Neptune's Needle

Geodetist and mathematician, Hassler was born in German-speaking Switzerland, 1770. He studied mathematics at the University of Bern and was later employed by Swiss cantons to produce geodetic maps. He came to US in 1805, where he quickly acquired membership in the American Philosophical Society and made the acquaintance of Thomas Jeffeson. When Jefferson secured from Congress the establishment of a Coastal Survey in 1807, Hassler was appointed to direct it, following a search directed by the Swiss-born Albert Gallatin and an APS committee.

The Survey did not begin work for several years, first because of the Jefferson-imposed Embargo (1807-09) and then the War of 1812. In between, Hassler tried teaching at West Point and Union College, then conducted an equipment-securing trip to England in 1811. When surveying commenced in 1816, it was underfunded and criticized by the Navy and Army, who wished the responsibility for mapping the coasts to be theres. Hassler lost his position in 1818, when Congress made the superintendency a military-only position and turned the Survey over to the Navy's direction.

In 1820 Hassler published his "Papers on Various Subjects Connected with the Survey of the Coast of the United States," which contained important information relating to the government's efforts to date. In 1830 he was named by President Jackson to be the first head of the federal Office of Weights and Measures. In 1832 Congress lifted the prohibition on civilians working on the Coast Survey and Hassler returned to this effort as superintendent. He directed surveys that improved access to the ports of New York (the Gedney Channel) and Philadelphia. He continued at the Survey until his health gave out and, in 1843, he died.

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Peter Richards