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William Joseph Hammer (February 26, 1858 – March 24, 1934) was an pioneer electrical engineer and aviator and he was president of the Edison Pioneers starting in 1908. He was a winner of the Elliott Cresson Medal.〔 ==Biography== He was born in Cressona, Pennsylvania on February 26, 1858 to William Hammer (1827–1895) and Martha Augusta Beck (1827–1861).〔〔 He became a laboratory assistant to Thomas Edison in December 1879, and assisted in the development of the incandescent light bulb.〔() Kahn, Mark "William J. Hammer Collection," National Air and Space Archives, Accession No. XXXX-0074. Pages 1-3. Retrieved November 11, 2011〕 He became one of the world's earliest experts in electric power distribution. He also built the world's first advertising sign using incandescent electric lights.〔Tell, Darcy "Times Square spectacular: lighting up Broadway," Smithsonian Books in association with Harper Collins, 2007. Page 35. ISBN 978-0-06-088433-8.〕 He was chief engineer when the English Edison Electric Light company built a central station in London to power 3,000 incandescent lamps on the Holborn Viaduct. This was the first large scale demonstration of a central station powering incandescent lighting, preceding the Pearl Street Station in New York City.〔() Bryan, George S., "Edison: The man and his work," Alfred A. Knopf, 1926, page 158. Retrieved November 11, 2011〕 Hammer invented the electric advertising sign, by constructing a ten foot long, four foot high sign with 12 bulbs for each letter of the name "Edison," which had a rotating drum switch to light the letters one by one and then all at once. It was exhibited at The Crystal Palace in London in February 1882.〔Stross, Randall "The wizard of Menlo Park," Crown Publishing, 2001, page 128. ISBN 978-1-4000-4762-8.〕 He collected examples of the Edison lamp at various stages of development, as well as pioneering incandescent lamps by other inventors. The collection eventually was purchased by General Electric placed in the Greenfield Village Museum, established by Henry Ford.〔() Bryan, Ford Richardson and Evans, Sarah, "Henry's attic: some fascinating gifts to Henry Ford and his museum," Wayne State University Press, 2006. Page 297. ISBN 0-8143-2642-0. Retrieved November 11, 2011.〕 He was a promoter of radium, after Marie and Pierre Curie gave him samples in 1902. He gave lectures on its properties and discussed its purported curative powers, as well as writing a book based on his lectures and demonstrations of radium and luminous and phosphorescent substances.〔Hammer, William Joseph "Radium, and other radio-active substances: polonium, actinium, and thorium, D. Van Nostrand Company, 1903. Retrieved November 11, 2011〕〔() Quinn, Susan "Marie Curie: a life," Da Capo Press, 1996. Page 196. ISBN 978-0-201-88794-5. Retrieved November 11, 2011〕 He was the first to propose Radium as a treatment for cancer.〔() Gross, Ernie "This day in American history," Neal Schumann Publishers, 1990. Page 70. ISBN 1-55570-046-2. Retrieved November 11, 2011〕 In 1903, he and Dr. Willy Meyer used radium to treat an incurable tumor, and it was observed to shrink and become less painful, though the patient was not cured.〔() Scientific American: Supplement, Volume 56, Number 1455, page 23315, November 21, 1903. Retrieved November 11, 2011〕 He invented the luminous Radium dial for watches and other instruments, widely used in World War 1 and thereafter.〔 Hammer was an early promoter of aviation, and an associate of many of the aviation pioneers, and testified as an expert.〔 He authored the book ''Radium, and other radioactive substances''. He died of pneumonia on March 24, 1934 in New York. Whether or not his death had any connection with radium is to this day unclear. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William Joseph Hammer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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