Charles M. (Charles Mark) Turton

Charles Mark Turton (1861–1937) was an American physics educator whose work is closely tied to high-school science teaching in Chicago. Contemporary book records identify him as the head of the department of physics at Bowen High School, and list him among the coauthors of widely circulated classroom texts.

He collaborated on Manual of Experimental Physics for Secondary Schools and later on Physics, working with educators including Fred Richardson Nichols, Charles H. Smith, Willis E. Tower, and Thomas D. Cope. Those books were designed for students rather than specialists, with an emphasis on experiment, observation, and everyday physical phenomena.

A memorial notice from School Science and Mathematics shows how active he remained in the professional world of science teaching up to his death in 1937. Even from the limited surviving records, he comes across as a committed schoolman whose influence lived on through the textbooks generations of students and teachers continued to use.