Louis Bell

Louis Bell (December 5, 1864 to June 14, 1923) was an American engineer, physicist, inventor, and academic. He was an early pioneer in illumination engineering and the transmission of electricity, being awarded 25 patents in power transmission. Biography Louis Bell was born December 5, 1864, in the small village of Chester, New Hampshire, the youngest child of Louis Bell (Sr.) and Mary Anne (Mollie) Persis Bouton. His father was a New Hampshire lawyer who died in 1865 while serving as a Union Army colonel at the battle of Fort Fisher during the American Civil War. His mother died shortly thereafter, leaving Louis Bell and his older sister Marion to be raised by their grandmother, Lucy G. Bell née Smith, the widow of prominent New Hampshire politician Samuel Bell. An intelligent boy, Bell was an avid reader, and his studies were encouraged by his grandmother. At the age of ten he attended the nearby Northwood Academy. Two years later, Bell was sent to be educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, and he matriculated to Dartmouth College in 1880. There he studied physics and chemistry, among other subjects, while taking an interest in astronomy. He graduated with an A.B. in 1884, after winning final honors in physics, honorable mention in English, and serving as associate editor of the The Dartmouth. After remaining a year at Dartmouth as a post-graduate, he spent three years in residence at Johns Hopkins University studying physics and chemistry under Henry A. Rowland. Bell was awarded a Ph.D. in 1888 with a thesis titled On the Absolute Wave-length of Light. He next joined the staff of Purdue University as a professor seated in the newly established chair of applied electricity. While there he organized the instruction as head of the newly founded school of electrical engineering. Resigning at the end of the year, he joined the consulting firm of Bliss and Bell. In 1890, he became editor of Electrical World, a weekly journal owned by the W. J. Johnston company. Bell would maintain a literary connection with the publication for the remainder of this life.