Known for his mathematics work with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey as well as at multiple educational institutions, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1949—that same year, he won the William Bowie Medal and the Department of Commerce Gold Medal.
[1][2] Lambert was born in West New Brighton, New York on January 12, 1879,[3][a] with English ancestry.
He attended a public school as well as the Friends Seminary, and later matriculated at Harvard University.
He worked on a part-time basis for some time while instructing math and pursuing postgraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1929, Lambert wrote back and forth with Beno Gutenberg about the international participation of the Deutsche Geophysikalische Gesellschaft.