Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-08
DR. BOWIE NAMED
TO ]. attend FARLEY
win, Represent Geographic
Society at Meeting of Scien-
,o fists in Mexico City.

The National Geographic Society has
designated DR.. William Bowie as its
representative at the first meeting. in
Mexico City this month. of the Pan
American Institute Of Geography and
History.
DR.. Bowie of washington, chief Of
the division of geodesy Of the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey, is
q geodesist of world note, and he will
be one of three representatives from
the United States to the Institutes
organization meeting.
The Institutes sessions. to be held
from September Is to %. inclusive,
will bring together the foremost scien-
lists in geographic and allied fields
from all the American republics. Its
meetings will be watched with keen
interest both in North and South
America because there, for the first
time. will be planned the correlation
of important projects for mapping and
surveys of International Importance.
Service of Paramount Importance.
while the basis of the work to be
done involves scientific and technical
phases of charting, topographic and
geodetic surveys, the results will be of
paramount importance to industrial
and commercial development" explains
a statement from the National Geo.
graphic Society.
maps which give exact locations
and coordinate such factors as lati-
tudes and elevations, are the structural
framework around which develop the
possibilities for modern farming and
forestry, for highway and railroad
building, for telephone and telegraph
line construction. for water power use
and finally the placement Of factories
Precise topographic maps are cs-
sential preliminaries to charts Of rain
fall and temperature, to accurate
studies of botanical and animal life
zones and the opportunities for further
plant and stock introduction and
finally for the advantageous location
of factories.
Savings on Highways Cited.
Savings of hundreds of thousands Of
dollars literally now are effected
through the placement of highways in
relation to all these factors. And waste
full construction which sometimes &C.
Cured in the past, both Of railroads
and highways, is avoided when the
potential value and development of the
region they viii serve can be charted
In detail.
Forest areas, with their wealth OF
timber, regions where soil fertility
beckonS the settler and the acceSSi-
bility of the producing areas to world
markets no longer are left to chance
experiments, but can be determined in
advance.
such surveys become of obvious val
lie when the project involves hydro
electric development, with the conse-
Quent need for railroads running in and
power lines running out of the areas
developed. And q new problem for the
mapmaker is the information needed
in plotting airplane routes which often
cross regions which have not been ex-
plored scientifically"
Bowie Long in Service.
DR.. Bowie, who will represent the
National Geographic Society at the in
stitute which will formulate the survey
program, has been in the field service
of the United States Coast and Geodetic
Survey since 1895. There he has taken
part in many of the surveys made in
the United States which the institute
hopes to correlate with similar projects
hitherto undertaken individually by the
various republics of Central and South
America.
DR.. Bowie's field work has carried
him from the coasts of Prince William
Sound, In Alaska, to the Philippines.
He carried the first arc Of triangulation
across Porto Rico after the United
States acquired the island. He has
been chief Of the division Of geodeSy
since 1909. Before the World War he
was a member Of the Permanent Com
mission of the International Geodetic
Association; since 1919 he has been
the president of the section of geodesy
of the International Geodetic and
Geophysical Union.
Directs Surveying and Mapping.
He is chairman of the division of sur
veying and mapping of the American
Society of Civil Engineers and for sew
eral years was chairman of the board of
surveys and maps Of the Federal Gov
eminent. For seven years he had charge
of the practical astronomy and geodetic
courses at the Columbia UniverSity's
Summer school and now is lecturer on
geodesy and isostasy at Lehigh Uni
versity. He is author Of q book on
''Isostasy" and has contributed many
scientific papers on geodesy, surveying
and mapping.
In addition to being q member Of the
National Geographic Society he has
membership in a number of scientific
and engineering societies In this and
other countries.