Author Talmage James Edward

and later graduated; and in 1883-1884 he was engaged in advanced work at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. Talmage married Mary May Booth on the June 14, 1888. Among their children was John Talmage who wrote a biography of his father. His son Sterling B. Talmage (1889-1956) followed his example and became a geologist.[1] Talmage studied chemistry and geology at Lehigh University and Johns Hopkins University. He received a B.S. degree from Lehigh University in 1891. Talmage received a Ph.D. from Illinois Wesleyan University for nonresident work in 1896.[2] Talmage was elected to life membership in several learned societies, and for many years was a Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society (London), Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (Edinburgh), Fellow of the Geological Society (London), Fellow of the Geological Society of America, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Associate of the Philosophical Society of Great Britain, or Victoria Institute, and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Talmage taught science at Brigham Young Academy both before and after he went to study in the eastern United States. He served as president of the University of Deseret, now known as University of Utah, from 1894-1897.[3] From 1897-1907 Talmage was a professor of geology at the University of Utah. In 1909 Talmage was serving as the director of the Deseret Museum. He went to Detroit in November of that year to participate in diggings connected with general Scotford-Soper-Savage relics craze that involved the finding of supposed ancient relics in much of Michigan.[4] Talmage would go on to denounce these findings as a forgery in the September 1911 edition of the Deseret Museum Bulletin in an article entitled "The Michigan Relics: A Story of Forgery and Deception". He was the author of several religious books such as Jesus the Christ, The House of the Lord, The Great Apostasy and The Articles of Faith. These books are an effort to clarify LDS doctrine and are still widely read by Latter-day Saints. In 1911 the First Presidency of the Church was shocked to learn that a photographer had gained unauthorized access to the Salt Lake Temple and had taken numerous photographs of the interior. He was now holding those photographs ransom for 100,000 dollars. Talmage suggested that the First Presidency commission its own photographs of the temple. Joseph F. Smith, then president of the church, then suggested that Talmage write a treatise on the subject of the temple, to accompany the publication of the photographs. It was done and shortly thereafter the book titled "The House of the Lord" was published in 1912. Talmage also went to Washington D.C. to testify in the Smoot Hearings Talmage became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1911. From 1924-1928 Talmage served as president of the European Mission of the LDS Church.[5] He died in 1933. The Mathematics and Computer Sciences Building at Brigham Young University is named after Talmage. There is also a building on the University of Utah campus named after him.