biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1799–1873)
|
| biography:
| Inventor, born in Huntington, Pennsylvania, USA. A banker's son, he learned the watchmaker's trade and made a clock for the belfry of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. As an official of the US Mint (1837–43), he designed and built the balances used to verify standard weights, and became superintendent of weights and measures for the US Coast Survey (1843–73). Among other inventions, he patented a deep-sea thermometer and an ever-pointed pencil. |
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