Henry Marion Howe

Henry Marion Howe was a prominent American metallurgist and materials scientist who made significant contributions to the field of metallurgy. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1848 and spent most of his life working in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was associated with Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Howe's work was influenced by notable scientists such as Dmitri Mendeleev, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), and James Clerk Maxwell, and he was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.

● Early Life and Education

Howe was born to a family of New England industrialists and was educated at Harvard University, where he studied chemistry and physics under the guidance of Josiah Parsons Cooke and Wolcott Gibbs. He later pursued his graduate studies at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, where he worked with Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff. During his time in Europe, Howe also visited the Royal School of Mines in London and the École des Mines in Paris, where he met prominent scientists such as Henry Clifton Sorby and Ferdinand André Fouqué.

● Career

Howe began his career as a metallurgist at the Boston and Lowell Railroad and later worked at the United States Mint in Philadelphia. He was also a consultant to several mining and smelting companies, including the Anaconda Copper Mining Company and the American Smelting and Refining Company. In 1884, Howe became a professor of metallurgy at the Columbia University School of Mines, where he worked alongside Charles F. Chandler and Thomas Egleston. He was also a member of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers and the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy.

● Research and Contributions

Howe's research focused on the physical metallurgy of iron and steel, and he made significant contributions to the understanding of phase transformations and microstructure in these materials. He was also interested in the history of metallurgy and wrote several papers on the subject, including a study of the metallurgy of ancient Egypt and the metallurgy of the Incas. Howe's work was influenced by the research of Henry Clifton Sorby, William Chandler Roberts-Austen, and Frederick Winslow Taylor, and he was a pioneer in the use of metallography and X-ray diffraction in materials science. He was also a member of the Society of Arts and the Franklin Institute.

● Awards and Honors

Howe received several awards and honors for his contributions to metallurgy and materials science, including the Perkin Medal from the Society of Chemical Industry and the Roebling Medal from the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society. He was also awarded the Elliott Cresson Medal from the Franklin Institute and the Albert Sauveur Achievement Award from the American Society for Metals. Howe was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, and he was a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

● Personal Life

Howe was married to Mary Manning Howe and had several children, including George Howe (architect) and Manning Howe. He was a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts and was active in the Cambridge community, serving as a member of the Cambridge City Council and the Harvard University Board of Overseers. Howe was also a member of the Boston Athenaeum and the Union Club of Boston, and he was a frequent visitor to the White Mountains and the Adirondack Mountains. He died in 1922 at the age of 74 and was buried in the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Category:American metallurgists