author

Arthur S. C. Wurtele

1826–1886

An engineer as well as a writer, he turned technical questions into clear, practical reading. His best-known work compares American, British, and French systems of measurement and reflects the lively 19th-century debate over standards and the metric system.

1 Audiobook

Standard Measures of United States, Great Britain and France History and actual comparisons. With appendix on introduction of the mètre

Standard Measures of United States, Great Britain and France History and actual comparisons. With appendix on introduction of the mètre

by Arthur S. C. Wurtele

About the author

Born in 1826 and dying in 1886, Arthur S. C. Wurtele is remembered today for a concise but useful body of technical writing. His surviving published work shows a strong interest in measurement, engineering practice, and the everyday problems created when different systems and standards had to work together.

His best-known book, Standard Measures of United States, Great Britain, and France (1882), examines the history and comparison of major measuring systems and includes discussion of the introduction of the metre. The book itself identifies him as an assistant engineer with the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, which helps place him in the world of late-19th-century American rail and industrial engineering.

Wurtele wrote in a direct, practical way, aiming to make a specialized subject understandable to working readers. While only limited biographical detail was easy to confirm, his published work suggests a technically minded author who cared about precision, clarity, and the real-world consequences of standards.