https://indianpedia.org/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=103.27.8.117IndianPedia - User contributions [en]2026-07-30T22:22:11ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=John_Samuel_Slater&diff=334013John Samuel Slater2022-06-22T11:59:07Z<p>103.27.8.117: </p>
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[[File:John Samuel Slater - 'Armillary sphere' - US patent No 482,278.png|thumb|Slater's ''Armillary Sphere,'' US patent No 482,278]]<br />
'''John Samuel Slater''' (born 1850 in [[Calcutta]]; died 1911 in [[Ealing]]) was a British professor of [[Civil Engineering]] at the [[Presidency College, Kolkata|Presidency College]], [[Calcutta]], and later principal of the [[Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur|Engineering College]] in [[Sibpur]].<ref>Museum of the History of Science: [https://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/collections/imu-search-page/narratives/?irn=10134&index=1 ''Narratives: J.S. Slater.'']</ref><br />
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== Life and work ==<br />
John Samuel Slater was educated at [[Pocklington Grammar School]], and Bishop Cotton School, [[Simla]]. He graduated in 1870 at the Thomason Civil Engineering College, [[Roorkee]], obtaining the gold medal for mathematics. The same year he was appointed to the Public Works Department of the Government of India and served at [[Dera Ghazi Khan]] and other locations in the [[Punjab]].<ref name="RAS">[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1912MNRAS..72R.252. ''Obituary Notices: Fellows: Slater, John Samuel.''] In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 72, p. 252-253. {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/4104539?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents ''Miscellaneous Notes: J. S. Slater.''] In: Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), Vol. 1912, No. 1 (1912), pp. 56-74.</ref><br />
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In 1875 he was appointed Professor of Engineering at the [[Presidency College Calcutta]], and in 1880, when the Engineering Department of that College was formed into an independent residential Engineering College at Sibpur, he took a leading part in its organisation, became one of the original members of its staff, and was eventually appointed Principal in 1891. He inaugurated a scheme of modern education for the District Schools of [[Bengal]] and [[Assam]], and was responsible for the reorganisation of the technical schools of those two provinces. In 1897 he was for some months Inspector of Schools of the [[Rajshahi Division]], and in 1901 officiated as head of the Educational Department of Bengal. In 1904 he was incapacitated by a serious illness which necessitated his retirement from India.<ref name="RAS"/><br />
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He was responsible for teaching astronomy to the students of the Engineering College, and was always keenly interested in that science.<ref name="RAS"/> In 1891, while on leave, he devised and patented an armillary sphere.<ref>Museum of the History of Science: [https://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/collections/imu-search-page/narratives/?irn=10134&index=2 ''Narratives: Slater's 'improved' armillary sphere.'']</ref> He presented this to the [[Royal Astronomical Society]] in 1891.<ref>Museum of the History of Science: [http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/object/inv/53213 ''Record Details: Slater's Armillary Sphere, English, c. 1890.'']</ref> which he used for instructional purposes.<ref name="RAS"/><br />
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After his retirement he devoted himself enthusiastically to an investigation of the pollen of plants, and prepared by micro-photography a very large number of enlarged photographs of pollen grains. The value of his work in this direction was recognised by the botanical authorities at [[Kew]].<ref name="RAS"/><br />
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== Family ==<br />
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He married in 1873 Jessie Frances, by whom he had a son and a daughter.<ref name="RAS"/><br />
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== Patents ==<br />
* [https://patents.google.com/patent/US482278 ''Armillary sphere. US patent No 482,278.''] Patented 6 September 1892.<br />
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== References ==<br />
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== External links ==<br />
* [http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/object/inv/53213 Photo of Slater's armillary sphere in the Museum of the History of Science]<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, John Samuel}}<br />
[[Category:English civil engineers]]<br />
[[Category:Presidency University, Kolkata faculty]]<br />
[[Category:1850 births]]<br />
[[Category:1911 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:British inventors]]</div>103.27.8.117