author
Edwin A. Battison
1915–2009
A self-taught expert in machine tools and industrial history, he helped save an important armory building and turned it into the American Precision Museum. His work at the Smithsonian and beyond made the story of early American manufacturing vivid for later generations.
2 Audiobooks
Screw-Thread Cutting by the Master-Screw Method since 1480
by Edwin A. Battison
The Auburndale Watch Company : first American attempt toward the dollar watch
by Edwin A. Battison
About the author
Born in Windsor, Vermont, Edwin A. Battison developed an early fascination with tools, machinery, and how things were made. He worked in machine-tool companies in Vermont’s "Precision Valley" before going on to become a curator at the Smithsonian, where he focused on mechanical engineering and the history of technology.
Battison is especially remembered as the founder of the American Precision Museum in Windsor. He played a key role in preserving the historic Robbins and Lawrence Armory and building a major collection of early machine tools and manufacturing artifacts there. Through research, collecting, and public history work, he helped show how precision manufacturing shaped American industry.
He was also known as a writer, mentor, and serious researcher whose knowledge grew from hands-on experience as well as scholarship. That mix of practical skill and historical curiosity made him an important figure in preserving the history of invention, engineering, and industrial craftsmanship.