T. O'Conor (Thomas O'Conor) Sloane

Born in New York City in 1851, Thomas O'Conor Sloane built an unusually wide-ranging career as a scientist, inventor, educator, editor, and author. He studied at St. Francis Xavier's College and Columbia's School of Mines, and over the years wrote extensively on electricity, experiments, and practical science for general readers.

Sloane became well known through his science writing and editorial work. He is closely associated with The Standard Electrical Dictionary, a major reference work of its time, and he served as editor of Scientific American from 1886 to 1896. His long list of articles and books shows a strong gift for making technical subjects feel approachable.

Later, he became an important figure in early science fiction publishing as editor of Amazing Stories from 1929 to 1938. That role placed him near the beginning of magazine science fiction as a distinct field, giving him a lasting place in both popular science and genre history. He died in 1940.