Background
Harvey Nathaniel Davis was born on June 6, 1881 in Providence, Rhode Island. He was the son of Nathaniel French and Lydia Martin Bellows Davis. His father was professor of mathematics at Brown University.
Harvey Nathaniel Davis was born on June 6, 1881 in Providence, Rhode Island. He was the son of Nathaniel French and Lydia Martin Bellows Davis. His father was professor of mathematics at Brown University.
Davis studied mathematics and physical science at Brown University, receiving a B. A. in 1901 and an M. A. in 1902. He also taught mathematics at Brown before leaving for Harvard, where he earned a second M. A. in 1903 and a Ph. D. in 1906.
From 1904 until 1910 Davis served on the Harvard faculty as instructor of physics, and from 1910 to 1919 as assistant professor. He consistently directed his interests in physics toward the applied and utilitarian branches of the subject. Accordingly, in 1919 he was promoted to professor of mechanical engineering, a post he held until 1928, when he left Harvard to become president of Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N. J. Davis' bias toward applied science displayed itself in his research and publications.
He studied the properties of dry steam and in 1908, in collaboration with Lionel S. Marks, a colleague at Harvard, he published steam tables and diagrams, devices of the greatest use and interest to mechanical engineers. The Marks and Davis tables were corrected and reprinted many times and became standard sources for engineers and engineering students.
In 1913 Davis collaborated with another colleague, Newton Henry Black, on a textbook, Practical Physics for High Schools, that emphasized the applied rather than the pure aspects of the science. The authors made their attitude explicit when they asserted that "the study of physics is not merely an abstract mental exercise to be patiently undergone in the hope of training one's mind. It is rather a simple, straightforward attempt to understand and to use intelligently a multitude of familiar objects and devices that surround us on every hand. " In a similar spirit a later edition of the book stressed the "social and industrial uses" of physics over its structure as a cognitive system. Concepts were illustrated with familiar mechanisms; moreover, some theoretical aspects of physics (including molecular and atomic structure) were avoided. In a later volume (Elementary Practical Physics, 1938) the authors followed the same utilitarian and didactic approach; both books were widely used in high school physics courses.
Upon his succession to the presidency of the Stevens Institute of Technology, Davis lent his support to the principle of a unified, unspecialized engineering education. In opposition to the trend at engineering colleges toward an increasing number of specialized curricula (civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, and aeronautical engineering), Davis insisted on a single curriculum based on mathematics and the physical sciences, a program that was in harmony with the established tradition at Stevens--a college of mechanical engineering with a single degree. He also stressed the importance of the humanities in the training of engineers, and during the first few years of his administration the number of required humanities courses in the curriculum was sharply increased.
Among other innovations associated with Davis' presidency of Stevens were a summer engineering camp where students studied surveying; a camp for preparatory and high school juniors; an "economiccamp, " where working engineers gathered to discuss engineering problems in the context of economics; a graduate school; and a psychological testing laboratory.
After the United States entered World War I Davis often served as a science and engineering consultant for various government agencies as well as for private industry.
During 1917 and 1918 he left Harvard briefly, to work first with the General Electric Company and then with the science and research division of the War Department.
During World War II (November 1942 to June 1944) Davis served as director of the Office of Production Research and Development of the War Production Board. Davis retired as president emeritus of Stevens in 1951 and died in New York City the following year.
Davis became a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1920, a Fellow in 1936, and Honorary Membership was conferred upon him in 1947. In 1938 he served as President of the Society. He was honoured by membership and served with distinction in the prominent scientific, engineering, and learned societies in the United States and Europe.
In 1911 Davis married Suzanne C. Haskell; they had two daughters.
A year after Suzanne Davis' death in 1919 he married Alice M. Rohde; they had a daughter and a son.
Alice Davis died in 1933, and two years later he married Helen Clarkson Miller.