William Bowie as an isostasist and as a man

Abstract

I had the honor to be in intimate correspondence with William Bowie from 1923 until his death in 1940. Because Bowie's letters to me—40 in all—dealing with scientific and other questions of mutual interest will throw clear and pleasant light on Bowie's personality as a scientist and as a man, I shall include some quotations taken from these letters.It was fortunate for the geodetic science of the United States of America and of the whole world that there were as chiefs of the Division of Geodesy of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey such far‐seeing scientists as J. F. Hayford and later William Bowie. Their scientific interest and high authority resulted in the fact that this large and well‐established institution was not content with the practical results of the geodetic operations, such as the computing of the coordinates of the fixed points and the heights of the points of the precise leveling, but it tried also to draw conclusions of a purely scientific character and also to use the time of the staff for such purposes. As a result of this endeavor we have now, for instance, the “International Earth Ellipsoid” of Hayford, the “Bowie reduction” of the gravity anomalies, and the Hayford‐Bowie isostatic system.