MAXIM, HUDSON (1853-1927), American inventor, was born at Orneville, Me., on Feb. 3, 1853, and completed his aca demic studies at Kent's Hill, Me. Though his education was but slight, his interest in chemistry led him to wide reading and ex perimentation in the subject while he worked at other jobs. In 1875 he formulated (published in Scientific American Supple ment, 1889) an hypothesis of the compound nature of atoms not unlike the atomic theory which was later to be generally accepted by scientists. In 1888 he began to experiment with explosives and in 1890 built a dynamite and powder factory at Maxim, N.J. Here, together with Dr. R. C. Schupphaus, he developed the Maxim-Schupphaus smokeless powder, the first made in the United States and the first to be adopted by the U.S. Govern ment. He next invented a smokeless cannon powder, the cylin drical grains so perforated that it burned with a more rapid corn bustion, that was used in enormous quantities during the World War. In 1897 he sold his factory and powder inventions to the E. I. DuPont Company, but remained with the company as con
sulting engineer. He invented "maximite," a high explosive burst ing powder which, when placed in torpedoes, resisted the shock of firing and the still greater shock of piercing armour plate with out bursting, only to be set off by a delay-action detonating fuse, which was also his invention. Later he perfected a new smokeless powder called "stabillite," on account of its high stability. "Mo torite," a self-combustive substance used to propel torpedoes, was also his invention. During the World War he was chairman of the committee on ordnance and explosives of the naval consulting board. Several of his own inventions at this time were donated to the Government.
He published Science of Poetry (191o) and Dynamite Stories (1916) . The Rise of an American Inventor (1927) is his life story taken down from conversations by Clifton Johnston.