Oscar S. Adams

American mathematician and geodesist (1874–1962)

M. Edna Fuller
​
(m. 1900⁠–⁠1935)​
;
  • Pauline G. Pealer
    ​
    (m. 1937)​
    • Scientific careerFieldsGeodesy; cartographyInstitutionsU.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, D.C.

    Oscar Sherman Adams (January 9, 1874 – March 5, 1962) was an American mathematician, geodesist, and cartographer who worked for the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1910 to 1944. He was one of the foremost experts on map projections, and was instrumental in the foundation of the North American Datum of 1927 and the State Plane Coordinate System.

    Life and career

    Early life, military service, and school administration

    Adams was born January 9, 1874, on a farm near Mount Vernon, Ohio, the youngest child of David Washington Adams and Louisa A. Adams (née McElroy). He attended local public schools in Gambier, and was an undergraduate student at Kenyon College, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree as valedictorian of the class of 1896.[1][2][3]

    Both of Adams's parents died in 1893, when he was 19 years old.[4]

    In April 1898 the Spanish–American War began. Adams joined Company L of the Fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteers Infantry and was sent as a corporal to fight in the Puerto Rico campaign. The 4th Ohio arrived in Puerto Rico on August 3, captured the town of Guayama, and were set to make another attack when an armistice was signed and hostilities abruptly ended on August 12. By early November the regiment was back home, and in January was disbanded.[5]

    After the war, Adams returned to Ohio to teach mathematics, and became the superintendent of schools in Centerburg 1899–1903, Dover 1903–1905, and Rock Creek 1905–1906; he was high school principal in North Madison 1906–1910.[1][6]

    Coast and Geodetic Survey

    The Richards Building, Washington, D.C. headquarters of the C&GS until 1929

    In 1910, Adams took a job as a geodetic computer with the Coast and Geodetic Survey (C&GS) in Manila, the Philippines, at that time an unincorporated U.S. territory conquered in the Spanish–American War. In 1913, he was assigned to the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the C&GS, where he remained until his retirement.[7][8]

    In 1915, Adams published a technical manual (about adjusting triangulation networks) for the C&GS, the first of many, for which he earned a Master of Arts degree from Kenyon;[9] in 1922 Kenyon awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science degree.[3]

    In September 1917, with the entry of the United States into World War I, Adams and many other C&GS employees were transferred to the military, Adams as a first lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers.[10] While many of the newly minted C&GS Corps officers were sent on field missions overseas, for instance as marine navigators or artillery orienteering officers,[11] Adams stayed in Washington, D.C. and in less than two months was discharged back to the C&GS.[12][13]

    Adams rose through the geodesy ranks at the C&GS, from geodetic computer to mathematician, senior mathematician, and finally principal mathematician, one of the top technical positions.[14] During the 1920s–1940s he was one of the top theoretical experts on geodesy and map projections within the U.S. federal government, personally making many decision about the projections used for maps of the United States and various states, and overseeing their computations.

    Personal life, retirement and death

    On June 20, 1900, Adams, then superintendent of Centerburg, Ohio, married Mary Edna Fuller. The couple had three children together, Catherine, Jane Elizabeth, and George David.[1][6]

    In November 1935, Adams's wife Edna died.[15] Two years later, in 1937, Adams married the widow Pauline Gleason Pealer; they had one daughter, Carola Ann.[1]

    In July 1944, Adams retired from the C&GS and moved back to Ohio with his wife, to a farm they bought near Mount Vernon.[14] About 18 years later, on March 5, 1962, he died of viral pneumonia, age 88; he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.[8][16][17]

    Geodesy

    This section is not yet complete.

    Triangulation adjustment

    North American Datum

    State plane coordinates

    Map projections

    This section is not yet complete.

    ...

    Other professional activities

    This section is not yet complete.

    ...

    In the late 1910s, Adams was a regular contributor of problems and solutions to the American Mathematical Monthly.[18]

    Bibliography

    Books and technical reports

    • Adams, Oscar S. (1915), Application of the Theory of Least Squares to the Adjustment of Triangulation, Department of Commerce, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington: Government Printing Office, Special Publication No. 28
    • —— (1918), Lambert Projection Tables for the United States, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 52
    • —— (1918), General Theory of the Lambert Conformal Conic Projection (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 53
    • —— (1919), General Theory of Polyconic Projections, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 57[19]
    • —— & William Bowie (1919), Grid System for Progressive Maps in the United States (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 59
    • —— (1919), A Study of Map Projections in General, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 60
    • —— (1921), Latitude Developments Connected with Geodesy and Cartography (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 67[20]
    • —— & Charles H. Deetz (1921), Elements of Map Projection with Applications to Map and Chart Construction, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 68; revised ed. 1928, 3rd ed. 1931, 4th ed. 1935, 5th ed. 1945[21]
    • —— (1921), Radio-Compass Bearings, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 75
    • —— (1924), Some Elementary Examples of Least Squares (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Serial No. 250
    • —— (1925), Elliptic Functions Applied to Conformal World Maps (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 112
    • —— (1926), Report on the Readjustment of the First-Order Triangulation Net of the Western Part of the United States (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Serial No. 350
    • —— (1927), Tables for Albers Projection (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 130
    • —— (1929), Conformal Projection of the Sphere within a Square (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, hdl:2027/osu.32435001559756, Special Pub. No. 153
    • —— (1930), The Bowie Method of Triangulation Adjustment (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 159
    • —— (1930), Triangulation on Colorado [1927 Datum] (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 160
    • —— (1933), Plane Coordinate Systems, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Serial No. 562; revised eds. 1936, 1948
    • —— (1935), First and Second Order Triangulation and Traverse in North Carolina (1927 Datum) (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 192; Volume 2, No. 218, 1940
    • —— & Charles N. Claire (1935), Manual of Plane-Coordinate Computation (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 193; reprinted 1948
    • —— & Charles N. Claire (1935), Manual of Traverse Computation on the Lambert Grid (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 194
    • —— & Charles N. Claire (1935), Manual of Traverse Computation on the Transverse Mercator Grid (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 195
    • —— (1936), Azimuths from Plane Coordinates (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Serial No. 584
    • —— & L. G. Simmons (1944), Geographic Positions by Machine Computation (PDF), Coast and Geodetic Survey
    • —— (1945), General Theory of Equivalent Projections (PDF), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Pub. No. 236

    Papers

    • Adams, Oscar S. & Walter D. Lambert (1921), "Mathematical Problems in the Work of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey", The American Mathematical Monthly, 28 (10): 363–368, doi:10.1080/00029890.1921.11986065, JSTOR 2972157
    • Adams, Oscar S. (1923), "The Results of the Triangulation Done in California in 1922 to Test the Stability of the Earth's Surface", Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 4: 90–91, doi:10.1029/tr004i001p00090
    • —— (1924), "Projections as Framework for Maps", The Military Engineer, 16 (88): 320–322, JSTOR 44693676
    • —— (1925), "Projections for Maps: New Conformal World Maps Derived from Elliptic Functions", Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 6: 45–46, doi:10.1029/TR006i001p00045
    • —— (1925), "The Rhombic Conformal Projection", Bulletin Géodésique, 5: 1–26, doi:10.1007/BF03400532
    • —— (1926), "The Readjustment of the First-Order Triangulation in the Western Half of the United States", Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 7: 51–53, doi:10.1029/tr007i001p00051
    • —— (1927), "Loop-Closures Resulting from the Readjustment of the First-Order Triangulation in the Western Part of the United States", Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 8: 62–65, doi:10.1029/TR008i001p00062
    • —— (1927), "Circuit Closures In Triangulation", The Military Engineer, 19 (104): 153, JSTOR 44572751
    • —— (1928), "Readjustment of the Triangulation in the Western Part of the United States", Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 9: 44, doi:10.1029/TR009i001p00044
    • —— (1928), アダムス氏蝶々地圖 [Mathematical Theory of the Conformal Butterfly Map], Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan, ser. 2 (in Japanese), 6 (12): 456–458, doi:10.2151/jmsj1923.6.12_456
    • —— & Walter D. Lambert (1929), "A Form for the Computation of Geodetic Positions", Bulletin Géodésique, 22: 55–63, doi:10.1007/BF03031137
    • —— (1929), "Review: The Chequered Career of Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, First Superintendent of the United States Coast Survey, by Florian Cajori", The American Mathematical Monthly, 36 (5): 283–285, doi:10.1080/00029890.1929.11986955, JSTOR 2298514
    • —— (1931), "Parabolic Equal-Area Projection World Map", The Military Engineer, 23 (129): 264–265, JSTOR 44688069
    • —— (1932), "Geographical centers", The Military Engineer, 24 (138): 586–587, JSTOR 44566445
    • —— (1934), "Plane Coordinate-Systems for Individual States", Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 15 (1): 36–38, doi:10.1029/TR015i001p00036
    • —— (1934), "Flatland: Not a romance but a necessary expedient", Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 24 (5): 201–216, JSTOR 24522293
    • —— (1936), "Conformal Map of the World in a Square, Poles in the Middle of Opposite Sides", Bulletin Géodésique, 52: 461–473, doi:10.1007/BF03031271
    • —— (1937), "Plane Coördinate Systems in Regional Surveys", The Military Engineer, 29 (163): 10–12, JSTOR 44555332
    • —— (1936), "Computation of a Plane-Coordinate Table for a Zone on the Lambert Grid" (PDF), Geodetic Letter, 3 (3): 13–15
    • —— (1936), "Computation of a Plane-Coordinate Table for a Zone on the Transverse Mercator Grid" (PDF), Geodetic Letter, 3 (3): 15–17
    • —— (1937), "State-wide Systems of Plane Coordinates" (PDF), Geodetic Letter, 4 (1): 10–16
    • —— (1939), "Discussion of Paper No. 2038: R. R. Rowe, 'The Three-Point Problem in a Co-ordinated Field'", Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, 104: 1325–1326, doi:10.1061/TACEAT.0005033
    • —— (1944), "Notes on the Geometry of the Triangle", The American Mathematical Monthly, 51 (2): 85–87, doi:10.1080/00029890.1944.11991480, JSTOR 2304084

    Notes and references

    1. ^ a b c d Rappleye, Howard S., ed. (1962), "Deaths", Surveying and Mapping, 22 (1): 324
    2. ^ "Oscar Sherman Adams", Local History: The Writers of Knox County, Mt. Vernon, Ohio: Knox County Historical Society
    3. ^ a b The Sixty-eighth Annual Commencement of Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio: Kenyon College, June 18, 1896, Valedictory Address, The First Honor: Oscar Sherman Adams. [...] Candidates for the Degree of Bachelor of Science. // Oscar Sherman Adams, 1st Honor, Gambier
      The Eighty-seventh Annual Commencement of Kenyon College and Bexley Hall, Gambier, Ohio: Kenyon College, June 14, 1915, Master of Arts // Oscar Sherman Adams, B. S., '96

      The Ninety-fourth Annual Commencement of Kenyon College and Bexley Hall, Gambier, Ohio: Kenyon College, June 19, 1922, Honorary Degrees // Doctor of Science // Oscar Sherman Adams, '96 B. S., '15 A. M., Washington, D. C.

    4. ^ Record of Deaths, Knox County, Ohio, May 1894 – via FamilySearch, Monroe Township: // Adams, David W., date of death: 1893 Dec, cause: Typhoid Fever // Adams, Louisa, date of death: 1893 Nov, cause: Heart Failure
    5. ^ "Fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Company L", The Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War with Spain, 1898–1899, Columbus, Ohio: Edward T. Miller, 1916, p. 303: Oscar S. Adams, Corporal, Gambier // Age 24. Enrolled as Private. Appointed Corporal July 1, 1898, per R. O. No. 541⁄2. Mustered out with Company.
      McSherry, Patrick (2009) [2003], "A Brief History of the 4th Ohio Volunteer Infantry", Spanish American War Centennial Website

      Barnes, Mark R. (2001), McSherry, Patrick (ed.), "The American Army Moves on Puerto-Rico: Part 3", Spanish American War Centennial Website

    6. ^ a b Cattell, J. McKeen & Dean R. Brimhall, eds. (1921), "Adams, Oscar S(herman)", American Men of Science: A Biographical Directory (3rd ed.), Garrison, New York: The Science Press, p. 4
    7. ^ Adams, Oscar S. (1931), "Oscar (S)herman Adams, Senior mathematician, Division of Geodesy", Who's Who in the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey (PDF), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
    8. ^ a b "O. S. Adams, 88, 34 Years With Geodetic Survey", Washington Evening Star, p. B-4, March 6, 1962
    9. ^ "Kenyon Alumnus Completes Important Government Work", The Kenyon Collegian, vol. 42, no. 4, November 6, 1915, p. 3: Oscar S. Adams, B. S., '95, is the compiler of a table of United States Coast and Geodetic Survey computations, recently published by the government. The title of the publication is 'Application of the Theory of Least Squares to the Adjustment of Triangulation.' ¶ [...] Last commencement Mr. Adams received his A. M. degree from Kenyon College in recognition of his valuable work.
    10. ^ Wilson, Woodrow (September 24, 1917), "Executive Order [2707]", Origin and Development of the NOAA Corps, by Nygren, Harley D., Rockville, Maryland: U.S. Department of Commerce (published 1975), NOAA ID No. 14019, p. 15: Also there shall be transferred to the service and jurisdiction of the War Department, and I do hereby appoint and direct that they be commissioned and ordered to active duty as of date of this order in the Officer's Reserve Corps in the grades set opposite their names, the following named persons now part of the personnel of the Coast and Geodetic Survey: [...] Oscar S. Adams, 1st Lieut. U. S. R.
    11. ^ Colbert, Leo Otis (1939), "The Coast and Geodetic Survey: Its Part in the National Defense", The Military Engineer, 31 (180): 397–400, JSTOR 44691576
    12. ^ Wilson, Woodrow (January 9, 1918), "Executive Order [2782]", Official Bulletin, 2 (218) (published January 26, 1918), p. 16: The following-named persons who were transferred to the service and jurisdiction of the War Department by Executive order of September 24, 1917, are returned to their former status in the service and jurisdiction of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, Department of Commerce, effective on the dates specified after their names: [...] Oscar S. Adams, November 16, 1917
    13. ^ Military and Naval Service of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1917–1919 (PDF) (unpublished manuscript), U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1919, pp. 66½–67: ADAMS, OSCAR S., First Leiutenant, Engineers Reserve Corps, U. S. A.: On September 24, 1917, by Executive Order No. 2707, he was transferred to the service and jurisdiction of the War Department. Previous to his transfer he was with the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and was employed as a geodetic computer. He served under the Chief of Engineers, U. S. A., in the U. S. Engineers Officers Reserve Corps until November 7, 1917, when he was discharged on account of being physically disqualified for active service. By Executive Order No. 2762, he was returned to the Service and jurisdiction of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Department of Commerce on November 16, 1917.
    14. ^ a b "Dr. O. S. Adams Retires From Geodetic Survey", Washington Evening Star, July 6, 1944, p. A-9: Dr. Adams, a native of Ohio and a graduate of Kenyon College, entered Government service in 1910 as a computer in the office of the Coast and Geodetic Survey in Manila. He has been assigned to the Washington office since 1913.

      "Dr. Oscar Adams Quits Geodetic Survey Post", Washington Evening Star, July 7, 1944, p. A-7: Dr. Oscar Sherman Adams, 70, has retired as principal mathematician of the Coast and Geodetic Survey after 34 years' service, it was announced today, and plans to return to Ohio at the end of this month. ¶ Dr. Adams entered the survey as a computer in 1910 and rose through many promotions to his las post, one of the principal technical positions in the organization. ¶ [...] Dr. Adams and his wife [will] leave for a farm they recently purchased near Mount Vernon, Ohio, near the birthplace of both Dr. And Mrs. Adams.

    15. ^ "Mrs. O. S. Adams Funderal Rites Set Tomorrow", The Washington Post, p. 10, November 24, 1935
    16. ^ Certificate of Death: Oscar S. Adams, Ohio Department of Health, March 5, 1962 – via FamilySearch, Cause of Death: Viral Pneumonia
    17. ^ "Oscar S Adams, Jan 9, 1874 – Mar 5, 1962", Veterans Legacy Memorial, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Arlington National Cemetery, Section 6, Site 9658-SS
    18. ^ Problems in The American Mathematical Monthly submitted by Adams:
      • No. 413, 23 (7), 1916, solved 24 (4), 1917;
      • No. 422, 24 (1), 1917, solved 24 (7), 1917;
      • No. 505, 24 (1), 1917, solved 24 (7), 1917;
      • No. 424, 24 (2), 1917, solved 24 (8), 1917;
      • No. 425, 24 (3), 1917, solved 26 (2), 1919;
      • No. 2856, 27 (10), 1920, solved 37 (10), 1930
      Published solutions submitted by Adams:
      • No. 409, 24 (3), 1917;
      • No. 420, 24 (6), 1917;
      • No. 437, 25 (5), 1918;
      • No. 2804, 28 (5), 1921

      Adams also submitted several solutions which were credited but not published.

    19. ^ Review:
      Whittemore, James K. (1920), "General Theory of Polyconic Projections. by Oscar S. Adams", The American Mathematical Monthly, 27 (10): 369–372, doi:10.1080/00029890.1920.11985969, JSTOR 2972557
    20. ^ Review:
      Dowling, L. W. (1922), "Latitude Developments Connected with Geodesy and Cartography. By Oscar S. Adams", Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, 28: 473, doi:10.1090/S0002-9904-1922-03631-2
    21. ^ Reviews:
      • Bowie, William (1921), "Elements of Map Projection ... by Charles H. Deetz, and Oscar S. Adams", The American Journal of Science, 5th ser., 2 (11): 306–307;
      • "Elements of Map Projection ... By Charles H. Deetz, and Oscar S. Adams", Journal of the Franklin Institute, 192 (2): 269–270, 1921;
      • Whitehouse, Wallace E. (1922), "U.S.A. Coast and Geodetic Survey Publications. I.", The Geographical Teacher, 11 (62): 261–263;
      • Swick, C. H. (1922), "A Manual of Map Projection", Geographical Review, 12 (3): 518, JSTOR 207993;
      • De Marchi, L. (1923), "Ch. H. Deetz and O. S. Adams – Elements of Map Projection ...", Scientia (in French), 17 (34): 273–274;
      • Young, Alfred E. (1923), "Elements of Map Projection ...— Charles H. Deetz and Oscar S. Adams", The Geographical Journal, 61 (3): 219–220, JSTOR 1781683


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