Benjamin Smith Lyman
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Smith Lyman was an American
mining engineer, surveyor and amateur linguist
and anthropologist
.
. He graduated from Harvard University
in 1855. After working briefly as a school teacher, he worked as an assistant to his uncle by marriage on a topographical and geological survey of Broad Top Mountain in Pennsylvania
, which spurred his interest in geology
and mining engineering
. He went for a year's study at the Ecole Imperiale des Mines in Paris
(1859-60), followed by a practical course at the Freiburg Mining Academy in Freiberg
, Saxony
(1861-62). Upon returning to the United States, Lyman opened an office as a consulting mining engineer in Philadelphia and worked on surveys from Pennsylvania
to Nova Scotia
, Arizona
and California
.
In 1870, Lyman surveyed oil fields in the Punjab
for the Public Works Department of the government of British India, and developed a lasting interest in the Far East
.
In 1872, Lyman was hired by the Japanese government to survey the coal
and oil deposits of Hokkaidō
and along the Sea of Japan
coastline of Honshu
. His survey identified the most promising coal fields for Hokkaidō's eventually successful coal industry as well as reporting on progress in the reclamation of waste land
, the nature of the soil in various districts; the customs, physique, and folklore of the Ainu people
; useful ores and stones; the development of hydraulic power; importation of foreign capital; and the advantage of cooperation with foreign concerns in the mining industry. He stayed on in Japan from 1873-1879 as chief geologist and mining engineer to the Meiji government. While in Japan, he educated many Japanese in western techniques for natural resource surveys, and published the first geological map of Hokkaidō in 1876. Many of Lyman's Japanese assistants became proficient surveyors and some of them distinguished geologists, although his relations with the Hokkaidō Colonization Office
were often strained. Before leaving Japan, he encouraged his assistants to form the Geological Society of Japan and to publish a journal. He donated his house to the new society for use as its headquarters.
In his study of the Japanese language
, Lyman noticed that a necessary condition for the voicing (technically rendaku
) of the initial obstruent
of the second word in a compound is that the word contain no voiced obstruent in a later syllable. (A sufficient condition for predicting rendaku is not known.) This constraint has come to be known as "Lyman's Law".
After his return to the United States, Lyman returned to Northampton, and spent the next several years working on his reports, which he published at his own expense. He attended meetings of technical and scientific societies as well as the Oriental Club of Philadelphia
, and held a reception each year on the birthday of the Emperor of Japan
. Although he officially retired in 1895, Lyman made a journey to survey the coal lands near Mount Lantauan on Cebu
in the Philippines
, for a New York
company building a railroad there in 1906-07. On the way, he visited his former assistants in Japan. He hoped to re-visit Japan on his return trip, but was prevented by a long bout with dysentery
.
Lyman, a vegetarian for most of his life, published a scholarly cookbook of vegetarian recipes in 1917 at the age of 81. He died August 30, 1920, aged 84, in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania.
Many of his personal journals, books, maps and papers are preserved at the “Benjamin Smith Lyman Collection” at the University of Massachusetts
at Amherst
.
General Report on the Punjab Oil Lands
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mining engineer, surveyor and amateur linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
and anthropologist
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
.
Biography
Benjamin Smith Lyman was born in Northampton, MassachusettsNorthampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...
. He graduated from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1855. After working briefly as a school teacher, he worked as an assistant to his uncle by marriage on a topographical and geological survey of Broad Top Mountain in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, which spurred his interest in geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
and mining engineering
Mining engineering
Mining engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the practice, the theory, the science, the technology, and application of extracting and processing minerals from a naturally occurring environment. Mining engineering also includes processing minerals for additional value.Mineral...
. He went for a year's study at the Ecole Imperiale des Mines in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(1859-60), followed by a practical course at the Freiburg Mining Academy in Freiberg
Freiberg, Saxony
Freiberg is a city in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, administrative center of the Mittelsachsen district.-History:The city was founded in 1186, and has been a center of the mining industry in the Ore Mountains for centuries...
, Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
(1861-62). Upon returning to the United States, Lyman opened an office as a consulting mining engineer in Philadelphia and worked on surveys from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
to Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
In 1870, Lyman surveyed oil fields in the Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
for the Public Works Department of the government of British India, and developed a lasting interest in the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
.
In 1872, Lyman was hired by the Japanese government to survey the coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
and oil deposits of Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
and along the Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
coastline of Honshu
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
. His survey identified the most promising coal fields for Hokkaidō's eventually successful coal industry as well as reporting on progress in the reclamation of waste land
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
, the nature of the soil in various districts; the customs, physique, and folklore of the Ainu people
Ainu people
The , also called Aynu, Aino , and in historical texts Ezo , are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin...
; useful ores and stones; the development of hydraulic power; importation of foreign capital; and the advantage of cooperation with foreign concerns in the mining industry. He stayed on in Japan from 1873-1879 as chief geologist and mining engineer to the Meiji government. While in Japan, he educated many Japanese in western techniques for natural resource surveys, and published the first geological map of Hokkaidō in 1876. Many of Lyman's Japanese assistants became proficient surveyors and some of them distinguished geologists, although his relations with the Hokkaidō Colonization Office
Ministry of Colonial Affairs
The was a cabinet-level ministry in the government of the Empire of Japan from 1923-1942.-History:The original Ministry of Colonial Affairs was the short-lived Hokkaidō Colonization Office, established in the early Meiji period by Prime Minister Kuroda Kiyotaka to protect Japan's sparely populated...
were often strained. Before leaving Japan, he encouraged his assistants to form the Geological Society of Japan and to publish a journal. He donated his house to the new society for use as its headquarters.
In his study of the Japanese language
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, Lyman noticed that a necessary condition for the voicing (technically rendaku
Rendaku
is a phenomenon in Japanese morphophonology that governs the voicing of the initial consonant of the non-initial portion of a compound or prefixed word...
) of the initial obstruent
Obstruent
An obstruent is a consonant sound formed by obstructing airflow, causing increased air pressure in the vocal tract, such as [k], [d͡ʒ] and [f]. In phonetics, articulation may be divided into two large classes: obstruents and sonorants....
of the second word in a compound is that the word contain no voiced obstruent in a later syllable. (A sufficient condition for predicting rendaku is not known.) This constraint has come to be known as "Lyman's Law".
After his return to the United States, Lyman returned to Northampton, and spent the next several years working on his reports, which he published at his own expense. He attended meetings of technical and scientific societies as well as the Oriental Club of Philadelphia
Oriental Club of Philadelphia
The Oriental Club of Philadelphia is one of the oldest continuously-active academic clubs in the United States. It was founded on April 30th, 1888, with the aim of "bring[ing] together those interested in the several fields of Oriental study, for the interchange of ideas, and the encouragement of...
, and held a reception each year on the birthday of the Emperor of Japan
Emperor Meiji
The or was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 3 February 1867 until his death...
. Although he officially retired in 1895, Lyman made a journey to survey the coal lands near Mount Lantauan on Cebu
Cebu
Cebu is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu Island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands...
in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, for a New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
company building a railroad there in 1906-07. On the way, he visited his former assistants in Japan. He hoped to re-visit Japan on his return trip, but was prevented by a long bout with dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
.
Lyman, a vegetarian for most of his life, published a scholarly cookbook of vegetarian recipes in 1917 at the age of 81. He died August 30, 1920, aged 84, in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania.
Many of his personal journals, books, maps and papers are preserved at the “Benjamin Smith Lyman Collection” at the University of Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts
This article relates to the statewide university system. For the flagship campus often referred to as "UMass", see University of Massachusetts Amherst...
at Amherst
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County . The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts...
.
Partial listing of works
- 1868 -- Telescopic Measurement in Surveying
- 1870 -- General Report on the Punjab Oil Lands
- 1873 -- Topography of the Punjab Oil region
- 1874 -- Preliminary Report on the First Season's Work on the Geological Survey of Yesso
- 1877 -- A General Report on the Geology of Yesso
- 1877 -- Geological Survey of the Oil Lands of Japan
General Report on the Punjab Oil Lands
- 1878 -- Notes on Japanese Grammar
- 1879 -- Geological Survey of Japan: Reports of Progress for 1878 and 1879. Tookei: Public Works Department. OCLC: 13342563
- 1892 -- Japanese Swords
- 1893 -- The Great Mesozoic Fault in New Jersey
- 1894 -- Change from surd to sonant in Japanese compounds
- 1894 -- Age of Newark Brownstone
- 1894 -- Some New Red Horizons
- 1897 -- Against Adopting the Metric System
- 1900 -- Movements of Ground Water
- 1902 -- The Original Southern Limit of Pennsylvania Anthracite Beds
- 1904 -- Some Hindoo Marriage Ceremonies
- 1907 -- The Philippines
- 1909 -- Need of Instrument Surveying in Practical Geology
- 1912 -- Natural History Morality
- 1915 -- A Practical Rational Alphabet
- 1916 -- Natural Morality
- 1917 -- Vegetarian Diet and Dishes