Moses Nelson Baker
American editor and author (1864–1955)
Moses N. Baker (January 26, 1864 – February 7, 1955) was a noted editor and author in the field of drinking water history and technology. His most important book is still used today: The Quest for Pure Water: The History of Water Purification from the Earliest Records to the Twentieth Century. He was also active in the field of public health holding several positions on boards of health at the state and local levels.
Early life and education
Baker was born in 1864 in the small town of Enosburg, Vermont, which is located in the northern part of the state a few miles from the Canada–US border. His early education was in the Enosburgh District School and the Craftsbury Academy. At the University of Vermont he obtained a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1886 and a degree in civil engineering in 1899.
Career
Baker started his long career as author and editor in November 1887 when he was hired as the Associate Editor of Engineering News. This publication and the consolidated weekly Engineering News-Record which began on April 1, 1917, were the definitive sources of news about advances in the control and treatment of drinking water and sewage for decades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He retired in 1932 after 45 years of service.
Baker collected a large library of books and source documents that he used to write his most important book, The Quest for Pure Water: The History of Water Purification from the Earliest Records to the Twentieth Century, which was first published in 1948.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6915905. The first chronological checks are 1864, 1955, 1886 and 1899.
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This entry incorporates text from “Moses Nelson Baker” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.