Louis Bell, A. B. '84, Sc. D. '23

Louis BELL entered Dartmouth four months before he was six-teen years old. He was a mere-schoolboy at the awkward age, red-headed, irascible, peppery, given to rages of temper, but with a brilliant mind. He was a shining mark for the barbed arrows of the sophs and they rode the unsophisticated freshie constantly. Often their attacks were venomous. He was quick to learn the game and before the year was half over he was able to retaliate in kind. In fact his superior wit and sarcasm enabled him to so far surpass them in the give and take that the sophs were glad to let him alone. He was a good student but not till his last two years did he show the brilliance that made him an outstanding student. The sciences and literature were the subjects in which he showed his ability. At the end of junior year he received honorable mention in physics, chemistry, and astronomy and at graduation had honorable mention in history and literature and final honors in physics.

For a year he did postgraduate work at Dartmouth and for two summers had charge of the Shattuck Observatory. It was here that he acquired his love for astronomy which increased as the years went by. We expected him to achieve greatness in literature but physics drew him more strongly and he went to Johns Hopkins to pursue his studies.

Receiving his Ph.D. in physics when only 23 years old, Bell was sent by Prof. Rowland with whom he had studied in Johns Hopkins to England to present the results of their joint research to the British Association for the Advancement of Science. The English at once realized his great ability, holding him from the first in highest respect, and retained him for years as vice-president of the Illuminating Society of London.

On his return from England he went to Purdue University where he organized the electrical engineering department of that school. After two years at Purdue he took the editorship of TheElectrical World in New York City and in two years he had firmly established that publication. Then he went to the General Electric Company as chief engineer of the newly organized electrical power transmission department. In 1893 he designed and installed at Redlands, Calif., the first three-phase transmission plant for general service which had almost miraculous efficiency. His books on Electric Power Transmission and The Art of Illumination were the first standard treatises on those subjects published in America.

Bell had charge of our Electrical Court Defence on the Atlantic and during the Spanish-American War and in the World War was a member of the advisory committee of the Council of National Defence. Among his contributions at this time was a working system of invisible signaling by means of ultra-violet rays.

In 1895 he established an office as consulting electrical engineer in Boston which he maintained till his death. His services were sought by cities and large corporations and were mutually profitable. Though his life work was in the electrical field, he never lost his interest in astronomy. During the years he was located in Boston he was a frequent and welcome visitor at the Harvard Observatory where he pursued his observations, incidentally advising and helping the staff there work out its problems. Worn out by some electrical problem or situation he sought relaxation in his study of stars and the marvels of the universe. His book on TheTelescope, written during his convalescence from pneumonia, is a standard for both amateur and professional astronomers. He found in his associations in the American Astronomical Society some of the greatest satisfactions of his life. He contributed liberally to the publications of both electrical and astronomical associations. In both fields he was recognized as a brilliant and indefatigable worker whom they delighted to honor.

Bell was a fair shot and at one time was amateur champion of America with the revolver. He was a member of the United States team that defeated France in an international match. He was a lover of nature. In a small wood lot behind his home he had naturalized many of the wild flowers of New England and spent many happy hours there.

Bell was a man of many accomplishments. His brilliant mind seemed to carry him at a bound to heights that most men must climb laboriously. An authority on electrical engineering, a noted astronomer, a sportsman, a forceful writer, a lover of art and nature, a fine conversationalist with a keen, kindly humor, a man among men in the best sense, he held to the last his boyish enthusiasm for things, all of which made him a delightful companion.

He loved Dartmouth and his classmates. Within a month of his death he made plans for observing the total solar eclipse of that year and hoped he might go. He was eager to attend Commencement at which his Alma Mater was to confer on him the degree Sc.D. which he had so honorably earned. But it was not to be. He died the day before the Commencement season began. The College, however, bestowed the degree posthumously, the only time in its history that a degree has been so given.