William Hastings Bassett

Background

He was born on March 7, 1868, in New Bedford, Massachussets, the son of William A. Bassett and Almira D. Mayhew. His forbears were old New England stock, typically seafaring merchants.

Education

After passing through the local schools he went to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he attained the bachelor's degree in 1891.

Career

Then followed four years as chemist for the Popes Island Manufacturing Company, four more teaching chemistry at the Swain Free School, New Bedford, and two years as chemist at the Newark plant of the New Jersey Zinc Company. After the American Brass Company was organized he went to its Coe Brass branch at Torrington, Connecticut, as chemist in 1902.

Brass-making at that time was an art that had been handed down from master to apprentice. The control of the output of a plant was in the hands of its melters; results were irregular, often unsatisfactory, and typically unexplained. Bassett began taking samples, analyzing them, and studying them under the microscope. He is said to have been the first person to develop methods for the microscopic examination of copper and copper alloys and to apply metallography to the manufacturing process. As a result the composition and quality of the plant output became accurately related, and the foundation was laid for large-scale manufacturing of brass goods of standard quality.

In 1903 Bassett was made chief chemist of the Coe plant and after 1912 he was designated technical superintendent and metallurgist for the American Brass Company. He was an adviser to the United States Bureau of Standards and took part in the work of the National Research Council.

Achievements

• In recognition of Bassett's metallurgical achievements, which included the invention of a reinforced hollow tube for high-tension electric power transmission and several important new alloys, he was awarded the James Douglas gold medal of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers in 1925 and was elected to the presidency of the Institute in 1930.

Membership

He was active in the affairs of many technical societies and at the time of his death was president of the American Society for Testing Materials.

Personality

A kindly and modest man of sound judgment and of long patience, he had a tendency to see the good in other people which contributed greatly to his ability to evoke good results from them.

Connections

He was married to Sarah H. Whiting at New Bedford on November 3, 1892, and they had three children: Alice Whiting, William Hastings, Jr. , and a son, Edward Whiting, who predeceased his father.

Father:

William A. Bassett

Mother:

Almira D. Mayhew

Wife:

Sarah H. Whiting

Daughter:

Alice Whiting

Son:

William Hastings

Son:

Edward Whiting

References

• The Official Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges 1934-35, Volume 1
• Industrial Explorers