Edwin Emery Slosson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Edwin Emery Slosson
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| Born | June 7, 1865 Albany, Kansas, US
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| Died | October 15, 1929 (aged 64) Washington, D.C., US
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| Known for | Founding Director of Science Service |
| Spouse(s) |
May Gorslin Preston
(m. 1891) |
Edwin Emery Slosson (born June 7, 1865 – died October 15, 1929) was an American writer, editor, and chemist. He was known for making science easy to understand for everyone. He was also the first leader of an organization called Science Service.
Contents
Early Life and School
Edwin Emery Slosson was born in Albany, Kansas. His parents, William and Achsah Slosson, were pioneers. This means they were among the first people to settle in Kansas in 1857. Edwin's father, William, owned the first general store in Albany. He also supported Kansas becoming a "free state," meaning it would not allow slavery. He even helped hide people escaping slavery through the Underground Railroad.
Edwin went to Leavenworth High School for three years. After that, he traveled in Europe before going to the University of Kansas. He studied chemistry there and was a top student. He earned his first degree in 1890. He then continued his studies at the University of Kansas, learning about chemistry, physics, geology, and psychology. He received a master's degree in 1892.
Choosing a Career Path
Edwin was offered a special study program in psychology at Clark University. However, he chose to become an Assistant Professor of chemistry at the University of Wyoming instead. This job paid enough money for him to get married. He married May Gorslin Preston on August 12, 1891.
Teaching and Research in Wyoming
From 1891 to 1903, Edwin Slosson lived in Laramie, Wyoming. He taught chemistry at the University of Wyoming. He also did chemical research at the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station. This station was connected to the university. He even served as the state's chemist.
What He Studied
His main research focused on alkali in Wyoming soils and petroleum (oil). He also studied things like how pure food was and the energy value of breakfast cereals. He shared his findings in many reports from the Experiment Station. In 1893, he showed his chemistry skills at the Chicago World's Fair.
Slosson taught all the chemistry classes at the University of Wyoming. He also taught popular chemistry classes for people in the community. He even taught a class on experimental psychology and gave talks about photography. During his summer breaks, he studied organic chemistry at the University of Chicago. He earned his Ph.D. degree in 1902.
Working for The Independent Magazine
While living in Wyoming, Slosson wrote articles for The Independent. This was a weekly magazine published in New York City. In 1903, he worked for free as an assistant at the magazine. In 1904, he accepted a job as a literary editor and moved his family to New York.
He worked for The Independent until 1920. He wrote many articles, and some of his writings became books. For the magazine, he traveled across the United States visiting universities. He also went to Europe to interview famous thinkers and writers. These included Henri Bergson, H.G. Wells, and Ernst Haeckel. His articles from these trips were published in books like Great American Universities (1910) and Major Prophets of Today (1914).
Making Science Popular
His many articles about science for The Independent made him famous. He was known for making science easy for everyone to understand. His book Creative Chemistry, published in 1919, was a collection of articles about how chemistry is used in industries. It was very successful, selling 200,000 copies by 1929. High schools and colleges used it for chemistry classes even in the 1940s. In 1920, he published Easy Lessons in Einstein. This book explained Einstein's theory of relativity to people who weren't scientists. From 1912 to 1920, he also taught a science course for journalists at the Pulitzer School of Journalism.
Leading Science Service
In 1920, a biologist named William Emerson Ritter asked Slosson to lead a new organization. This organization was called Science Service. It was created to help the public understand science better. It did this by sending science news to daily newspapers. Slosson accepted the job. In January 1921, he moved to Washington, D.C., where Science Service had its offices.
Sharing Science News
Slosson's official title at Science Service was Editor. He was in charge of setting up the agency and hiring staff. He worked hard to promote science journalism. He started a weekly news service called Science News Bulletin. Slosson said Science Service was like a "go-between" for scientists and the public. Science News Bulletin was very popular. By September 1922, it was sent to newspapers and magazines daily. Also in 1922, Science Service started publishing Science News Letter, a weekly magazine for individuals.
Watson Davis, an engineer and part-time science journalist, became the managing editor of Science Service in 1923. With Davis's help, Slosson could spend more time writing, giving talks, and traveling. He wrote many articles for Science News Letter and other magazines. He also published five more books in the last ten years of his life. In 1924, he gave his first radio broadcast about science. Science Service also started a weekly radio series called Science News of the Week. This series featured scientists talking about their work. Slosson also traveled as a news reporter for Science Service. In 1923, he joined astronomers at Mount Wilson Observatory in California to watch a solar eclipse.
Edwin Slosson died on October 15, 1929, from heart disease. At the time of his death, he was considered the best person at explaining science to the general public.
Books by Edwin Emery Slosson
- Great American Universities. New York: Macmillan. 1910.
- Major Prophets of Today. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. 1914.
- Six Major Prophets. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. 1917.
- Creative Chemistry. New York: The Century Co. 1919.
- Easy Lessons in Einstein. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe. 1920.
- The American Spirit in Education. New Haven, NJ: Yale University Press. 1921.
- Plots and Personalities. New York: The Century Co. 1922.
- Chats on Science. New York: The Century Co. 1924.
- Sermons of a Chemist. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co. 1925.
- Snapshots of Science. New York: The Century Co. 1928.
- Short Talks on Science. New York: The Century Co. 1930.
- A Number of Things. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co. 1930.
