View source for Atherton Seidell

'''Atherton Seidell (1878-1961) was an American chemist and microfilm advocate.


'''Atherton Seidell''' was born in 1878 
He died July 25, 1961.

== Life ==
Seidell was one of the founders of the American Documentation Institute. Promoted microfilm and developed the Seidell viewer. Instigated the Current List of Medical Literature which later became Index Medicus. According to Sewell, 

"In 1926 at Maison de la Chimie in Paris he became acquainted with microfilm. Two years later in France he had to leave his family and laboratory to travel to Monaco to peruse a specialized journal. It occurred to him that this time-consuming trip would not have been necessary if microfilm facilities had been available for scholars and scientists engaged in library re-search. Thereafter he never stopped his efforts to encourage libraries to develop free microfilm service for patrons."

== Employment ==
* Dept. of Agriculture
* Public Health Service, 1907-1939.

== Contributions ==
*Seidell was one of the founders of the American Documentation Institute. 
*Promoted microfilm and with M. de Saint Rat, developed the inexpensive Seidell microform viewer. 
*Instigated the ''Current List of Medical Literature'' which later became Index Medicus.  

=== Publications ===
*''Solubilities of Inorganic and Organic Compounds''. New York, Van Nostrand, 1907 and several later editions.

== Awards ==
*National Microfilm Association. Pioneer Medal, 1961.
*French Legion of Honor
*Order of the Crown of Italy

== Further reading ==
*Hirtle, Peter B. "Atherton Seidell and the Photoduplication of Library Material." ''Journal of the American Society fpr Information Science'' 40, no 6( ): 424-431.
*"Atherton Seidell, Ph. D. 1878- Chemist." In: ''Notable contributions to medical research by Public Health Service scientists; a biobibliography to 1940'', comp. by Jeannette Barry. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1960, pp 73-75.

== Papers ==
National Library of Medicine, History of Medicine Division. Atherton Seidell Papers. Collection MS C 399. 1899-1986. [https://findingaids.nlm.nih.gov/repositories/ammp/resources/seidell399]