professor, scientist, b. Llanidloes, Wales. He migrated to the U.S. as a child and graduated from an academy in New York City. In 1855 he moved to Wisconsin where he worked on farms and taught school. He graduated from Lawrence College (B.S., 1862). During the Civil War he served with the 21st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry (1862-1865), rising to the rank of 1st lieutenant. After leaving the army he returned to Wisconsin and taught science at Lawrence College (1865-1867). He graduated from Chicago Medical College (M.D., 1868), and in 1868 came to the Univ. of Wisconsin as professor of natural history. From 1868 to 1878 Davies taught chemistry, astronomy, and physics, but with the increased emphasis on specialization, he was appointed professor of physics in 1878 and held this position until his death. Davies was also associated with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (1874-1900) and in this capacity was instrumental in securing the establishment of a magnetic observatory at the university. In his later years, he became an ardent student of electricity and magnetism, developed at the university one of the best electrical experimental laboratories in the country, and achieved a nationwide reputation as an authority on potentials and the magnetic polarization of lights. He was secretary of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters for several years, and published many of his articles in the Academy's transactions. R. G. Thwaites, ed., Univ. of Wis. (Madison, 1900); M. Curti and V. Carstensen, Univ. of Wis. (2 vols., Madison, 1949); Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci 8:614 (1901).Learn More
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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]
