Lyman, Benjamin Smith (December 11, 1835 - August 30, 1920)

Benjamin Smith Lyman (December 11, 1835 – August 30, 1920) was an American mining engineer, geologist, surveyor, and scholar in several fields, including Asian cultures and languages. After graduating from Harvard with a law degree, Lyman went to work with his uncle, who was the Director of the Geological Survey of Pennsylvania. His interest piqued, Lyman continued to work on geographic surveys in the United States, Europe, and eventually Asia. Lyman was hired by the Japanese government to survey Hokkaido with Japanese colleagues who went on to form the Geological Survey of Japan. Lyman stayed in Japan for six years and published several works on the Japanese language and Japanese culture. After returning to the U.S., he maintained an active scholarly life, publishing works about Japan, geology, moral philosophy, and vegetarianism, among other topics.