Medals

Prizes and honors are seldom over-estimated by genuine men of science, and there are, of course, occasional cases of unrecognized genius in obscurity. But the scientific world usually knows its own divinities and strives to do them impersonal justice.

Edison Medal. The most coveted scientific award in America is probably the Edison Medal of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, awarded annually for "meritorious achievement in electricity." The Edison Medal for 1923 was awarded to John William Lieb, operating Vice President of the New York Edison Co., who has made New York the model light and power city of the world. Over 30 years ago, when Lieb was just out of Stevens Tech, he got a job with Thomas A. Edison. The firm had a contract to build a great electrical plant in Italy. "Send Lieb," said Edison. He was only 22, but he did the job and stayed in charge of the Italian company for 12 years. Lieb's story, together with those of the 13 previous recipients of the Edison Medal, is told by J. Olin Howe in the February Success.

Twenty years ago a group of Edison's engineering friends established the medal as a permanent tribute to the original electrical wizard, with an endowment to be administered by the A. I. E. E. The medal committee consists of 24 men carefully chosen to reflect all shades of opinion and is periodically changed. Each medallist must be chosen by a two-third vote, several have been unanimous. The medal was designed by James Earle Fraser, the sculptor, and bears upon its face a striking profile of Edison; upon the reverse an allegorical relief: "The Genius of Electricity Crowned by Fame." The Edison medallists in chronological order are:

1910. Elihu Thomson, dean of American electrical engineers, inventor of the first practical dynamo, of electric welding, etc.; founder of and consultant to the Thomson-Houston Co., and the General Electric Co.

1911. Frank Julian Sprague, engineer, president of many companies, and pioneer in railway electrification, subways, electric elevator construction.

1912. George Westinghouse (died 1914), inventor of the airbrake, electric switch and signal, transformer, etc.; founder of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co. and other interests.

1913. William Stanley (died 1916), inventor of alternating-current transmission, making possible indoor electric lighting.

1914. Charles Francis Brush, inventor and practical developer of the electric arc light and the storage battery.

1915. Alexander Graham Bell (died 1922), inventor of the telephone.

1916. Nikola Tesla, Austrian immigrant who became an electrical magician, inventor of alternating current motor, high-frequency generator, and various devices and systems of generation, transmission, wireless.

1917. John J. Carter, Vice President of the American Telephone & Telegraph Co., largely responsible for modern development of telephone.

1918. Benjamin G. Lamme, chief engineer, Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co., mathematical calculator of a practical railway motor and many other machines.

1919. William LeRoy Emmet, consultant, General Electric Co., inventor of steam turbine, and recently of mercury vapor engine (TIME, Dec. 17).

1920. Michael Idvorsky Pupin, Serb immigrant boy, now professor of electromechanics, Columbia University; inventor of electrical "tuning," the resonator, inductance coil, etc.; author of From Immigrant to Inventor.

1921. Cummings C. Chesney, manager Pittsfield Works, General Electric Co., pioneer in polyphase and high-voltage transmission.

1922. Robert Andrews Millikan, isolator of the electron (TIME, Nov. 26).

1923. John William Lieb.

Kelvin Medal. Dr. Elihu Thomson, first recipient of the Edison Medal, was awarded the Kelvin Gold Medal, one of the highest British scientific honors. It was founded in 1914 by British and American engineers, and is awarded triennially by the presidents of the representative British societies. Dr. W. C. Unwin, leading hydraulic engineer of England, was the only previous winner. The Electrical World, in commenting, says of Elihu Thomson: "The 700 patents issued to him by the U. S. are a monument to his inventive work, which has extended to almost every field of electrical application."

John Fritz Medal. The John Fritz Gold Medal, one of the highest engineering honors in America, has been awarded for 1924 to Ambrose Swasey, of Cleveland. Mr. Swasey, born in New Hampshire in 1846, is now Vice Chairman of the Warner & Swasey Co., pioneer manufacturers of astronomical and optical apparatus, fine machine tools, precision instruments, military and naval rangefinders. Under his direction were built the 36-inch refractor at Lick Observatory, the 40-inch refractor at Yerkes Observatory (largest in the world), and the 72-inch reflecting telescope at the Dominion Observatory, Victoria, B. C. But his chief claim to fame is probably the establishment, through a gift of $500,000, of the Engineering Foundation, a joint research agency of the "big four" national engineering societies--civil, mechanical, electrical, mining-and-metallurgical.

The John Fritz Medal was established in 1902 in honor of John Fritz, of Pittsburgh, pioneer iron and steel manufacturer, and is awarded annually for notable scientific or industrial achievement. Previous Fritz medallists include Bell, Marconi, General Goethals, Sir Robert Had-field (famed British engineer-capitalist) and Eugene Schneider (head of the great Creusot steel works of France).

Other American medals of importance in the field of the physical and engineering sciences are the Elliott Cresson Medal, of the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, and the Rumford Medal. In Britain there are also the Hughes Medal of the Royal Society, the Bessemer Medal of the Iron and Steel Institute, and the John Scott Medal.