Mrs. Eddy Mentioned Them August 14, 1954 Issue

Samuel Pierpont Langley, 1834-1906

[Mentioned in Rudimental Divine Science, p. 6]

When he was only ten, Samuel Langley began making small telescopes and reading books on astronomy. After attending Boston Latin School, he decided, because of his interest in mathematics, to become a civil engineer. Circumstances, however, forced him into architecture. He was an exquisite draftsman, and while the hours spent over a drawing board were tedious, they were wonderful preparation for the drawings of solar phenomena which he later made.

To be free from such confining activity Langley went to Europe, where he satisfied his interest in art by spending much time in the galleries. A great admirer of Thomas Carlyle, he visited him in his home several times. All his life he maintained his interest in English and French literature and read both.

Upon his return to the United States he was made an assistant professor at Harvard observatory. After this, he taught mathematics at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. In 1867 he was named Professor of Astronomy at the Western University of Pennsylvania. Convinced that much of the radiant energy from the sun was not recognized by the instruments then in use, he developed a more delicate instrument—the bolometer. While there he introduced standard time distribution to railroads and cities. He gave generous help on optical problems, and on an expedition to Mt. Whitney in California, which he organized, observations were made on conditions of vision at great altitudes.

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Samuel Pierpont Langley, 1834-1906

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