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John Williams Langley was the son of Samuel and Mary Sumner (Williams) Langley and the brother of Samuel P. Langley, astronomer and aeronautical pioneer. He was born in Boston, Massachussets, where his father was a wholesale merchant and in later life a banker.
He was educated in public and private schools in Boston. He entered the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard, from which he received the degree of B. S. in 1861. He was awarded the honorary degree of M. D. by the University of Michigan in 1877.
After working as a chemist for a year in Boston, Langley enlisted in the navy and because of his medical knowledge was assigned for a few months to the Charlestown Navy Yard as acting assistant examining surgeon. He was then transferred to the United States gunboat Pampero, stationed at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and saw service on this vessel for one and one-half years.
Resigning September 1, 1864, he returned to his parents' home in Newton, Massachussets, and for the succeeding three years engaged with his brother Samuel in the building of several refracting telescopes and finally, an eight-inch glass reflector. Scientific interest alone prompted this activity of the brothers, and following it they spent much of the year 1868 in Europe, visiting scientific institutions, observatories, and art galleries.
Upon his return John was appointed assistant professor of chemistry at the Western University of Pennsylvania, now the University of Pittsburgh, where he remained for five years. He then accepted a call to the University of Michigan as acting professor of general chemistry and physics; in 1877 he became full professor, resigning in 1888 to take a position as chemist and metallurgist for the Crescent Steel Works, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Four years later he returned to university work, this time as professor of electrical engineering at the Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained until his retirement in 1906. He was a consultant for several steel manufacturers and was employed as expert in some twenty patent cases involving metallurgical processes. In 1889 he organized the International Committee for Standards of Analysis of Iron and Steel, the work of which was taken over later by the United States Bureau of Standards. He died in Ann Arbor.
During his whole career Langley was engaged in chemical and metallurgical research in iron and steel, the results of which were published in scientific journals. Among his papers were "On the Relationship of Structure, Density and Chemical Composition of Steel" (American Chemist, November 1876); "On the Sub-Aqueous Dissociation of Certain Salts, " with C. K. McGee (Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1883); and "The Use of Electrolysis in Technical Chemical Processes" (Journal of the American Chemical Society, January 1894).
On September 12, 1871, Langley married Martica Irene Carret of Charlestown, Massachussets. He had two daughters and a son.
