AMES, JOSEPH SWEETMAN ), American physicist, was born in Manchester, Vt., on July 3, 1864. He received his education at Johns Hopkins university from which he graduated in 1886 and received the degree of doctor of philosophy in 1890. He was assistant and associate in physics there in 1888 93 and associate professor from 1893 to 1899 when he was made professor of physics. In 1901 he was appointed director of the physical laboratories. In 1930 he became president of Johns Hopkins university.
His published works include Theory of Physics (1897), Manual of Experiments in Physics (1898), Free Expansion of Gases (1898), Prismatic and Diffraction Spectra (1898), Elements of Physics (1900), Induction of Electric Currents (1900), Text-book of General Physics (1904) and The Constitution of Matter (1913).