Otto Hilgard Tittmann
Otto Hilgard Tittmann (born August 20, 1850 in Belleville , Illinois ; † August 21, 1938 in Leesburg , Virginia ) was a German-born American geodesist , geographer and astronomer .
Life
Otto H. Tittmann was born as the son of Edward Carl Tittmann, who immigrated to the United States from Germany, and Rosa Hilgard (married Tittmann), who was also from Germany.
After attending school in Belleville and St. Louis , Missouri , he graduated from various universities in the United States. As early as 1867 he worked as an assistant at the government agency US Coast and Geodetic Survey , for which he worked in various functions for almost five decades. He took part in several expeditions, including in the Atlantic, to Puerto Rico , the coast of the Pacific and in the southeast of Alaska, in which geodetic measurements were made. In 1874 he was a participant in an astronomical expedition that observed the transit of Venus in Japan .
From October 1887 on, he was responsible for the Office of Standard Weights and Measures , which was a division of the US Coast and Geodetic Survey until the National Bureau of Standards was founded. In 1890 he traveled to Paris to be responsible and brought a copy of the original meter to the USA. In 1895 he became Assistant ( Assistant in Charge ), in 1899 Assistant Superintendent and finally in 1900 Superintendent , i.e. head of the US Coast and Geodetic Survey.
He was a founding member of the National Geographic Society, founded on January 13, 1888 and after his retirement from 1915 to 1919 its president. Since 1888 he was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science . In 1899 he became president of the Philosophical Society of Washington. In 1906 he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society .
The Tittmann Glacier in the Elias chain in Alaska was named after him.
Fonts (selection)
- OH Tittmann: Activities of the Coast and Geodetic Survey . In: Bulletin of the American Geographical Society . tape 44 , no. 4 , 1912, pp. 257-268 .
- Otto Hilgard Tittmann, International Geodetic Surveying: Report on Geodetic Operations in the United States to the Fourteenth General Conference of the International Geodetic Association . 1903.
- William Frederick King, James Joseph McArthur, Otto Hilgard Tittmann, Edward Chester, International Boundary Commission: Joint Report Upon the Survey and Demarcation of the International Boundary between the United States and Canada Along the 141st Meridian from the Arctic Ocean to Mount St.Elias . Department of State, 1918, p. 299 .
literature
- William Bowie: Otto Hilgard Tittmann . In: Science . tape 88 , no. 2283 , 1938, pp. 292-294 , doi : 10.1126 / science.88.2283.292 .
- Cathy Hunter: A Gallant Gentleman, to Ideal Friend. National Geographic, accessed December 15, 2018 .
Web links
- Otto Hilgard Tittmann in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved December 13, 2018.
- Biography at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Edward Tittmann. myheritage.de, accessed on December 16, 2018 .
- ↑ Note: The available sources provide different information on the immigration of parents. They married in the United States in 1840 or 1841.
- ^ Past Presidents. Philosophical Society of Washington, accessed December 16, 2018 .
- ↑ Member History: Otto H. Tittmann. American Philosophical Society, accessed December 18, 2018 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Tittmann, Otto Hilgard |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American geodesist, geographer, and astronomer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 20, 1850 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Belleville, Illinois |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 21, 1938 |
| Place of death | Leesburg, Virginia |