matriculation is to be considered as an assent to these regulations."
"Stephen Van Rensselaer."
"Albany, Nov. 5, 1824."
This document shows the aim of the founder of the Rensselaer School to have been substantially that of the originator of the Royal Institution, though the methods pursued in attaining the object sought were different.
He was doubtless familiar with the work and writings of Rumford, and it will be noticed that he has used in his description of the purpose of the school the same expression found in the London prospectus of 1799 — "the application of science to the common purposes of life." *
Attention will be given later to the peculiar methods of instruction outlined in this letter, and before proceeding with the history of the school a short account will be given of the lives of its founder and of another to whose talent as a teacher and scientific investigator the success of the school was largely due.
* See the address of President James Forsyth in Proceedings of the Semi-Centennial Celebration of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1874.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
HISTORY RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, continued ...
CHAPTER II.
STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER AND AMOS EATON.
Stephen Van Rensselaer was the fifth in direct line of descent from Killian Van Rensselaer, a merchant of Holland, who obtained by purchase from the Indians, about the year 1637, a district about twenty-four miles in breadth by forty-eight in length, comprising the territory which has since become the counties of Albany, Columbia and Rensselaer, in the state of New York.
He named it the Colony and Manor of Rensselaerwyck, and was its first Patroon.
Stephen was born November 1, 1764, in the city of New York.
His father was Stephen Van Rensselaer, the seventh Proprietor or Patroon of Rensselaerwyck, and his mother was Catharine, the daughter of Philip Livingston.
Upon the death of his father in 1769, the care of the estate, which fell exclusively to him by the law of primogeniture, devolved upon his uncle, General Ten Broeck, who also acted as guardian during his minority.
He was at first sent to a school in Albany and afterwards to one in Elizabethtown, New Jersey.
At the beginning of the Revolution he was removed to Kingston, N. Y., and acquired the elements of a classical education at the Kingston Academy.
He was later sent to Princeton College, but, in consequence of its proximity to the seat of war, it was thought advisable to send him to Harvard College, where he was graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in 1782, in the nineteenth year of his age.
Returning to Albany he married, in 1783, a daughter of General Philip Schuyler, and upon reaching his majority settled down in the Manor House and took charge of his estates.
By offering leases for long terms at a very moderate rent he succeeded in bringing a large portion of his land into cultivation, but little of which had, until then, been converted into farms, and thus secured for himself a competent income.
He was made a major of infantry in 1786, and when, in 1801, Governor Jay formed the cavalry of the state into a separate corps he was placed in command with a commission of major-general of cavalry.
He was elected, as a federalist, to the Assembly of the State in 1789, and the next year became a state senator, which position he held until 1795, when he was chosen lieutenant-governor at the same time that John Jay was elected governor.
He was lieutenant-governor for six years, and was nominated for governor in 1801, but was defeated by De Witt Clinton.
In the same year he was a member of the constitutional convention, and presided over it during the greater part of its deliberations.
He was again elected to the Assembly in 1807, and when, during this term, a project was agitated to appoint a commission for exploring a route for a western canal, he was strongly in favor of it.
Having been appointed, in 1810, to serve on this commission, he, in company with the other members, made an exploration of the route for a canal from the Hudson River to Lake Erie.
When war with great Britain was declared in 1812, he was given the command of the state militia, and on the 13th of October of that year assaulted and took the Heights of Queenstown, Canada, from which, however, he was compelled to withdraw by the refusal of the state militia, under the plea of constitutional scruples, to leave the state.
His services in the field ended with this campaign, and in 1813 he was again nominated for governor, but was defeated by a small majority.
In the meantime the canal commission had continued its existence, and in 1816, when the Legislature directed the construction of the Erie Canal and committed the execution of the work to a board of canal commissioners, he was made a member of that body, and was its president from April, 1824, until his death.
He was again elected a member of Assembly in 186, in 1819 became a Regent of the State University, of which he was chancellor from 1835 until his death, and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1821.
From his position as Patroon and because of the great extent of territory he possessed, as well as on account of his great intelligence and the benevolence of his nature, Stephen Van Rensselaer had always been strongly in favor of the encouragement of farmers and the improvement of agriculture.
When, therefore, in 1819, an act for the encouragement of agriculture was passed by the Legislature of the State, under the provisions of which delegates from county societies formed a Central Board of Agriculture, he was elected its president at the first meeting in Albany, in January, 1820.
Although the life of the board was brief it was long enough to permit a geological and agricultural survey of the counties of Albany and Rensselaer to be made under its direction, though at the expense of its president.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
CHAPTER II.
STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER AND AMOS EATON.
Stephen Van Rensselaer was the fifth in direct line of descent from Killian Van Rensselaer, a merchant of Holland, who obtained by purchase from the Indians, about the year 1637, a district about twenty-four miles in breadth by forty-eight in length, comprising the territory which has since become the counties of Albany, Columbia and Rensselaer, in the state of New York.
He named it the Colony and Manor of Rensselaerwyck, and was its first Patroon.
Stephen was born November 1, 1764, in the city of New York.
His father was Stephen Van Rensselaer, the seventh Proprietor or Patroon of Rensselaerwyck, and his mother was Catharine, the daughter of Philip Livingston.
Upon the death of his father in 1769, the care of the estate, which fell exclusively to him by the law of primogeniture, devolved upon his uncle, General Ten Broeck, who also acted as guardian during his minority.
He was at first sent to a school in Albany and afterwards to one in Elizabethtown, New Jersey.
At the beginning of the Revolution he was removed to Kingston, N. Y., and acquired the elements of a classical education at the Kingston Academy.
He was later sent to Princeton College, but, in consequence of its proximity to the seat of war, it was thought advisable to send him to Harvard College, where he was graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in 1782, in the nineteenth year of his age.
Returning to Albany he married, in 1783, a daughter of General Philip Schuyler, and upon reaching his majority settled down in the Manor House and took charge of his estates.
By offering leases for long terms at a very moderate rent he succeeded in bringing a large portion of his land into cultivation, but little of which had, until then, been converted into farms, and thus secured for himself a competent income.
He was made a major of infantry in 1786, and when, in 1801, Governor Jay formed the cavalry of the state into a separate corps he was placed in command with a commission of major-general of cavalry.
He was elected, as a federalist, to the Assembly of the State in 1789, and the next year became a state senator, which position he held until 1795, when he was chosen lieutenant-governor at the same time that John Jay was elected governor.
He was lieutenant-governor for six years, and was nominated for governor in 1801, but was defeated by De Witt Clinton.
In the same year he was a member of the constitutional convention, and presided over it during the greater part of its deliberations.
He was again elected to the Assembly in 1807, and when, during this term, a project was agitated to appoint a commission for exploring a route for a western canal, he was strongly in favor of it.
Having been appointed, in 1810, to serve on this commission, he, in company with the other members, made an exploration of the route for a canal from the Hudson River to Lake Erie.
When war with great Britain was declared in 1812, he was given the command of the state militia, and on the 13th of October of that year assaulted and took the Heights of Queenstown, Canada, from which, however, he was compelled to withdraw by the refusal of the state militia, under the plea of constitutional scruples, to leave the state.
His services in the field ended with this campaign, and in 1813 he was again nominated for governor, but was defeated by a small majority.
In the meantime the canal commission had continued its existence, and in 1816, when the Legislature directed the construction of the Erie Canal and committed the execution of the work to a board of canal commissioners, he was made a member of that body, and was its president from April, 1824, until his death.
He was again elected a member of Assembly in 186, in 1819 became a Regent of the State University, of which he was chancellor from 1835 until his death, and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1821.
From his position as Patroon and because of the great extent of territory he possessed, as well as on account of his great intelligence and the benevolence of his nature, Stephen Van Rensselaer had always been strongly in favor of the encouragement of farmers and the improvement of agriculture.
When, therefore, in 1819, an act for the encouragement of agriculture was passed by the Legislature of the State, under the provisions of which delegates from county societies formed a Central Board of Agriculture, he was elected its president at the first meeting in Albany, in January, 1820.
Although the life of the board was brief it was long enough to permit a geological and agricultural survey of the counties of Albany and Rensselaer to be made under its direction, though at the expense of its president.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
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HISTORY RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, continued ...
CHAPTER II.
STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER AND AMOS EATON, continued ...
This survey was executed by Professor Amos Eaton with the aid of two assistants, and was the first attempt made in this country to collect and arrange geological facts with a direct view to the improvement of agriculture.
Analyses of soils were included, as well as a consideration of the proper methods of culture adapted to them, and the results were published in three volumes of Transactions and Memoirs.
Imbued with strong opinions as to the value of such scientific investigations, when the board ceased to exist Stephen Van Rensselaer was unwilling to discontinue work of this character, and in the years 1822 and 1823 he caused to be made, at his own expense, under the direction of Professor Eaton, a geological survey extending from Boston to Lake Erie, a distance of about five hundred and fifty miles.
It embraced a belt fifty miles in width, which covered, in this State, the line of the Erie canal.
The intelligence and benevolence of the subject of this sketch were now, when he had reached the age of sixty years, to be directed into a new channel.
He had long been interested in the instruction of the poorer families of his tenantry, and had reached the conclusion that the most valuable education to be given the masses engaged in the ordinary occupations of life was one which would enable them to apply the principles of science to the "business of living".
His first step in this direction was to secure the services of Professor Eaton, with whose qualifications he was thoroughly familiar.
He employed him, in the summer of 1824, to traverse the State on or near the line of the Erie canal, provided with sufficient apparatus and specimens to deliver, in all the principal towns where an audience of business men or others could be collected, a series of lectures, accompanied with experiments and illustrations, on "chemistry, natural philosophy and some or all the branches of natural history."
This undertaking was entirely successful.
Encouraged by it, he determined to establish an institution one of the principal objects of which should be "to qualify teachers for instructing the sons and daughters of farmers and mechanics, by lectures or otherwise, in the application of experimental chemistry, philosophy and natural history to agriculture, domestic economy, the arts and manufactures"; and there resulted the foundation at Troy, N. Y., in 1824, of the school which is the subject of this historical sketch.
He at first intended to sustain the school for three years only, expecting that, if at the end of this period it were successful, the public would maintain it.
Besides the expense of its original establishment he bore, however, until his death fourteen years later, about one half the cost of its maintenance.
As will be seen hereafter, the course of instruction was considerably enlarged, during his life and with his approval, to meet the growing demand for educated engineers and scientific men.
In the meantime, in 1823, General Van Rensselaer had been elected to Congress as a Representative from Albany county, and some of his instructions in relation to the new school were forwarded from Washington.
He continued in Congress for six years, and was during this period chairman of the Committee on Agriculture.
During a part of his active public life, from 1793 until his resignation in 1819, he was a trustee of Williams College.
In 1825 the degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by Yale College.
He died at the old Manor House in Albany on the twenty-sixth day of January, 1839.*
Although distinguished because of his position and character, and on account of many years of successful public service in important positions, the memory of Stephen Van Rensselaer will be perpetuated chiefly by means of the school which he established for the benefit of his fellow-men.
* See " A Discourse on the Life, Services and Character of Stephen Van Rensselaer", by Daniel G. Barnard, Albany, 1839
TO BE CONTINUED ...
CHAPTER II.
STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER AND AMOS EATON, continued ...
This survey was executed by Professor Amos Eaton with the aid of two assistants, and was the first attempt made in this country to collect and arrange geological facts with a direct view to the improvement of agriculture.
Analyses of soils were included, as well as a consideration of the proper methods of culture adapted to them, and the results were published in three volumes of Transactions and Memoirs.
Imbued with strong opinions as to the value of such scientific investigations, when the board ceased to exist Stephen Van Rensselaer was unwilling to discontinue work of this character, and in the years 1822 and 1823 he caused to be made, at his own expense, under the direction of Professor Eaton, a geological survey extending from Boston to Lake Erie, a distance of about five hundred and fifty miles.
It embraced a belt fifty miles in width, which covered, in this State, the line of the Erie canal.
The intelligence and benevolence of the subject of this sketch were now, when he had reached the age of sixty years, to be directed into a new channel.
He had long been interested in the instruction of the poorer families of his tenantry, and had reached the conclusion that the most valuable education to be given the masses engaged in the ordinary occupations of life was one which would enable them to apply the principles of science to the "business of living".
His first step in this direction was to secure the services of Professor Eaton, with whose qualifications he was thoroughly familiar.
He employed him, in the summer of 1824, to traverse the State on or near the line of the Erie canal, provided with sufficient apparatus and specimens to deliver, in all the principal towns where an audience of business men or others could be collected, a series of lectures, accompanied with experiments and illustrations, on "chemistry, natural philosophy and some or all the branches of natural history."
This undertaking was entirely successful.
Encouraged by it, he determined to establish an institution one of the principal objects of which should be "to qualify teachers for instructing the sons and daughters of farmers and mechanics, by lectures or otherwise, in the application of experimental chemistry, philosophy and natural history to agriculture, domestic economy, the arts and manufactures"; and there resulted the foundation at Troy, N. Y., in 1824, of the school which is the subject of this historical sketch.
He at first intended to sustain the school for three years only, expecting that, if at the end of this period it were successful, the public would maintain it.
Besides the expense of its original establishment he bore, however, until his death fourteen years later, about one half the cost of its maintenance.
As will be seen hereafter, the course of instruction was considerably enlarged, during his life and with his approval, to meet the growing demand for educated engineers and scientific men.
In the meantime, in 1823, General Van Rensselaer had been elected to Congress as a Representative from Albany county, and some of his instructions in relation to the new school were forwarded from Washington.
He continued in Congress for six years, and was during this period chairman of the Committee on Agriculture.
During a part of his active public life, from 1793 until his resignation in 1819, he was a trustee of Williams College.
In 1825 the degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by Yale College.
He died at the old Manor House in Albany on the twenty-sixth day of January, 1839.*
Although distinguished because of his position and character, and on account of many years of successful public service in important positions, the memory of Stephen Van Rensselaer will be perpetuated chiefly by means of the school which he established for the benefit of his fellow-men.
* See " A Discourse on the Life, Services and Character of Stephen Van Rensselaer", by Daniel G. Barnard, Albany, 1839
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
HISTORY RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, continued ...
CHAPTER II.
STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER AND AMOS EATON, continued ...
In an article on the Institute, one of an interesting series on the engineering schools of the United States, written in 1892 for Engineering News by A. M. Wellington, he says: "The founder was not of the class of rich men who found colleges only from a vague philanthropic instinct and to perpetuate his name."
"He had distinct and very original and decided views as to proper methods of instruction, which he took great pains to provide for and enforce at length."
"His love of thoroughness, his determination that the instruction should be of the best, if there was any, and that the school should take a high rank among the kindred institutions of the world, crop out constantly in his letters and deed of foundation . . ."
"He was no common founder, and he founded no common school."
"The cause of eneineering education owed much to him indeed."
It will be noticed in the account just given of his life that in all his efforts for the advancement of scientific knowledge, whether by agricultural and geological surveys or by the more direct method of instruction, he employed one individual as his agent.
That no error was made in the choice is proved by the uniform success of his endeavors.
Amos Eaton was indeed no ordinary man.
The history of the last seventeen years of his life is identical with that of the Rensselaer Institute.
The importance of his work, however, not only in the early development of the school but as a scientific investigator and author of works on the natural sciences, renders it advisable to give, in this connection, a sketch of his earlier history.
He was a native of Chatham, N. Y., and was born May 17, 1776.
His father, Abel Eaton, was a farmer in comfortable circumstances.
He early manifested superior abilities, and was selected to deliver an oration on the Fourth of July, 1790, when but fourteen years of age.
About this time, having acted as chainman during a land survey, he determined to become a surveyor.
Not having the requisite instruments, he interested a skilful blacksmith in his behalf, who agreed to work for him at night if he would "blow and strike" by day.
A needle and a good working chain were the result of several weeks' work.
This circumstance in his life doubtless gave rise to the remark, found in Sillimans Journal, that "in 1791 he was an apprenticed blacksmith."
The bottom of an old pewter plate, well smoothed, polished and graduated, served as a compass-circle, so that Eaton, when sixteen years old, was in the field with his home-made instruments, doing occasional surveying in the neighborhood.
He aspired, however, to higher attainments, and, encouraged by his parents, was fitted for college at Spencertown, N. Y., and was graduated at Williams College, in 1799, with a high reputation for scientific knowledge.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
CHAPTER II.
STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER AND AMOS EATON, continued ...
In an article on the Institute, one of an interesting series on the engineering schools of the United States, written in 1892 for Engineering News by A. M. Wellington, he says: "The founder was not of the class of rich men who found colleges only from a vague philanthropic instinct and to perpetuate his name."
"He had distinct and very original and decided views as to proper methods of instruction, which he took great pains to provide for and enforce at length."
"His love of thoroughness, his determination that the instruction should be of the best, if there was any, and that the school should take a high rank among the kindred institutions of the world, crop out constantly in his letters and deed of foundation . . ."
"He was no common founder, and he founded no common school."
"The cause of eneineering education owed much to him indeed."
It will be noticed in the account just given of his life that in all his efforts for the advancement of scientific knowledge, whether by agricultural and geological surveys or by the more direct method of instruction, he employed one individual as his agent.
That no error was made in the choice is proved by the uniform success of his endeavors.
Amos Eaton was indeed no ordinary man.
The history of the last seventeen years of his life is identical with that of the Rensselaer Institute.
The importance of his work, however, not only in the early development of the school but as a scientific investigator and author of works on the natural sciences, renders it advisable to give, in this connection, a sketch of his earlier history.
He was a native of Chatham, N. Y., and was born May 17, 1776.
His father, Abel Eaton, was a farmer in comfortable circumstances.
He early manifested superior abilities, and was selected to deliver an oration on the Fourth of July, 1790, when but fourteen years of age.
About this time, having acted as chainman during a land survey, he determined to become a surveyor.
Not having the requisite instruments, he interested a skilful blacksmith in his behalf, who agreed to work for him at night if he would "blow and strike" by day.
A needle and a good working chain were the result of several weeks' work.
This circumstance in his life doubtless gave rise to the remark, found in Sillimans Journal, that "in 1791 he was an apprenticed blacksmith."
The bottom of an old pewter plate, well smoothed, polished and graduated, served as a compass-circle, so that Eaton, when sixteen years old, was in the field with his home-made instruments, doing occasional surveying in the neighborhood.
He aspired, however, to higher attainments, and, encouraged by his parents, was fitted for college at Spencertown, N. Y., and was graduated at Williams College, in 1799, with a high reputation for scientific knowledge.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
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HISTORY RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, continued ...
CHAPTER II.
STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER AND AMOS EATON, continued ...
In the same year he began the study of law at Spencertown, and subsequently continued his studies in New York.
At this time he first became interested in the study of botany and other natural sciences.
While in New York, in 1802, he borrowed Kirwan's "Mineralogy", then a scarce book, and made a manuscript copy of the entire work.
He was admitted to the bar, at Albany, in 1802, and soon after established himself as a lawyer and land agent in Catskill, N. Y.
Here he remained several years, his position affording him excellent opportunities for cultivating his growing taste for the natural sciences.
In May, 1810, he made in Catskill, it is believed, the first attempt in this country at a popular course of lectures on botany, compiling for the use of his class a small elementary treatise.
For this Dr. Hosack, who had formerly taught him in New York, complimented him as being the "first in the field".
Having found his love for the details of his profession diminishing and his interest in the natural sciences increasing, he finally resolved to abandon the practice of law and to fit himself more thoroughly for scientific pursuits.
With this end in view he went to New Haven, in 1815, to avail himself of the advantages found at Yale College.
He placed himself under the instruction of Professor Silliman, who threw open to him his lectures on chemistry, geology and mineralogy, as well as his own library and the cabinet of minerals of that institution.
Here, also, he found a good botanist in Dr. Eli Ives, Professor of Botany and Materia Medica in the medical department of the college, who had accumulated a good library, to which he gave Eaton free access.
With these advantages and his already advanced acquirements he was soon well qualified as an explorer and teacher.
Returning to Williamstown in 1817, he gave courses of lectures in botany, mineralogy and geology to volunteer classes of students.
His influence in the college was remarkable, and he awakened there an interest in the natural sciences which has never died out.
His pupils published, in 1817, the first edition of his "Manual of Botany", a i2mo of 164 pages, which, as the late Dr. Lewis C. Beck wrote in 1852, "gave an impulse to the study of botany in New England and New York, as the only descriptive work which was then current was that of Pursh, an expensive one with Latin descriptions."
This work was improved by repeated revisions and additions, and became, in the eighth edition, published in 1840, a large octavo volume of 625 pages, which was entitled "'North American Botany", and contained a description of 5267 species of plants.
The encouragement received by Mr. Eaton at Williams College determined him to give courses of popular scientific lectures, accompanied with practical instructions, to such classes as he might be able to organize in several of the larger towns of New England and New York.
These met with great success, and in the course of two or three years he diffused a great amount of scientific knowledge, and there sprang up as the result of his labors an army of young botanists and geologists.
According to Professor Albert Hopkins, of Williams College, he was one of the first to popularize science in the Northern States, and was one of the first in this country to study nature in the field, with his classes.
In 1818, in compliance with a special invitation from Governor DeWitt Clinton, he went to Albany and delivered a course of lectures before the members of the Legislature.
Here he became acquainted with many of the leading men of the State, interesting them especially in geology and its application, by means of surveys, to agriculture.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
CHAPTER II.
STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER AND AMOS EATON, continued ...
In the same year he began the study of law at Spencertown, and subsequently continued his studies in New York.
At this time he first became interested in the study of botany and other natural sciences.
While in New York, in 1802, he borrowed Kirwan's "Mineralogy", then a scarce book, and made a manuscript copy of the entire work.
He was admitted to the bar, at Albany, in 1802, and soon after established himself as a lawyer and land agent in Catskill, N. Y.
Here he remained several years, his position affording him excellent opportunities for cultivating his growing taste for the natural sciences.
In May, 1810, he made in Catskill, it is believed, the first attempt in this country at a popular course of lectures on botany, compiling for the use of his class a small elementary treatise.
For this Dr. Hosack, who had formerly taught him in New York, complimented him as being the "first in the field".
Having found his love for the details of his profession diminishing and his interest in the natural sciences increasing, he finally resolved to abandon the practice of law and to fit himself more thoroughly for scientific pursuits.
With this end in view he went to New Haven, in 1815, to avail himself of the advantages found at Yale College.
He placed himself under the instruction of Professor Silliman, who threw open to him his lectures on chemistry, geology and mineralogy, as well as his own library and the cabinet of minerals of that institution.
Here, also, he found a good botanist in Dr. Eli Ives, Professor of Botany and Materia Medica in the medical department of the college, who had accumulated a good library, to which he gave Eaton free access.
With these advantages and his already advanced acquirements he was soon well qualified as an explorer and teacher.
Returning to Williamstown in 1817, he gave courses of lectures in botany, mineralogy and geology to volunteer classes of students.
His influence in the college was remarkable, and he awakened there an interest in the natural sciences which has never died out.
His pupils published, in 1817, the first edition of his "Manual of Botany", a i2mo of 164 pages, which, as the late Dr. Lewis C. Beck wrote in 1852, "gave an impulse to the study of botany in New England and New York, as the only descriptive work which was then current was that of Pursh, an expensive one with Latin descriptions."
This work was improved by repeated revisions and additions, and became, in the eighth edition, published in 1840, a large octavo volume of 625 pages, which was entitled "'North American Botany", and contained a description of 5267 species of plants.
The encouragement received by Mr. Eaton at Williams College determined him to give courses of popular scientific lectures, accompanied with practical instructions, to such classes as he might be able to organize in several of the larger towns of New England and New York.
These met with great success, and in the course of two or three years he diffused a great amount of scientific knowledge, and there sprang up as the result of his labors an army of young botanists and geologists.
According to Professor Albert Hopkins, of Williams College, he was one of the first to popularize science in the Northern States, and was one of the first in this country to study nature in the field, with his classes.
In 1818, in compliance with a special invitation from Governor DeWitt Clinton, he went to Albany and delivered a course of lectures before the members of the Legislature.
Here he became acquainted with many of the leading men of the State, interesting them especially in geology and its application, by means of surveys, to agriculture.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
HISTORY RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, continued ...
CHAPTER II.
STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER AND AMOS EATON, continued ...
A train of causes was thus set in operation which resulted in giving to the world that great work, "The Natural History of New York", so creditable to the State and to the scientific men who executed it, of whom several had been Prof. Eaton's pupils.
In this year he published the first edition of his "Index to the Geology of the Northern States", which was the first attempt at a general arrangement of the geological strata in North America.
In his "Education in the United States", Boone says: "Among the older geologists, and one of the first to study nature in the field, was Prof. Amos Eaton of Williams College."
"He has been called the 'Father of American Geology', was the instructor of Hall, Dana and Williams, and initiated the interest in a half dozen states."
He afterwards delivered several courses of lectures in the medical college at Castleton, Vt, in which he was appointed Professor of Natural History in 1820.
In this year and the following one he made the geological and agricultural surveys of Albany and Rensselaer counties to which reference has been made in the sketch of the life of Stephen Van Rensselaer.
Of these surveys Professor Silliman remarked, in his Journal, "The attempt is novel in this country"; adding, "We are not aware of any attempt, on so extensive and systematic a scale, to make them subservient to the important interests of agriculture."
There has also been previously mentioned the geological survey of the district adjoining the Erie Canal, made by Professor Eaton in 1822 and 1823.
A report of this survey, consisting of 160 octavo pages, with a profile section of rock formations from the Atlantic Ocean, across the states of Massachusetts and New York, to Lake Erie, was published in 1824.
In relation to this work Governor Seward, in his introduction to the "Natural History of the State of New York", said: "This publication marked an era in the progress of geology in this country."
"It is in some respects inaccurate, but it must be remembered that its talented and indefatigable author was without a guide in exploring the older formations, and that he described rocks which no geologist had, at that time, attempted to classify."
"Rocks were then classified chiefly by their mineralogical characters, and the aid which the science has since learned to derive from fossils, in determining the chronology and classification of rocks, was scarcely known here and had only just begun to be appreciated in Europe."
"We are indebted, nevertheless, to Prof. Eaton for the commencement of that independence of European classification which has been found indispensable in describing the New York system."
He also said: "Prof Eaton enumerated nearly all the rocks in western New York, in their order of succession; and his enumeration has, with one or two exceptions, proved correct."
"It is a matter of surprise that he recognized, at so early a period, the old red sandstone on the Catskill mountains, a discovery the reality of which has since been proved by fossil tests."
Such was the man chosen by Stephen Van Rensselaer to take charge, as Senior Professor and Agent, of the institution which he established in 1824.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
CHAPTER II.
STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER AND AMOS EATON, continued ...
A train of causes was thus set in operation which resulted in giving to the world that great work, "The Natural History of New York", so creditable to the State and to the scientific men who executed it, of whom several had been Prof. Eaton's pupils.
In this year he published the first edition of his "Index to the Geology of the Northern States", which was the first attempt at a general arrangement of the geological strata in North America.
In his "Education in the United States", Boone says: "Among the older geologists, and one of the first to study nature in the field, was Prof. Amos Eaton of Williams College."
"He has been called the 'Father of American Geology', was the instructor of Hall, Dana and Williams, and initiated the interest in a half dozen states."
He afterwards delivered several courses of lectures in the medical college at Castleton, Vt, in which he was appointed Professor of Natural History in 1820.
In this year and the following one he made the geological and agricultural surveys of Albany and Rensselaer counties to which reference has been made in the sketch of the life of Stephen Van Rensselaer.
Of these surveys Professor Silliman remarked, in his Journal, "The attempt is novel in this country"; adding, "We are not aware of any attempt, on so extensive and systematic a scale, to make them subservient to the important interests of agriculture."
There has also been previously mentioned the geological survey of the district adjoining the Erie Canal, made by Professor Eaton in 1822 and 1823.
A report of this survey, consisting of 160 octavo pages, with a profile section of rock formations from the Atlantic Ocean, across the states of Massachusetts and New York, to Lake Erie, was published in 1824.
In relation to this work Governor Seward, in his introduction to the "Natural History of the State of New York", said: "This publication marked an era in the progress of geology in this country."
"It is in some respects inaccurate, but it must be remembered that its talented and indefatigable author was without a guide in exploring the older formations, and that he described rocks which no geologist had, at that time, attempted to classify."
"Rocks were then classified chiefly by their mineralogical characters, and the aid which the science has since learned to derive from fossils, in determining the chronology and classification of rocks, was scarcely known here and had only just begun to be appreciated in Europe."
"We are indebted, nevertheless, to Prof. Eaton for the commencement of that independence of European classification which has been found indispensable in describing the New York system."
He also said: "Prof Eaton enumerated nearly all the rocks in western New York, in their order of succession; and his enumeration has, with one or two exceptions, proved correct."
"It is a matter of surprise that he recognized, at so early a period, the old red sandstone on the Catskill mountains, a discovery the reality of which has since been proved by fossil tests."
Such was the man chosen by Stephen Van Rensselaer to take charge, as Senior Professor and Agent, of the institution which he established in 1824.
TO BE CONTINUED ...