Arvid Reuterdahl Papers

Arvid Reuterdahl was a scientist, engineer and educator.  As an engineer, he developed a storage battery and improved the design of culverts.  He taught engineering at Spokane College and Kansas City Polytechnic Institute and was the first Dean of the Department of Engineering and Architecture at the College of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN.  He served as Water Commissioner, Chief of the Bridge Department in Spokane, WA and opened consulting engineering firms in several cities across the United States.  He theorized about relativity and the velocity of light and developed a world alphabet.  Reuterdahl was an outspoken opponent of Albert Einstein’s right to authorship of the theory of relativity.  He contributed many articles, lectures and sermons as well as several monographs on the relationship between science, philosophy and religion.

Reuterdahl was born in Karlstad, Sweden, in 1876 and emigrated to the United States in 1882 where he studied at Brown University, receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in 1897 and Master of Arts degree in 1899.  Reuterdahl taught mathematics and physics at the Technical High School, Providence, R.I., followed by a year as professor of physics at Colby College in Maine.  In 1902 he married Elinor Louise Morrison; they had one son, Norman.  He founded the Reuterdahl Electric Co. to distribute the Reuterdahl Storage Battery he developed. Reuterdahl moved to Spokane, Washington, in 1905 where he established a private engineering practice, followed by service as Assistant City Engineer, Water Commissioner, and President of the Board of Public Works.  From 1910 - 1913, he worked as a consulting engineer in Boise, Idaho, and from 1913 - 1915, in Kansas City, Missouri.  He was professor of theoretical and applied mechanics at the Kansas City Polytechnic Institute, 1915 - 1917. 

In 1918 Reuterdahl joined the faculty of the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota as Dean of the Department of Engineering and Architecture.  Arvid Reuterdahl left the College to establish the Ramsey Institute of Technology in 1922.  In 1923 he was awarded a Doctorate in Science by the Academy of Nations in recognition of his discovery of the physical basis of Planck’s Constant and the theory of Septad-Constants.  In 1926 Reuterdahl became editor of the Theistic Monthly.  Reuterdahl died on January 13, 1933 in Minneapolis, MN.

Arvid Reuterdahl wrote extensively on engineering, scientific, philosophical and religious subjects. He was a member of several scientific, professional and religious organizations, including the Mathematical Association of America, History of Science Society, Swedish Physical Society, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Knights Templar, and College of the Fellows of the Academy of Nations.