Physicist; born in New York City, Dec. 11, 1837; graduated at the
University of
Pennsylvania in 1857; took a post-graduate course in chemistry, and studied law; became instructor in chemistry and physics in the Protestant Episcopal Academy of Philadelphia; chosen resident secretary of the Franklin Institute in 1864; was a founder of the Philadelphia Dental College, and its first
Professor of Chemistry;
Professor of Physics and Chemistry in the
University of
Pennsylvania in 1867-68, and of Chemistry alone in 1869-70; and was chosen president of Stevens Institute of Technology, in
Hoboken, N. J., in 1870.
In 1868 he organized and conducted the expedition to observe and photograph the total solar eclipse in
Iowa; in 1873 was elected a member of the National Academy of Science; in 1878-86 was a member of the United States light-house board, succeeding
Prof. Joseph Henry.
Dr. Morton is widely known as an expert in questions relating to chemistry, electricity, and other branches of physics.
He edited the
Journal of the Franklin Institute in 1867-70, and, besides many researches in chemistry and physics, has published a translation of the trilingual hieroglyphic inscription of the
Rosetta stone, and with
Prof. A. R. Leeds,
The student's practical Chemistry.
He has given over $67,000 towards the endowment of Stevens Institute, and in 1900 announced his intention to present the
Institute with a power-house for the new Carnegie Laboratory.
