In Memoriam: John P. Snyder (1926-1997)

Abstract

John P. Snyder, the internationally known authority on map projections, died on April 28, 1997. Although probably best known for his notable contributions and publications in his main field of expertise, his interests were wide and he was active in professional cartographic affairs. Born in Indianapolis, he received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering highest distinction from Purdue University in 1948. A year later he earned an M.S. in Chemical Engineering Practice from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. John Snyder had two quite different careers. From 1949 to 1980, he was employed as a chemical engineer, working first with Proctor and Gamble in Ohio, then with Congoleum Nairn in New Jersey, and, finally, from 1956 to 1980, with the Ciba-Geigy Corporation in Summit, New Jersey, where he rose to the rank of Senior Staff Engineer. Upon his retirement from Ciba-Geigy he began his second career in 1980 as a research scientist in the National Mapping Division of the U.S. Geological Survey where he remained until his retirement. John Snyder's life-long interest in maps first bore fruit with the publication in 1969 of a 294-page monograph on New Jersey's civil boundaries by the state's Bureau of Geology and Topography. Four years later in 1973 the Rutgers University Press published his first book. The Mapping of New Jersey--The Men and the Art. Even in high school John Snyder had as a hobby the mathematics of mapping a spherical surface on a plane and went on to study intensively the formulas for map projections. Luckily for everyone (except possibly Ciba-Geigy) he decided, while on vacation in 1976, to attend a Symposium on Geodesy and Cartography at Ohio State University. A bit of background is in order. The launching of the ERTS-LANDSAT satellites created the need for a new map projection on which to map the scanned swaths through all orbit cycles, an especially complex problem because both the ellipsoidal earth and the satellite are in continuous motion. Dr. Alden Colvocoresses of the U.S. Geological Survey conceived the need for such a projection with the ground track continuously at correct scale, conformal, and with minimum scale variation, which he named the Space Oblique Mercator Projection. Unfortunately, the various agencies and contractors had been unable to develop the necessary complex formulas. At the symposium, John Snyder heard Colvocoresses' description of the problem and was intrigued. Armed only with a hand calculator he set to work, and after countless hours of computation he developed the necessary formulas for the Space Oblique Mercator Projection. For this remarkable achievement the U.S. Geological Survey gave him in 1978 the John Wesley Powell Award which recognizes private citizens who make significant contributions to the Survey's work. This was the beginning of his second career. In 1978 he went on half-time at Ciba-Geigy and part-time in the National Mapping Division at the U. …