Austin McDowell Patterson

Life

Austin McDowell Patterson (1876-1956) was a US specialist in chemical documentation.

Relevant Employment

Chemical Abstracts Service

Contributions

Patterson taught at: Center College 1900-01; Rose Polytechnic Institute 1901-03; Chemical Editor, Webster's New International Dictionary 1903-07; Associate editor/editor, Chemical Abstracts 1907-14; Antioch College: Chairman Chemistry Department 1921-41; Vice-Pres. 1930-41; Emeritus prof., Antioch until 1955.

He worked on indexing organic compounds for Chemical Abstracts, leading to the development of a compound naming system. He wrote The Ring Index with Capell, listing/cataloging ring systems. He was a nomenclature pioneer at CAS. He was known for his English-German and English-French Dictionaries for Chemists as well as his column "Words about Words." With E. J. Crane, he published A Guide to the Literature of Chemistry.

• Patterson helped found Chemical Abstracts.

Crane said, "He was the leading authority on the world on the nomenclature of chemistry. He...has done more to solve the problems of chemical nomenclature than anyone else. He was ever willing to help those having difficulty naming chemical substances."

Publications

• A Guide to the Literature of Chemistry, by E.J. Crane, A. M. Patterson & C. W. Reeder. New York: Wiley, 1927.
• A German-English Dictionary for Chemists. New York: J. Wiley & Sons, 1917. Later editions 1935, 1950 & 1992.
• English-French Dictionary for Chemists. New York: Wiley, 1921; 2nd ed. 1956.
• Supplement to the Second Edition of The Ring Index : a List of Ring Systems Used in Organic Chemistry. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society, 3 vols, 1963-1965.
• Words about words; a collection of nomenclature columns. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society, 1957. Reprinted from Chemical and Engineering News.

Offices

ACS Committee on Nomenclature, Spelling, and Pronunciation Founding Chairman 1911-1914.

Awards

949 Patterson-Crane Award(ACS) for meritorious contributions to the field of chemical literature, especially the documentation of chemistry; Given in honor of Patterson, a pioneer in the field; 1954 Community Service Award (Xenia Chamber of Commerce).

Papers

• Chemical Abstracts Service|Chemical Abstracts Service Library]], Columbus, OH 43210-0012.
• Source: Letter from W.V. Metanomski, Senior Editor, Authority Database Operations, CAS (25 June 1996).
• University of Wisconsin, Madison Libraries. Ebling Library, KRF A2: Biographical Materials.