Meinzer gained his early education in local schools, supplemented by study at home. In 1896 he enrolled in Beloit Academy in Wisconsin.
College/University
Gallery of Oscar Meinzer
700 College St, Beloit, WI 53511, United States
In 1897 Meinzer enrolled in Beloit College, from which he graduated magna cum laude in 1901.
Gallery of Oscar Meinzer
5801 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, United States
Meinzer was a graduate student in geology at the University of Chicago in 1906-1907 and received the Doctor of Philosophy degree, again magna cum laude, in 1922.
Career
Gallery of Oscar Meinzer
1916
United States
Portrait photograph of Oscar Edward Meinzer.
Achievements
Membership
Society of Economic Geologists
Oscar Edward Meinzer was a member of the Society of Economic Geologists.
Washington Academy of Sciences
Oscar Edward Meinzer was a member of the Washington Academy of Sciences.
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Oscar Edward Meinzer was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Phi Beta Kappa
Oscar Edward Meinzer was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa.
Sigma Xi
Oscar Edward Meinzer was a member of the Sigma Xi.
Cosmos Club
Oscar Edward Meinzer was a member of the Cosmos Club.
5801 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637, United States
Meinzer was a graduate student in geology at the University of Chicago in 1906-1907 and received the Doctor of Philosophy degree, again magna cum laude, in 1922.
Oscar Edward Meinzer was an American hydrogeologist. He sometimes is referred to as the "father of modern groundwater hydrology."
Background
Meinzer, Oscar Edward was born on November 28, 1876, in Davis, Illinois, United States to the family of William Meinzer and Mary Julia Meinzer, farmers. Meinzer’s grandparents, who had emigrated from Prussia to escape from a culture they had found oppressive, may have directly influenced Meinzer’s future religious convictions, independent thought, hatred of war, and industriousness. As a child, Meinzer exhibited an enthusiastic curiosity about his surroundings, especially about the glacial till that rested on his father’s fields and the fluctuating groundwater supply that occasionally left the family well dry.
Education
Meinzer gained his early education in local schools, supplemented by study at home. In 1896 he enrolled in Beloit Academy in Wisconsin and, a year later, in Beloit College, from which he graduated magna cum laude in 1901. He was a graduate student in geology at the University of Chicago in 1906-1907 and received the Doctor of Philosophy degree, again magna cum laude, in 1922.
Oscar Edward Meinzer became a junior geologist on ground-water investigations (1907), acting chief (1912), and chief, ground-water division (1913), a post which he held until retirement on 30 November 1946. In that same year, he received an honorary doctorate from Beloit College.
In 1918, Meinzer has commissioned a Captain of Engineers and had his orders for overseas duty when the armistice was signed.
During his thirty-four years as the chief, groundwater division (now branch) of the United States Geological Survey, Meinzer became the main architect in the development of the modern science of ground-water hydrology. He organized and trained a large number of scientists and engineers, many of whom became recognized international authorities in this vastly expanded field. When he began, the study of underground water was an insignificant and poorly appreciated art.
During his early years as chief, Meinzer initiated the development of the science of ground-water hydrology. The need for more precise and comprehensive methods to determine the perennial yield of aquifers led him to devise a quantitative approach. In a report, Outline of Methods for Estimating Ground-Water Supplies, Meinzer described twenty-six approaches, eleven of which are applicable, though not exclusively, to aquifers and parts of aquifers under water table conditions. Five of the methods are applicable to aquifers in which water moves considerable distances from intake to discharge areas.
As part of the study of ground-water hydrology, Meinzer established a laboratory, where, along with other experiments and tests, he was able to prove that as long as the flow of water through granular material is laminar, the velocity is directly proportional to the hydraulic gradient - that is, the flow conforms to Darcy’s law. For field investigations, Meinzer proposed and encouraged the development of geophysical methods and such instrumentation as automatic water-stage recorders on wells. He was in the vanguard of those pioneers who urged pumping tests and other analytical tests on wells to obtain quantitative information on the water-bearing properties of aquifers. Among these was the method of Gunter Thiem, which was tested in the field and described by L. K. Wenzel.
The quantitative methods described by Wenzel, and those developed by C. V. Theis, and later C. E. Jacobs and others under Meinzer’s supervision, provided additional means for determining the perennial yield of aquifers.
Meinzer pioneered in the teaming of men of these disciplines, in particular geologists and engineers. Beginning about 1930, as the demand for ground-water investigations began to increase rapidly, Meinzer and his assistants trained and supervised dozens of geologists and engineers, many of whom, with that fundamental training, were able to develop more sophisticated tools and techniques.
Meinzer was a rather religious Presbyterian. His brother was a minister.
Politics
Meinzer's colleagues remembered him to have conservative political views and supporting the Prohibition.
Views
Meinzer realized that in addition to locating and defining ground-water basins, as had been the earlier practice, the principles governing occurrence, movement, and discharge of groundwater must be determined, and methods had to be devised and tested for determining the quantity and quality of available groundwater. In order to standardize terms and describe principles, he prepared Outline of Ground-Water Hydrology, With Definitions, and The Occurrence of Ground Water in the United States, With a Discussion of Principles. Among his definitions, he proposed the term “phreatophyte” taken from Greek roots meaning a “well plant,” which like a water well taps the groundwater supply, especially in arid regions in contrast to most plants which derive their water from soil moisture in humid regions. That term, together with many of his logical definitions, continues to be used. In his definitions, he explained the significant difference between “porosity” and “effective porosity” and the relation of these terms to specific yield, which many hydrologists failed to recognize.
Meinzer also emphasized the need for studying the chemical quality and geochemistry of water, as well as salt-water encroachment in aquifers. Among the research studies on geochemistry were investigations of natural softening of water and the source of some elements, such as fluoride. One of the early reports, prepared by John S. Brown under Meinzer’s supervision, introduced to this country the Ghyben-Herzberg formula to estimate the extent of salt-water encroachment in aquifers in which freshwater is in dynamic equilibrium with seawater.
Meinzer recognized that aquifers are functional components of the hydrologic cycle, and that groundwater investigations require special skills of the geologist, engineer, physicist, chemist, and others.
Membership
Meinzer was a member of the Society of Economic Geologists, Washington Academy of Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, and Cosmos Club.
Society of Economic Geologists
,
United States
Washington Academy of Sciences
,
United States
American Association for the Advancement of Science
,
United States
Phi Beta Kappa
,
United States
Sigma Xi
,
United States
Cosmos Club
,
United States
Personality
Meinzer was a devout non-drinker but he was not only lenient about smoking but actually indulged in the habit in an amateurish sort of way. Meinzer generally was very polite and mild-mannered, seldom raised his voice, and almost never used any words even bordering on profanity.
Quotes from others about the person
"Mr. Meinzer was as highly esteemed by colleagues of his generation, including cooperating state officials, as he was by members of his own staff." - George B. Maxey, American hydrogeologist
"Mr. Meinzer and my father were the two greatest men I ever knew, and Meinzer was the finest supervisor I ever had the pleasure of serving under, and most of my colleagues agree." - George B. Maxey, American hydrogeologist
Connections
Meinzer married Alice Breckenridge Crawford in October 1906. They had two sons: Robert William who was adopted and Roy Crawford.