Stewart, John Quincy

Born Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA, 10 September 1894

Died Sedona, Arizona, USA, 19 March 1972

John Stewart was in succession an accomplished engineer, astronomer, textbook author, and advocate of “social physics.” He was the son of John Quincy and Mary Caroline (née Liebendorfer) Stewart. A graduate of Princeton University (1915), Stewart earned a doctorate in physics from his alma mater (1919), after a wartime interruption during which he served with the 29th Engineers in France. Upon completing his studies, he was employed from 1919 to 1921 as an engineer in the department of research and development at the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, New York. His investigations were in the area of speech and hearing, and Stewart is credited with designing the first electronically synthesized “voice.”

From 1921 to 1963, Stewart was associated with Princeton University’s astronomy department, where he attained the rank of associate professor in 1927. He is probably best remembered...