WATSON, William, educator, born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, 19 January, 1834. He was graduated at the Lawrence scientific school of Harvard in 1857, where he was then instructor in differential and integral calculus until 1859, meanwhile taking a second degree in 1858. From 1859 till 1863 he was in Europe collecting information on technical education, which he communicated to William B. Rogers, who made it the basis of the scheme of organization of the Massachusetts institute of technology in Boston. He also took a partial course at the Ecole des ponts et chaussees in Paris, and received in 1862 the degree of Ph.D. from the University of Jena, Germany. In 1865 he became professor of mechanical engineering and descriptive geometry in the Institute of technology, which chair he held until 1873. He was a commissioner to the World's fair in Vienna in 1873, and served on the international jury of that in Paris in 1878, during which year he was honorary vice-president of the Paris congress of hygiene, and honorary president of the Paris congress of architects. He held the same-relation to the French association for the advancement of science in 1878, 1881, and 1883. Professor Watson is a member of engineering societies in this country and abroad, and was elected secretary of the American academy of arts and sciences in 1884. In addition to papers that he has read before learned societies, he has published "Technical Education" (printed privately, Boston, 1872); "Course in Descriptive Geometry for the Use of Colleges and Scientific Schools" (1873); "Report on the Civil Engineering, Public Works, and Architecture of the Vienna Exhibition" (Washington, 1876) ; and "Course in Shades and Shadows" (Boston, 1885).