Certain consumer products appear simple in structure and can mislead one into thinking that they are therefore easy to manufacture. The electric incandescent lamp is one such product, but it is deceiving in that considerable study of some of the elements of the product are required for commercial success to occur. The engineering and scientific studies regarding tungsten, the light giving element of the lamp, are beyond the ability to imagine.

Those persons knowledgeable in the early work carried out with tungsten are familiar with the names of Herbert Ives, William Forsythe and William Coolidge, as well as the name of A. G. Worthing. These persons deserve some of the credit for the success of lamp products eventually developed by engineers, chemists and physicists.

Archie Garfield Worthing was born on 6 February 1881 in LeRoy, Dodge County, Wisconsin, being the son of Loella (McKnight) Worthing (1857-1919) and Arthur James Worthing (1855-1934). He obtained his B. A. degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1904. The Ph.D. degree was earned at the University of Michigan in 1911. Worthing then took a job at the newly created laboratory of the National Works in Cleveland in 1911.

Although working on practical lamp design problems was not the usual kind of activity undertaken by Worthing, there were exceptions during World War I. Quoting from The National in the World War¹:

"Early in 1918 the Laboratory was asked to develop an artificial-light unit for signalling in the daytime in places where the operator would be seen against a bright sky background. Later an additional request came for a 6-volt, 2-ampere lamp for use in a trench-signalling unit designed by Major Mendenhall and the Lynn Works of General Electric Company, to supplant the unsatisfactory unit then in service. Practically the entire time of Drs. Forsythe, Lorenz and Worthing was given for a period of ten or twelve months to working out these problems in light-signalling."

"A 2-ampere, 6-volt, G-12 D. C. bayonet S-4 filament Mazda C lamp was developed for the trench signal unit for Major Mendenhall by the Lamp Development Laboratory and Dr. Worthing; lamps were supplied through the Lynn Works of the G. E. Co., for 300 units."

Some lifetime activities of A. G. Worthing are shown below in time sequence.

Teacher in grammar school, Brandon, WI, 1900-1901
Earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1904
Assistant in physics, University of Wisconsin, 1904-1906
Acting instructor in physics, State University of Iowa, Iowa City, 1906-1909
Earned a doctorate degree from the University of Michigan in 1911
Associate physicist, Physical Laboratory of National Lamp Works, Cleveland, OH, 1911-1914
Physicist, Nela Research Laboratories, Cleveland, OH, 1914-1925
Head of Physics Department, University of Pittsburgh, 1925-1937
Professor of physics at the University of Pittsburgh since 1925
Vice-President of the American Association of Physics Teachers, 1940
President of the American Association of Physics Teachers, 1941
Fellow of the American Physical Society
Vice-President of the Optical Society of America, 1939-1941
President of the Optical Society of America, 1941-1942
Member of the board of governors of the American Institute of Physics since 1941
Member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi and Sigma Pi Sigma

Some clarification should be made regarding the Physical Laboratory of National Lamp Works and the Nela Research Laboratories mentioned above. These are simply early names of what became known as the headquarters for General Electric Lighting at Nela Park in East Cleveland, Ohio. National became part of the General Electric organization in 1911.

Worthing married Exie Lillian Witherbee on 23 June 1905. Their children were Marion (b ca 1911), Helen (b ca 1917) and Robert (b 1918). Additional information regarding ancestors and descendants can be found at the very end of this write-up. Dr. Worthing passed away on 30 July 1949, four days after an abdominal operation.

A tribute to A. G. Worthing was published by O. H. Blackwood³. In the Blackwood article some of Worthing's personal characteristics were noted. Colleagues of Worthing pointed out that he had a passion for accuracy with meticulous attention to detail. He was sure-minded and in his teaching of physics his goal was to make sure that every student had comprehension of the material being taught. Worthing strived to improve one's ability to express and think problems through clearly.

Acknowledgements
The writer is grateful to be able to include a photograph of Dr. Worthing in this writing; the photograph was scanned from Reference 4. The Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library was generous to provide a photocopy of Reference 3 for my use. The writer benefited greatly from email messages, as well as a telephone call, from Leigh Larson, who has a website titled "Olive W. Larson." Olive W. Larson⁶ was the daughter-in-law of Archie G. Worthing. Mr. Larson communicated much genealogy information in which the Larson family is related to the Worthing's. The descendant chart at the tail end of this writing is due to the present writer however, and any errors in information on the chart are mine alone.

Some articles authored or coauthored by A. G. Worthing
1) A. G. Worthing, "Some Thermodynamic Properties of Air and of Carbon Dioxide," Thesis/dissertation, Publisher: Lancaster, Pennsylvania, The New Era, 1911.
2) E. P. Hyde, F. E. Cady, A. G. Worthing, "A Study of the Energy Losses in Electric Incandescent Lamps," Transactions of the Illuminating Engineering Society, Vol 6, pg 238, 1911.
3) A. G. Worthing, "The Ratio of the Two Heat Capacities of Carbon Dioxide as a Function of the Pressure and the Temperature," Physical Review, Series 1, Vol 32, pp 243-245, 1911.
4) A. G. Worthing, "On the Deviation from Lambert's Cosine Law of the Emission from Tungsten and Carbon at Glowing Temperatures," Astrophysical Journal, Vol 36, pg 345, 1912.
5) A. G. Worthing and W. E. Forsythe, "Some Effects of Diffraction on Brightness Measurements Made with the Holbornkurlbaum Optical Pyrometer," Physical Review, Vol 3, pp 494-496, 1914; also Vol 4, pp 163-176, 1914.
6) A. G. Worthing, "Temperature Distribution in an Incandescent Lamp Filament in the Neighborhood of a Cooling Junction," Physical Review, Vol 4, pp 524-534, 1914.
7) A. G. Worthing, "The Thermal Conductivites of Tungsten, Tantalum and Carbon at Incandescent Temperatures by an Optical Pyrometer Method," Physical Review, Vol 4, pp 535-543, 1914.
8) A. G. Worthing, "The Thomson Effects in Tungsten, Tantalum and Carbon at Incandescent Temperatures Determined by an Optical Pyrometer Method," Physical Review, Vol 5, pp 445-451, 1915.
9) A. G. Worthing, "The Ballistic Use of a Moving-Coil Galvanometer in Measuring Discharges Obeying the Exponential Decay Law," Physical Review, Vol 6, pp 165-179, 1915.
10) A.G. Worthing, "The True Temperature Scale for Tungsten and Its Emissive Powers at Incandescent Temperatures," Journal of the Franklin Institute, Vol 181, pp 417-418, 1916.
11) A. G. Worthing and W. E. Forsythe, "Effect of Diffraction on Brightness Measurements," Abstract-Bulletin, Nela Research Laboratory, pg 140, 1917.
12) A. G. Worthing, "Over-Shooting" in Tungsten Lamps," Abstract-Bulletin, Nela Research Laboratory, pg 209, 1917.
13) A. G. Worthing, "Rating Lamps as to Filament Brightness with Fluctuating Voltages," Abstract-Bulletin, Nela Research Laboratory, pg 215, 1917.
14) A. G. Worthing, "The True Temperature Scale of Tungsten and its Emissive Powers at Incandescent Temperature," Physical Review, Vol 10, pp 377-394, 1917.
15) A. G. Worthing, "The Thermal Expansion of Tungsten at Incan-Descent Temperatures," Physical Review, Vol 10, pp 638-641, 1917.
16) A. G. Worthing, "Atomic Heats of Tungsten and of Carbon at Incandescent Temperatures," Physical Review, Vol 12, pp 199-225, 1918. Also Journal of the Franklin Institute, pp 707-708, 1918.
17) A. G. Worthing, "Emissive Powers and Temperature of Non-black Bodies," Bulletin of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, pp 367-399, 1920. Also pp 1895-1927.
18) A. G. Worthing, "Pulsating Thermionic Discharges in Evacuated Tungsten Lamps," Physical Review, Vol 17, pg 237-238, 1921.
19) A. G. Worthing and W. C. Baker, "Effect of Strong Electrostatic Fields on the Vaporization of Tungsten," Physical Review, Vol 17, pp 239-240, 1921.
20) A. G. Worthing and W. E. Forsythe, "Total Emissive Power and Resistivities of W at Incandescence," Physical Review, Vol 18, pg 144, 1921.
21) A. G. Worthing, "Theory of End-Loss Corrections and Its Application to Uniform, Electrically Heated Tungsten Filaments in Vacuo," Journal of the Franklin Institute, Vol 194, pp 597-611, 1922.
22) A. G. Worthing, Bulletin Nela Research Laboratory, Vol 1, pg 338, 349, 1922.
23) A. G. Worthing and W. E. Forsythe, "Two Modifications of the Simple Drum Type Potentiometer and a Design for a Double Potentiometer," Journal of the Optical Society of America, Vol 10, pp 599-602, 1925.
24) W. E. Forsythe and A. G. Worthing, "The Properties of Tungsten and the Characteristics of Tungsten Lamps," The Astrophysical Journal, Vol 61, pp 146-185, 1925.
25) A. G. Worthing, "The Temperature Scale and the Melting Point of Molybdenum," Physical Review, Vol 25, pp 846-857, 1925.
26) A. G. Worthing, "Deviation from Lambert's Law and Polarization of Light Emitted by Incandescent Tungsten, Tantalum and Molybdenum and Changes in the Optical Constants of Tungsten with Temperature," Journal of the Optical Society of America, Vol 13, pp 635-647, 1926.
27) A. G. Worthing, "Spectral Emissivities of Tantalum, Platinum, Nickel and Gold as a Function of Temperature, and the Melting Point of Tantalum," Physical Review, Vol 28, pp 174-189, 1926.
28) A. G. Worthing, "Physical Properties of Well Seasoned Molybdenum and Tantalum as a Function of Temperature," Physical Review, Vol 28, pp 190-201, 1926.
29) A G. Worthing, "On the Effect of High Electrostatic Fields on the Vaporization of Metals," Physical Review, Vol 43, pg 383, 1933.
30) A. G. Worthing, "Usefulness of Objective Physics Tests of the Reasoning Type," The American Physics Teacher, Vol 1, pp 6-10, 1933.
31) A. G. Worthing, "Simple Test for the Preciseness of a Definition of a Physical Term or Quantity," The American Physics Teacher, Vol 6, pp 59-61, 1938.
32) A. G. Worthing, "Determination of Optical Constants with the Aid of an Optical Pyrometer," Journal of the Optical Society of America, Vol 28, pp 311-312, 1938.
33) A. G. Worthing, "Radiation Laws Describing the Emission of Photons by Black Bodies," Journal of the Optical Society of America, Vol 29, pp 97-100, 1939.
34) A. G. Worthing," New λT Relations for Black Body Radiation," Journal of the Optical Society of America, Vol 29, pp 101-101, 1939.
35) A. G. Worthing, "Temperature Concept," American Journal of Physics, Vol 8, pp 28-29, 1940.
36) A. G. Worthing, "Total Hemispherical Emissivities by a Parallel Plate Method," Journal of the Optical Society of America, Vol 30, pg 991, 1940.
37) A. G. Worthing, "Doctor August Herman Pfund, Ives Medalis for 1939," Journal of the Optical Society of America, Vol 30, pp 177-181, 1940.
38) Temperature: Its Measurement and Control in Science and Industry, Reinhold Publishing Corporation, NY, 1941. A. G. Worthing, "Is Temperature a Basic Concept?", pp 41-44. Also "Temperature Radiation Emissivities and Emittances, pp 1164-1187.
39) A. G. Worthing, Editorial comment: "A Message from the President," Journal of the Optical Society of America, Vol 32, Issue 1, pp 1-, 1942.

Some books authored or coauthored by A. G. Worthing
1) A. G. Worthing, "The Diathermancy of Water to Solar Radiation," A thesis for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, University of Wisconsin, 1904.
2) Francis E. Cady and Henry B. Dates, editors, Illuminating Engineering, John Wiley &Sons, Inc., New York, 1925. A. G. Worthing wrote Chapter I. "Physics of Light Production," and Chapter II. "Light Sources."
3) Lee Paul Sieg and Archie G. Worthing, "A series of six radio talks on some high lights in modern physics (with select bibliographies)," Publisher: Pittsburgh, 1925.
4) A. G. Worthing, "A series of nine radio talks on the origin and development of artificial light sources, the dynamo, and the steam engine," (University of Pittsburgh. Radio publication), 1927.
5) Thomas H. Osgood, Arthur E. Ruark, Wilfred N. St. Peter, George A. Scott and Archie G. Worthing, An Outline of Atomic Physics, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1933.
6) Archie G. Worthing and Joseph G. Geffner, Treatment of Experimental Data, J. Wiley & Sons, Inc., NY, 1943.
------This book is designed primarily for physicists, chemists, and engineers. It tells how to set up tables, including instruction on the use of legends; how to prepare graphs giving sufficient descriptive information so that they may be read easily; how to set up equations; how to determine, express and apply precision indexes, and similar matters. (John Wiley description, June 11, 1943).
7) Archie G. Worthing and David Halliday, Heat, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1948, 522 pages, 245 illus.

References and Bibliography
1) National in the World War - April 6, 1917-November 11, 1918, General Electric Company, 1920, pg 268 and 285.
2) "Archie Garfield Worthing," Who Was Who in America, Vol II (1943-1950), The A. N. Marquis Company, Chicago, pg 593.
3) O. H. Blackwood, "Archie Garfield Worthing, 1881-1949," American Journal of Physics, Vol 17, pp 457-457, 1949.
4) "Archie Garfield Worthing," The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, James T. White & Co., 1956, Vol 41, pp 182-183.
5) "Dr. A. G. Worthing, Author, Physicist - Professor at U. of Pittsburgh, Known for His Tungsten Research, Dies at 68," The New York Times, August 1, 1949, pg 17, Column 3.
6) http://www.leighlarson.com/olive_w_larson.htm (Olive W Larson)
7) http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wifonddu/resources/cemeteries/oak_mtpleasant_rows.html (Worthing)
8) http://www.witherbeena.org/newsletters/06%20fall/newsletter%20for%20web%20site%20WNA%20Fall06v08lr.pdf (page 7, article by Ed Zimmer)
9) http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wigrant/bioindex.htm (Erasmus Witherbee)
10) http:/ftp.us-census.org/pub/usgenweb/census/wi/grant/1900/_indx-w.txt (Witherbee)
11) http://members.fortunecity.com/heselschwerdt/html/fam04067.html (Witherbee)
12) http:www.usgwarchives.net/wi/cemetery/fonddulac-oakfieldtwp-mountpleasant.html (Worthing, tombstone photographs)