Thomas Commerford Martin (July 22,1856–May 17,1924) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 electrical engineer

Electrical engineering

Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...

 and editor, born in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. His father worked with Lord Kelvin

William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin

William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin OM, GCVO, PC, PRS, PRSE, was a mathematical physicist and engineer. At the University of Glasgow he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging...

 and other pioneers of submarine telegraph cables

Submarine communications cable

A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean....

, and Martin spent much time on the cable-laying ship SS Great Eastern

SS Great Eastern

SS Great Eastern was an iron sailing steam ship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by J. Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall on the River Thames, London. She was by far the largest ship ever built at the time of her 1858 launch, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers around the...

. Educated as a theological student, Martin came to the United States in 1877. He was associated with Thomas A. Edison

Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...

 in his work in 1877–1879 and thereafter was engaged in editorial work. From 1883 to 1909 he served as editor of the Electrical World, after 1909 was executive secretary of the National Electric Light Association

National Electric Light Association

The National Electric Light Association was a national United States trade association including the operators of central power generation stations and interested individuals. Founded in 1885 by G. S. Bowen Terry and Charles A. Brown, it represented the interests of various private companies...

, and in 1900–1911 was a special agent of the United States Census Office

United States Census Bureau

The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

. At various times he lectured at the Royal Institution of Engineers, London, the Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 Société Internationale des Electriciens, the University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska–Lincoln

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is a public research university located in the city of Lincoln in the U.S. state of Nebraska...

, and Columbia

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. He was a founding member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers

American Institute of Electrical Engineers

The American Institute of Electrical Engineers was a United States based organization of electrical engineers that existed between 1884 and 1963, when it merged with the Institute of Radio Engineers to form the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers .- History :The 1884 founders of the...

, and served as president in 1887-1888.

Publications

• The Electric Motor and Its Applications (1887; third edition, 1888), with Joseph Wetzler
• Edison, His Life and Inventions,(1910), with Frank Lewis Dryer
• The Inventions, Researches, and Writings of Nikola Tesla
  The Inventions, Researches, and Writings of Nikola Tesla
  The Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla is a book compiled and edited by Thomas Commerford Martin detailing the work of Nikola Tesla. The book is a comprehensive compilation of Tesla's work with many illustrations.-Overview:...
  
  (1893; third edition, 1894);
• The Story of Electricity, 1919 (ed) with Stephen Leidy Coles
• Reminiscences Of Pioneer Days In St. Paul with Frank Moore,

External links

• See a listing of