Colin MacLaurin, mathematician, died on the 14th of June, 1746.
Colin MacLaurin was a child prodigy who became an eminent mathematician. By the time he was nineteen, he had become Professor of Mathematics at Marischal College, Aberdeen. He was a close friend and associate of Isaac Newton, who was so impressed by the young MacLaurin that he offered to pay his salary as Chair of Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. MacLaurin’s meisterwerk, for which he is best remembered, was ‘Geometrica Organica’ (‘Organic Geometry, with the Description of the Universal Linear Curves’). His other chief works are on Calculus and Algebra, in addition to his ‘Account of Newton’s Discoveries’, published posthumously, in 1748. He is also known for the ‘Euler-Maclaurin formula’.
Colin MacLaurin was born at Kilmodan, on the Cowal Peninsula, in Argyll, in February, 1698. He never knew his father, who had died when Colin was six weeks old, and he was then orphaned, by the age of nine, when his mother died. After that, he was brought up by his uncle, who was the Minister at Kilfinnan, on Loch Fyne. At the age of eleven, Colin became a student at the University of Glasgow. You might be amazed at that, but it wasn’t so unbelievable for the time. Basically, the way things worked was that Scottish Universities competed for the best pupils, and MacLaurin was one of the elite.
MacLaurin’s abilities certainly began to show at Glasgow, but his first encounter with advanced mathematics came only after a year at the University, when he found a copy of Euclid’s ‘Elements’ in one of his friend’s rooms. That was the standard text for mathematical study at this time, but MacLaurin mastered the first six of what was a series of thirteen Greek textbooks, in quick fashion and through self-study. He also became interested in geometry at that time, which became a speciality and led to his ‘Organica’.
In 1712, MacLaurin was awarded the degree of M.A. (equivalent to a B.A. as the ancient Scottish universities retain the degree of M.A. as the first degree in Arts). Amazingly, MacLaurin had to defend his thesis in a public examination in order to get his degree. He chose to develop Newton’s theories as his topic and produced ‘On the power of gravity’. Even more amazing, consider this, was that he was only fourteen at the time and that such advanced ideas would only have been familiar to a small number of the elite mathematicians of the day.
MacLaurin stayed at Glasgow University for a further year to study divinity as it had been his intention to enter the Presbyterian Church. However, good man he was, he became “disgusted at the dissensions that had at that time crept into the church” and decided against that career. Then, in 1718, whilst still only nineteen, he was appointed Professor of Mathematics at Marischal College, in Aberdeen, as the result of a competitive examination. Believe it or not, MacLaurin’s record as the world’s youngest ever University Professor lasted until March, 2008. Later, on the 3rd of November, 1725, MacLaurin was appointed Chair of Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, where he remained for the rest of his life. Despite Newton’s offer, there is no evidence to suggest that Edinburgh accepted any contribution to MacLaurin’s salary.
MacLaurin’s other chief work, the ‘Treatise of fluxions’, in which he dealt with the theorem of Calculus, maxima and minima, the attraction of ellipsoids, elliptic integrals, and the Euler-MacLaurin summation formula, was a source of influence across the Continent. He used the geometrical methods of the ancient Greeks, and Archimedes in particular, in order to provide a fundamental rigorous footing for Newton’s Calculus. Another important result given by MacLaurin, which has not been named after him or any other mathematician, is the important integral test for the convergence of an infinite series.
MacLaurin was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, during his visit to London, in 1719, when he first made the acquaintance of Sir Isaac Newton. Earlier, whilst in France, he had been awarded a Grand Prize by the Académie des Sciences, the first of two such awards during his career. MacLaurin was also instrumental in the formation of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, which grew out of his expansion of the Medical Society of Edinburgh into one that dealt with broader scientific topics. The Royal Society formed after MacLaurin’s death, but was inspired by his enthusiasm and contributions.
With his broader interest in scientific subjects, MacLaurin also wrote about the annular eclipse of the sun and the structure of bees’ honeycombs. He also contributed to actuarial studies, being responsible for laying the sound actuarial foundations for the insurance society that has ever since helped the widows and children of Scottish Ministers and Professors.
Maclaurin was known for his strongly anti-Jacobite views and he played an active role in defending Edinburgh from the advancing ‘Rebel’ Army, being placed in charge of strengthening the walls. However, when the City fell, he was forced to flee to Newcastle and then made his way to York on the invitation of the Archbishop. A fall from a horse during the journey triggered an illness that was soon to claim his life. He returned to Edinburgh in November, 1745, after the Jacobite Army marched south, but with his strength sapped from the fall, the cold winter weather and his exertions on behalf of the City’s defences, he succumbed to illness and died on the 14th of June, 1746. Colin MacLaurin was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, where his grave can still be seen at the south-west corner.
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Monday, 13 June 2011
James Clerk Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell was born in Edinburgh, on the 13th of June, 1831.
In a lifetime spanning a mere forty-eight years, James Clerk Maxwell became the man who changed everything. At the time of his death, few understood the importance of his work. Nevertheless, years later, Albert Einstein not only understood but used Maxwell’s theory of electromagnetics as the main pillar of his theory of relativity. Maxwell’s discoveries were also later recognised by physicists as being on a par with those of Newton and Einstein – in terms of their being a fundamental step change on the path of progress. Significantly and quite rightly, Maxwell is acclaimed as the ‘father’ of modern physics. James Clerk Maxwell also made fundamental contributions to mathematics, astronomy and engineering.
James Clerk Maxwell was born in Edinburgh on 13th of June, 1831, but enjoyed a country upbringing at Glenlair, in Kirkcudbrightshire, near Dumfries. His natural curiosity displayed itself at an early age as even before he reached the age of three, he was known for his constant inquiring and investigating into the how’s and why’s of things. You might say that the favourite question of all children is “Why?”, but the precocious wee Jamesie Maxwell made it his business to find out.
In 1841, Maxwell attended Edinburgh Academy, from the tender age of nine, after the family moved back to Edinburgh following the death of his mother. He wrote his first paper, ‘On the description of oval curves and those having a plurality of foci’, in early 1846, and presented this to the Royal Society of Edinburgh on the 6th of April, 1846. A year later, in the November, Maxwell entered the University of Edinburgh and attended the Mathematics, Natural Philosophy (as Physics was then known) and Logic classes.
Peterhouse, in Cambridge, was Maxwell’s next destination, in October, 1850, but he subsequently moved to Trinity, mainly because he believed that it was easier there, to obtain a fellowship. He achieved major honours at Trinity and was by then making a significant impact and gaining a reputation for proclivity. Maxwell graduated with a Degree in Mathematics, in 1854. He remained at Cambridge, where he took pupils and was awarded a Fellowship at Trinity, to continue work. One of his most important achievements at this time was his extension and mathematical formulation of Michael Faraday’s theories of electricity and magnetic lines of force. His paper, ‘On Faraday’s lines of force’, was read to the Cambridge Philosophical Society in two parts, in 1855 and 1856.
Later in 1856, Maxwell applied for the post of Professor of Natural Philosophy at Marischal College in Aberdeen. His appointment in the November brightened up a year earlier shrouded in sadness at the death of his other parent. In June of 1859, he married the daughter of the Principal of Marischal College, but despite that, he still had to find another job when the College combined with King’s in the following year. There was no partiality or patronage there and that circumstance brought him to London, where he was appointed Chair of Natural Philosophy at King’s College. The six years that Maxwell spent in this post were the years when he did his most important experimental work.
The list of Maxwell’s achievements is a long one. He invented the trichromatic process from his work on primary colour perception; invented colour photography; and conducted research into colour blindness; explained the rings of Saturn; proved that the air we breath is made of rapidly moving molecules; formulated the kinetic theory of gases; pioneered work on the molecular structure of free-flowing substances; made fundamental contributions to thermodynamics; showed how to calculate stresses in framed arch and suspension bridges; figured out how light works; and why it travels at 300,000 kilometres per second; developed his eponymous equations to express the behaviour of electric and magnetic fields; and, most importantly, he predicted the existence of electro-magnetic waves and concluded that visible light forms only a small part of the entire spectrum. From television and radio to X-ray machines and microwave ovens, the 21st Century, smartphone and tablet carrying populace depends on Maxwell’s discoveries.
Maxwell returned to Glenlair in 1865, however, he made periodic trips to Cambridge and, in 1871, accepted an offer to be the first Cavendish Professor of Physics. He designed the Cavendish laboratory, which was formally opened on the 16th of June, 1874. Some years later, in 1879, Maxwell’s health began to fail. By the 8th of October, he could scarcely walk; the end was in sight. One of the greatest scientists the world has ever known passed away on the 5th of November, 1879, in Cambridge. Maxwell is buried with his wife and parents at Parton Church, in Galloway, with just a simple plaque at the graveyard entrance in his memory. For a true memorial to this remarkable man, just take a look around you. Without his discoveries, most of the electronic gadgets and apparatus we take for granted could not have been invented.
A great man’s view of a great man: Albert Einstein said of Maxwell, “The special theory of relativity owes its origins to Maxwell’s equations of the electromagnetic field.” Einstein also said, “Since Maxwell’s time, physical reality has been thought of as represented by continuous fields and not capable of any mechanical interpretation. This change in the conception of reality is the most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced since the time of Newton.”
There’s also a quote by Richard P. Feynman, which states, “From a long view of the history of mankind – seen from, say, ten thousand years from now – there can be little doubt that the most significant event of the 19th Century will be judged as Maxwell’s discovery of the laws of electrodynamics.” Max Planck said of Maxwell that, “He achieved greatness unequalled.” The last word goes to Ivan Tolstoy, who wrote a biography of Maxwell, in which he stated, “Maxwell’s importance in the history of scientific thought is comparable to Einstein’s (whom he inspired) and to Newton’s (whose influence he curtailed).”
Sunday, 12 June 2011
Sir David Gill
Sir David Gill FRS, the Scottish astronomer, was born on the 12th of June, 1843.
Sir David Gill was one of those scientists who is described as ‘the father of’ something; usually an ‘-ology’ or an ‘-ism’. In Gill’s case, he was the ‘father’ of astrography. Sir David Gill was a most remarkable astronomer, noted for his measurements of stellar parallaxes, and devoting a great deal of effort to establishing the distance between the Earth and the Sun; the so-called astronomical unit. His specialty was angular distance measurements and he made some of the worlds most accurate measurements before the space age. He was also a pioneer in the use of astrophotography (the use of photography in the preparation of star catalogs) and, as Astronomer Royal at the Cape of Good Hope, where much of his career was spent, he carried out several major geodetic surveys.
David Gill was born on the 12th of June, 1843, in Aberdeen, and at the age of fourteen, he joined Dollar Academy. The headmaster, Dr. Lindsay, encouraged his early interest in mathematics, natural philosophy and chemistry, and afterwards Gill spent two years in Marshall College, at the University of Aberdeen, as a private student. Gill’s father held a Royal Warrant as Watchmaker to Queen Victoria and, after leaving University, Gill joined his father in the watch making business, spending a year at Besacon, in Switzerland. During this time, of course, he acquired a feeling for precision instruments; a skill that was to be of great value.
In 1863, Gill returned to Aberdeen and started to become actively involved in Astronomy, a subject in which he had been interested from as young as the age of ten. In 1866, he built a small observatory, with a 12-inch telescope that he himself made. Later, in 1869, at a time when photography was still in its experimental stage, Gill took a picture of the Moon. That notable achievement drew attention to the young Scots amateur astronomer and set him off on the career that brought him international fame.
Gill’s photograph was truly excellent, considering the embryonic stage of the art and, in the following year of 1870, it came to the attention of Lord Lindsay of Dunecht. Lindsay was an aristocrat with enough money to build a private observatory, which was lavishly equipped with instruments finer than many of those available in Public Observatories. Lindsay offered Gill the post of Director of his observatory and “the rest is history” as they say.
At the Dunecht Observatory, Gill made some of the most accurate measurements of angular distances to stars using a 4-inch heliometer, an instrument that he later privately acquired from Lord Lindsay. Gill’s innate skill in the use of precision instruments, which had been honed during his watchmaking days in Switzerland, came to the fore. The results he obtained using this instrument, remained amongst the best ever obtained up until the era of space probes and computer technology.
In 1874, Gill went to Mauritius with Lord Lindsay in order to observe the transit of Venus. That was a privately sponsored expedition with Gill as Chief Observer. The results were disappointing, however, Gill later became leader of a successful attempt (in 1882). He next joined the Royal Astronomical Society’s sponsored expedition to the Ascension Islands, in 1877. That was where he first observed the opposition of Mars and calculated a very accurate result for the distance between the Sun and the Earth. Amazingly, the value that Gill calculated back then was within 0.2 per cent of the accepted contemporary value.
With the recommendation of Lord Lindsay, Gill was appointed Her Majesty’s Royal Astronomer and Director of the Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope, in 1879. On his appointment, the place was a bit run down and outdated, but by the time he retired, the Cape Observatory was one of the finest and best equipped observatories in the world. Soon after Gill arrived in Cape Town, he used the Repsold Heliometer to measure the distances to a number of minor planets. The parallax value of 8".80 that he used was employed in the computation of all almanacs until 1968, when radar echo methods and data from the Mariner Probe refined the value – ever so slightly – to 8".794.
When the Great Comet appeared, in 1883, Gill remembered his moon photograph and got the local photographer to fix his camera to the clock driven equatorial telescope. Together, they took several astounding photographs, which showed not only the comet, but the also the background stars, with absolute clarity and sharpness. Gill sent the results to the Royal Astronomical Society and the Paris Observatory. He then ordered a larger lens and embarked upon the most ambitious project of his career. This was ‘The Cape Photographic Durchmusterung for the Equinox 1875’, which extended Argelander’s ‘Bonn Durchmusterung’ to the South Pole. The finished catalogue gave the brightness and approximate positions of nearly half a million stars in the Southern Hemisphere.
In recognition of Gill’s status as the ‘father of astrography’ the Paris Observatory engaged him as an important contributor to its ambitious ‘Carte du del’ project, which set out to create a photographic chart of the entire sky. Its goal was to produce a catalogue giving the precise positions of more than a million stars down to the eleventh magnitude. A fine new telescope, the astrographic refractor, was acquired for the Cape Observatory, but the overambitious project wasn’t completed until long after Gill was dead.
Amongst the awards and recognition Gill gained was ‘Commandeur de la Legion d'Honneur’, from France, the German ‘Order Pour le Merite for Arts and Sciences’, the ‘James Craig Watson Medal’, from the National Academy of Sciences, and the ‘Bruce Medal’. The ‘Gill Award’, South Africa’s highest award in the field of Astronomy, takes his name. There is a planet (#11761) called Davidgill and there is a Gill Crater on the Moon and on Mars. Gill was knighted in 1900 and, in 1906, due to ill health, he and his wife retired to Kensington, in London. Sir David Gill died in London on the 24th of January, 1914, and was taken to his home City of Aberdeen, where he was buried.
Sir David Gill was one of those scientists who is described as ‘the father of’ something; usually an ‘-ology’ or an ‘-ism’. In Gill’s case, he was the ‘father’ of astrography. Sir David Gill was a most remarkable astronomer, noted for his measurements of stellar parallaxes, and devoting a great deal of effort to establishing the distance between the Earth and the Sun; the so-called astronomical unit. His specialty was angular distance measurements and he made some of the worlds most accurate measurements before the space age. He was also a pioneer in the use of astrophotography (the use of photography in the preparation of star catalogs) and, as Astronomer Royal at the Cape of Good Hope, where much of his career was spent, he carried out several major geodetic surveys.
David Gill was born on the 12th of June, 1843, in Aberdeen, and at the age of fourteen, he joined Dollar Academy. The headmaster, Dr. Lindsay, encouraged his early interest in mathematics, natural philosophy and chemistry, and afterwards Gill spent two years in Marshall College, at the University of Aberdeen, as a private student. Gill’s father held a Royal Warrant as Watchmaker to Queen Victoria and, after leaving University, Gill joined his father in the watch making business, spending a year at Besacon, in Switzerland. During this time, of course, he acquired a feeling for precision instruments; a skill that was to be of great value.
In 1863, Gill returned to Aberdeen and started to become actively involved in Astronomy, a subject in which he had been interested from as young as the age of ten. In 1866, he built a small observatory, with a 12-inch telescope that he himself made. Later, in 1869, at a time when photography was still in its experimental stage, Gill took a picture of the Moon. That notable achievement drew attention to the young Scots amateur astronomer and set him off on the career that brought him international fame.
Gill’s photograph was truly excellent, considering the embryonic stage of the art and, in the following year of 1870, it came to the attention of Lord Lindsay of Dunecht. Lindsay was an aristocrat with enough money to build a private observatory, which was lavishly equipped with instruments finer than many of those available in Public Observatories. Lindsay offered Gill the post of Director of his observatory and “the rest is history” as they say.
At the Dunecht Observatory, Gill made some of the most accurate measurements of angular distances to stars using a 4-inch heliometer, an instrument that he later privately acquired from Lord Lindsay. Gill’s innate skill in the use of precision instruments, which had been honed during his watchmaking days in Switzerland, came to the fore. The results he obtained using this instrument, remained amongst the best ever obtained up until the era of space probes and computer technology.
In 1874, Gill went to Mauritius with Lord Lindsay in order to observe the transit of Venus. That was a privately sponsored expedition with Gill as Chief Observer. The results were disappointing, however, Gill later became leader of a successful attempt (in 1882). He next joined the Royal Astronomical Society’s sponsored expedition to the Ascension Islands, in 1877. That was where he first observed the opposition of Mars and calculated a very accurate result for the distance between the Sun and the Earth. Amazingly, the value that Gill calculated back then was within 0.2 per cent of the accepted contemporary value.
With the recommendation of Lord Lindsay, Gill was appointed Her Majesty’s Royal Astronomer and Director of the Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope, in 1879. On his appointment, the place was a bit run down and outdated, but by the time he retired, the Cape Observatory was one of the finest and best equipped observatories in the world. Soon after Gill arrived in Cape Town, he used the Repsold Heliometer to measure the distances to a number of minor planets. The parallax value of 8".80 that he used was employed in the computation of all almanacs until 1968, when radar echo methods and data from the Mariner Probe refined the value – ever so slightly – to 8".794.
When the Great Comet appeared, in 1883, Gill remembered his moon photograph and got the local photographer to fix his camera to the clock driven equatorial telescope. Together, they took several astounding photographs, which showed not only the comet, but the also the background stars, with absolute clarity and sharpness. Gill sent the results to the Royal Astronomical Society and the Paris Observatory. He then ordered a larger lens and embarked upon the most ambitious project of his career. This was ‘The Cape Photographic Durchmusterung for the Equinox 1875’, which extended Argelander’s ‘Bonn Durchmusterung’ to the South Pole. The finished catalogue gave the brightness and approximate positions of nearly half a million stars in the Southern Hemisphere.
In recognition of Gill’s status as the ‘father of astrography’ the Paris Observatory engaged him as an important contributor to its ambitious ‘Carte du del’ project, which set out to create a photographic chart of the entire sky. Its goal was to produce a catalogue giving the precise positions of more than a million stars down to the eleventh magnitude. A fine new telescope, the astrographic refractor, was acquired for the Cape Observatory, but the overambitious project wasn’t completed until long after Gill was dead.
Amongst the awards and recognition Gill gained was ‘Commandeur de la Legion d'Honneur’, from France, the German ‘Order Pour le Merite for Arts and Sciences’, the ‘James Craig Watson Medal’, from the National Academy of Sciences, and the ‘Bruce Medal’. The ‘Gill Award’, South Africa’s highest award in the field of Astronomy, takes his name. There is a planet (#11761) called Davidgill and there is a Gill Crater on the Moon and on Mars. Gill was knighted in 1900 and, in 1906, due to ill health, he and his wife retired to Kensington, in London. Sir David Gill died in London on the 24th of January, 1914, and was taken to his home City of Aberdeen, where he was buried.
Saturday, 11 June 2011
The Reverend Alexander John Forsyth
The Reverend Alexander John Forsyth died on the 11th of June, 1843.
That a man of god invented a means of killing people more efficiently is maybe a bit of an embarrassment for the defenders of the faith. However, in his defence, the frustrated Minister was only trying tip the balance in favour of the shooter when it came to killing burdies and beasties. The Minister was the Reverend Alexander John Forsyth and he was gey fond of game shooting. The trouble was, the Minister’s flintlock fowling piece suffered from the same inadequacies of technology as everyone else’s did, which meant that his invention, like many before or since, was born of necessity. Never mind the sport; he needed to put a few game birds in the pot.
The Reverend Forsyth invented the percussion method of discharging a firearm, which along with the evolution of the metallic cartridge case, was one of the most significant advances in firearms technology. The modern primer traces its history back to the ‘detonating powder’ developed by Alexander Forsyth. The Minister’s compound offered a more convenient and reliable alternative to the flintlock ignition system and unquestionably led to the development of the modern bullet.
His invention was no small accomplishment for Forsyth, considering that the flintlock ignition system had dominated the firearms world for over two hundred years. The flintlock ignition system produced flint-on-steel sparks to ignite a pan of priming powder and thereby fire the gun’s main powder charge. However, flintlock guns were prone to misfire in wet weather and, in addition to the major problem of its unreliability in damp conditions, the flintlock was susceptible to hang fire. That latter fault refers to an unexpected delay between the triggering of a firearm and the ignition of the propellant, which was common in firearm actions that relied on open primer pans, such as flintlocks, due to the poor or inconsistent quality of the powder.
The result of the, albeit minor, delay caused by hang fire was that, too often for the shooter, by the time the bullet was discharged, the lucky duck had time to bank and dive as the shot whistled harmlessly overhead. Forsyth had also noticed that sitting birds would startle when smoke puffed from the powder pan of his flintlock shotgun, effectively giving them additional warning. At least the ducks had a sporting chance.
Alexander John Forsyth was born in Belhelvie, in Aberdeenshire, in 1768, the son of a Presbyterian minister, whom he was destined to follow into the clergy. He was educated at King’s College, Aberdeen, before being ordained a Minister and taking over his father’s parish, in 1790. Resolving to do something to improve the reliability of his fowling piece, Forsyth realised that, along and more efficient propellants, some reliable method of igniting the package was required.
The discovery of fulminates had been made by Edward Charles Howard, in 1800, and that recent development provided Forsyth with the ingredients he needed. By 1805, Forsyth had designed a new priming system, his scent-bottle lock, which he patented, in 1807. Forsyth’s invention involved a small container filled with a mixture of fulminate of mercury and potassium chlorate, sulphur and charcoal, which ignited an enclosed charge when struck by the hammer. The Minister’s invention of a fulminate primed firing mechanism deprived the birds of their early warning system, by avoiding the initial puff of smoke from the flintlock powder pan as well as shortening the interval between trigger pull and the shot leaving the muzzle. Fulminate-primed guns were also less likely to misfire than flintlock guns.
Forsyth’s invention of the detonating cap was later improved through successive developments of what has become the conventional percussion cap. As Forsyth’s invention was gradually improved by various gun makers and private individuals, it came to be used first in a steel cap and then in a copper cap, before coming into general military use nearly thirty years later. The percussion cap led directly to the self contained cartridge (or cartridge case). This in turn, rendered possible the general adoption of the breech loading principle for all types of firearms.
During the Napoleonic Wars, Forsyth’s invention was enthusiastically received by the army, who at first gave him a workshop in the Tower Armories, where he worked on his design. However, when a new Master General of Ordnance was appointed, Forsyth was dismissed, because several of his experiments had destructive results and the new Master General was feart that Britain’s main arsenal would be destroyed. Forsyth’s invention also came to the notice of Napoleon Bonaparte, who offered him £20,000 to bring his secret to France, but true patriot as he was, Forsyth declined. The French gunsmith, Jean Lepage, developed a similar form of ignition in the same year as Forsyth patented his work. It was based on Forsyth’s design, but was not brought to completion.
Forsyth’s invention was later adopted by the British army without his knowledge, however, the Government did, somewhat tardily, allocate him a modest pension; the first (and last) instalment was received on the day of his death. He died on the 11th of June, 1843, and is remembered by a memorial in the Tower of London, which was erected in 1929, a replica of which was erected in 1931, on the Cromwell Tower where he conducted his experiments at King’s College, in Aberdeen.
This ancient Scottish name of Forsyth may have been derived from a Gaelic first name ‘Fearsithe’, which means ‘man (or place) of peace’ – not quite appropriate in terms of how the Minister’s invention has been used. There is also a legend that it originated from ‘Forsach’, a Norseman who settled in Aquitaine and afterwards became the Viscomte de Fronsoc at the English court, with lands in Northumberland and subsequently in the Borders of Scotland. The name has the stress on the second syllable. The Forsyth Clan motto is ‘Instaurator ruinae’, which means ‘A repairer of ruin’, reasonably appropriate to the Reverend Alexander John Forsyth, from the Monymusk branch of the Clan, in Aberdeenshire.
That a man of god invented a means of killing people more efficiently is maybe a bit of an embarrassment for the defenders of the faith. However, in his defence, the frustrated Minister was only trying tip the balance in favour of the shooter when it came to killing burdies and beasties. The Minister was the Reverend Alexander John Forsyth and he was gey fond of game shooting. The trouble was, the Minister’s flintlock fowling piece suffered from the same inadequacies of technology as everyone else’s did, which meant that his invention, like many before or since, was born of necessity. Never mind the sport; he needed to put a few game birds in the pot.
The Reverend Forsyth invented the percussion method of discharging a firearm, which along with the evolution of the metallic cartridge case, was one of the most significant advances in firearms technology. The modern primer traces its history back to the ‘detonating powder’ developed by Alexander Forsyth. The Minister’s compound offered a more convenient and reliable alternative to the flintlock ignition system and unquestionably led to the development of the modern bullet.
His invention was no small accomplishment for Forsyth, considering that the flintlock ignition system had dominated the firearms world for over two hundred years. The flintlock ignition system produced flint-on-steel sparks to ignite a pan of priming powder and thereby fire the gun’s main powder charge. However, flintlock guns were prone to misfire in wet weather and, in addition to the major problem of its unreliability in damp conditions, the flintlock was susceptible to hang fire. That latter fault refers to an unexpected delay between the triggering of a firearm and the ignition of the propellant, which was common in firearm actions that relied on open primer pans, such as flintlocks, due to the poor or inconsistent quality of the powder.
The result of the, albeit minor, delay caused by hang fire was that, too often for the shooter, by the time the bullet was discharged, the lucky duck had time to bank and dive as the shot whistled harmlessly overhead. Forsyth had also noticed that sitting birds would startle when smoke puffed from the powder pan of his flintlock shotgun, effectively giving them additional warning. At least the ducks had a sporting chance.
Alexander John Forsyth was born in Belhelvie, in Aberdeenshire, in 1768, the son of a Presbyterian minister, whom he was destined to follow into the clergy. He was educated at King’s College, Aberdeen, before being ordained a Minister and taking over his father’s parish, in 1790. Resolving to do something to improve the reliability of his fowling piece, Forsyth realised that, along and more efficient propellants, some reliable method of igniting the package was required.
The discovery of fulminates had been made by Edward Charles Howard, in 1800, and that recent development provided Forsyth with the ingredients he needed. By 1805, Forsyth had designed a new priming system, his scent-bottle lock, which he patented, in 1807. Forsyth’s invention involved a small container filled with a mixture of fulminate of mercury and potassium chlorate, sulphur and charcoal, which ignited an enclosed charge when struck by the hammer. The Minister’s invention of a fulminate primed firing mechanism deprived the birds of their early warning system, by avoiding the initial puff of smoke from the flintlock powder pan as well as shortening the interval between trigger pull and the shot leaving the muzzle. Fulminate-primed guns were also less likely to misfire than flintlock guns.
Forsyth’s invention of the detonating cap was later improved through successive developments of what has become the conventional percussion cap. As Forsyth’s invention was gradually improved by various gun makers and private individuals, it came to be used first in a steel cap and then in a copper cap, before coming into general military use nearly thirty years later. The percussion cap led directly to the self contained cartridge (or cartridge case). This in turn, rendered possible the general adoption of the breech loading principle for all types of firearms.
During the Napoleonic Wars, Forsyth’s invention was enthusiastically received by the army, who at first gave him a workshop in the Tower Armories, where he worked on his design. However, when a new Master General of Ordnance was appointed, Forsyth was dismissed, because several of his experiments had destructive results and the new Master General was feart that Britain’s main arsenal would be destroyed. Forsyth’s invention also came to the notice of Napoleon Bonaparte, who offered him £20,000 to bring his secret to France, but true patriot as he was, Forsyth declined. The French gunsmith, Jean Lepage, developed a similar form of ignition in the same year as Forsyth patented his work. It was based on Forsyth’s design, but was not brought to completion.
Forsyth’s invention was later adopted by the British army without his knowledge, however, the Government did, somewhat tardily, allocate him a modest pension; the first (and last) instalment was received on the day of his death. He died on the 11th of June, 1843, and is remembered by a memorial in the Tower of London, which was erected in 1929, a replica of which was erected in 1931, on the Cromwell Tower where he conducted his experiments at King’s College, in Aberdeen.
This ancient Scottish name of Forsyth may have been derived from a Gaelic first name ‘Fearsithe’, which means ‘man (or place) of peace’ – not quite appropriate in terms of how the Minister’s invention has been used. There is also a legend that it originated from ‘Forsach’, a Norseman who settled in Aquitaine and afterwards became the Viscomte de Fronsoc at the English court, with lands in Northumberland and subsequently in the Borders of Scotland. The name has the stress on the second syllable. The Forsyth Clan motto is ‘Instaurator ruinae’, which means ‘A repairer of ruin’, reasonably appropriate to the Reverend Alexander John Forsyth, from the Monymusk branch of the Clan, in Aberdeenshire.
Friday, 10 June 2011
Robert Brown
Robert Brown, botanist and plant geographer, died on the 10th of June, 1858.
Robert Brown was a botanist and is often credited with being the originator of the science of plant geography. He was certainly acknowledged as the leading British botanist during the first half of the 19th Century. Brown’s study of the flora and fauna of Australia made him eminently respected in his field and he became a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Linnean Society. The result of that work was Brown’s famous book about the flora and fauna of New Holland and Van Deimen’s Land as Australia was then known. Although Brown was also responsible for discovering the nucleus of a cell and indeed for having coined the word nucleus, he is perhaps best known for his discovery of the random movement of microscopic particles in a surrounding solution. That infinitesimal activity was later referred to as ‘Brownian motion’ and in fact provided the first evidence of the existence of atoms.
Robert Brown was born in Montrose on the 21st of December, 1773, the son of an Episcopalian minister. Although he later discarded his religious faith, Brown gained an appreciation for high intellectual standards from his father. He attended Montrose Academy then, in 1787, he went to Marischal College in Aberdeen as Ramsay scholar. Brown moved to Edinburgh with his family, in 1789, and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He did not take a degree, but he did show a special interest in natural history.
In 1795, he joined the Fifeshire Regiment of Fencibles as Ensign and Surgeon’s Mate, and was posted to Northern Ireland. Brown’s journal entries during that period suggest that his military duties did not demand much of his time and, not being a man given to wasting time, Brown’s intellectual curiosity led him to study the German language. He also continued his botanical pursuits, memorising the structures of various plants, such as ferns and mosses. His knowledge of German later helped Brown recognize a significant scientific work in that language; ‘Geheimniss der Natur im Bau und in der Befruchtung der Blumen’, by C. K. Sprengel (1793) and bring it to the attention of fellow scientist, Charles Darwin, in 1841.
In 1800, Brown volunteered to serve as the naturalist on board HMS Investigator during the circumnavigation of Australia under Matthew Flinders. When Mungo Park refused to go, Sir Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society, offered the post to Brown, with whose intellectual tenacity he was most impressed. Brown accepted with alacrity, though Banks had to apply pressure through the Lord Lieutenant in Dublin to procure Brown’s release. As a result, Brown was able to keep his commission and pay, and to receive from the Admiralty a salary of £420, which enabled him to continue supporting his widowed mother, in Edinburgh. The historic expedition to chart the coast of Australia arrived off what is now Western Australia in December, 1801.
During Flinders’ coastal surveys, Brown collected many species of plants and made it back to England, despite being shipwrecked in HMS Porpoise on the Great Barrier Reef and the Investigator having been condemned as unseaworthy. By the time he returned to London, in 1805, he had collected over 4,000 samples of plants, supplemental drawings, and specimens for zoological research. Banks convinced the Admiralty to give Brown a salary for classifying and describing his collection, which included 2,200 species of plants, at least 1,700 new species, and 140 new plant genera. The task took Brown an additional five years.
Finally, in 1810, Brown published ‘Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen’, his study of the flora and fauna of New Holland and Van Deimen’s Land. The study modified one of the prevailing systems of plant classification (the Jussiaean system) by adding new families and genera and including observations about plants worldwide. The fame of Brown’s ‘Prodromus’ rests partly on its quality and partly on his modification of the ‘natural’ system of plant classification of Jussieu, rejecting the more rigid Linnaean practice and helping to revitalise botanical science in the process.
His discovery, in 1827, of the phenomenon he named ‘Brownian motion’ was published in a pamphlet the following year. Under a microscope, he noticed that living pollen grains of ‘Clarkia pulchella’ seemed to be darting around in a random manner. He then examined both living and dead pollen grains of many other plants, and also experimented with organic and inorganic substances, all reduced to a fine powder and suspended in water. The continuous molecular agitation he observed was not limited to living matter and revealed such motion to be a general property of matter in that state. Brown’s discovery provided the first evidence that proved the existence of atoms.
Another of his famous discoveries was published in an 1833 paper, in which Brown became the first person to note the existence of, and describe in detail, the nucleus (a term he coined) of plant cells. This arose when he was investigating the fertilization of Orchidaceae and Asclepiadaceae. In addition, Brown was the first to recognise the fundamental distinction between the conifers and their allies (gymnosperms) and the flowering plants (angiosperms).
In 1827, Brown became Keeper of the Banksian Botanical Collection at the British Museum. Throughout his life, Brown was held in high regard by his contemporaries, being known as ‘Botanicorum facile princeps’ (the pre-eminent botanist) by von Humboldt. Charles Darwin, a peer of Brown’s, remarked on the “minuteness of [Brown’s] observations and their perfect accuracy.” Darwin claimed that when Brown died, much of his knowledge “died with him, owing to his excessive fear of never making a mistake.”
Robert Brown died in Soho Square, in London, on the 10th of June, 1858, and was buried at Turnham Green. In 1876, his personal collections were acquired by the British Museum. A number of the plants he discovered in Australia were named after him, as was Brown’s Tetrodontium Moss, which he discovered at Roslin near Edinburgh while a student. Brown’s River, in Tasmania, is also named after him. His death led to a free date at the Linnean Society, which was filled by Charles Darwin’s lecture on the Theory Of Evolution.
Robert Brown was a botanist and is often credited with being the originator of the science of plant geography. He was certainly acknowledged as the leading British botanist during the first half of the 19th Century. Brown’s study of the flora and fauna of Australia made him eminently respected in his field and he became a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Linnean Society. The result of that work was Brown’s famous book about the flora and fauna of New Holland and Van Deimen’s Land as Australia was then known. Although Brown was also responsible for discovering the nucleus of a cell and indeed for having coined the word nucleus, he is perhaps best known for his discovery of the random movement of microscopic particles in a surrounding solution. That infinitesimal activity was later referred to as ‘Brownian motion’ and in fact provided the first evidence of the existence of atoms.
Robert Brown was born in Montrose on the 21st of December, 1773, the son of an Episcopalian minister. Although he later discarded his religious faith, Brown gained an appreciation for high intellectual standards from his father. He attended Montrose Academy then, in 1787, he went to Marischal College in Aberdeen as Ramsay scholar. Brown moved to Edinburgh with his family, in 1789, and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He did not take a degree, but he did show a special interest in natural history.
In 1795, he joined the Fifeshire Regiment of Fencibles as Ensign and Surgeon’s Mate, and was posted to Northern Ireland. Brown’s journal entries during that period suggest that his military duties did not demand much of his time and, not being a man given to wasting time, Brown’s intellectual curiosity led him to study the German language. He also continued his botanical pursuits, memorising the structures of various plants, such as ferns and mosses. His knowledge of German later helped Brown recognize a significant scientific work in that language; ‘Geheimniss der Natur im Bau und in der Befruchtung der Blumen’, by C. K. Sprengel (1793) and bring it to the attention of fellow scientist, Charles Darwin, in 1841.
In 1800, Brown volunteered to serve as the naturalist on board HMS Investigator during the circumnavigation of Australia under Matthew Flinders. When Mungo Park refused to go, Sir Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society, offered the post to Brown, with whose intellectual tenacity he was most impressed. Brown accepted with alacrity, though Banks had to apply pressure through the Lord Lieutenant in Dublin to procure Brown’s release. As a result, Brown was able to keep his commission and pay, and to receive from the Admiralty a salary of £420, which enabled him to continue supporting his widowed mother, in Edinburgh. The historic expedition to chart the coast of Australia arrived off what is now Western Australia in December, 1801.
During Flinders’ coastal surveys, Brown collected many species of plants and made it back to England, despite being shipwrecked in HMS Porpoise on the Great Barrier Reef and the Investigator having been condemned as unseaworthy. By the time he returned to London, in 1805, he had collected over 4,000 samples of plants, supplemental drawings, and specimens for zoological research. Banks convinced the Admiralty to give Brown a salary for classifying and describing his collection, which included 2,200 species of plants, at least 1,700 new species, and 140 new plant genera. The task took Brown an additional five years.
Finally, in 1810, Brown published ‘Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen’, his study of the flora and fauna of New Holland and Van Deimen’s Land. The study modified one of the prevailing systems of plant classification (the Jussiaean system) by adding new families and genera and including observations about plants worldwide. The fame of Brown’s ‘Prodromus’ rests partly on its quality and partly on his modification of the ‘natural’ system of plant classification of Jussieu, rejecting the more rigid Linnaean practice and helping to revitalise botanical science in the process.
His discovery, in 1827, of the phenomenon he named ‘Brownian motion’ was published in a pamphlet the following year. Under a microscope, he noticed that living pollen grains of ‘Clarkia pulchella’ seemed to be darting around in a random manner. He then examined both living and dead pollen grains of many other plants, and also experimented with organic and inorganic substances, all reduced to a fine powder and suspended in water. The continuous molecular agitation he observed was not limited to living matter and revealed such motion to be a general property of matter in that state. Brown’s discovery provided the first evidence that proved the existence of atoms.
Another of his famous discoveries was published in an 1833 paper, in which Brown became the first person to note the existence of, and describe in detail, the nucleus (a term he coined) of plant cells. This arose when he was investigating the fertilization of Orchidaceae and Asclepiadaceae. In addition, Brown was the first to recognise the fundamental distinction between the conifers and their allies (gymnosperms) and the flowering plants (angiosperms).
In 1827, Brown became Keeper of the Banksian Botanical Collection at the British Museum. Throughout his life, Brown was held in high regard by his contemporaries, being known as ‘Botanicorum facile princeps’ (the pre-eminent botanist) by von Humboldt. Charles Darwin, a peer of Brown’s, remarked on the “minuteness of [Brown’s] observations and their perfect accuracy.” Darwin claimed that when Brown died, much of his knowledge “died with him, owing to his excessive fear of never making a mistake.”
Robert Brown died in Soho Square, in London, on the 10th of June, 1858, and was buried at Turnham Green. In 1876, his personal collections were acquired by the British Museum. A number of the plants he discovered in Australia were named after him, as was Brown’s Tetrodontium Moss, which he discovered at Roslin near Edinburgh while a student. Brown’s River, in Tasmania, is also named after him. His death led to a free date at the Linnean Society, which was filled by Charles Darwin’s lecture on the Theory Of Evolution.
Thursday, 9 June 2011
St. Columba
St. Columba or Colum cille (Colum of the Churches), died on Iona on the 9th of June, 597, at the Monastery he founded after arriving from Ireland, in 563.
Of all the Scottish saints of the ‘Dark Ages’, Columba is the ‘A-list’ celebrity, outshining his contemporary, St. Mungo, or Kentigern as he was also known. Albeit Columba was Irish, he played a significant part in Scotland’s history, founding a monastery on Iona, which became one of the leading centres of Christianity in Western Europe and the base from where he launched his mission to convert the Pictish nation to Christianity, a significant feat, along with many others, with which he is credited.
No doubt Columba would have remained an enigmatic and little known figure if it hadn’t been for a Monk called Adomnán, the ninth Abbot of Iona, who wrote a book called the ‘Vita Colum Cille’ (Life of Columba) about a hundred years after his death. This Latin tome ensured that Columba’s reputation eclipsed that of the other Scottish Saints and spread Iona’s fame across Christendom.
In Ireland, Comumba fell out with King Diarmit (Diarmait or Dermott) and, instead of turning the other cheek like a good christian, he raised an army and defeated the King at the battle of Cooldrevny, in 561. Despite the Latinised form of his baptismal name of Colum signifying a dove, he had a fiery temper and the battle was a direct result of his impetuous nature. Whether or not he had an attack of conscience, a further result was his banishment from Ireland with a hefty penance. His spiritual father, St Molaise, commanded that Columba bring as many souls to the Church as he had caused to die.
The motives for this migration have been frequently discussed. Bede simply says: “Venit de Hibernia . . . praedicaturus verbum Dei” (H. E., III, iv); Adarnnan: “pro Christo perigrinari volens enavigavit” (Praef., II). Later writers repeat the story about his inducing Clan Neill to rise against the King. Whatever the facts and true reasons, the obvious destination for an Irish emigrant was the Kingdom of the Gaels of Dalriada (Dál Riata). This enclave lay in present day Argyll and was home to the Scotii, the Irish tribe who ultimately gave their name to Scotland. Columba arrived, in 563, with twelve companions (note that convenient number). After introducing himself to King Conall, he was granted permission to establish a Monastery on Iona, off the island of Mull.
Soon after that, with appropriate religious fervour, equaled only by later Scottish missionaries in Africa or the Jesuits in South America, Columba began the great work of his life, the conversion of the Northern Picts of Caledonia. Together with St. Comgall and St. Canice (Kenneth) he visited King Bridei (Brude), near Inverness. The Picts took one look at the raggedly-habited Monks and their wild looks and promptly closed and bolted their gates. However, Columba was not to be denied and summoning up all his power, just like Gandalf in Moria, he shook his staff. The ground trembled, the skies thundered lightning flashed, and before the mighty sign of the cross, the bolts flew back and the doors burst open. Not bad for an entrance, but you should’ve heard the soundtrack.
King Bridei was so gob-smacked by this mirkel that he promptly converted to Christianity and commanded all his people so to do. They were all baptized, the King first, of course, probably in Loch Ness. Legend has it that during this ceremony, the Loch Ness Monster appeared near the shore, perhaps attracted by the proximity of so many potential lunches, and Columba summoned up another of his mirkels to drive the creature away. In such ways are momentous occasions celebrated. Christianity had come to Caledonia, albeit there was still some resistance from the Druids, who interpreted the wonders of the world in a different manner, which was to them no less authentic.
Columba was one of the first to go ‘bagging’ and not only made it through the Great Glen on foot, but eastwards into the territory of Aberdeenshire. The ‘Book of Deer’ tells how Columba and Drostan came, as God had shown them, to Aberdour in Buchan, and how Bede, a Pict, who was High Steward of Buchan, gave them the town in freedom forever. Another of his journeys brought him to Glasgow, where he met St. Mungo, the Apostle of Strathclyde. He is also credited with persuading the people of Dalriada to elect Aidan, who proved to be a powerful warrior, as successor to Connal.
There was a controversy surrounding Columba, which had to do with his ability to calculate the date for Easter. The venerable Bede excuses him thus; “He [Columba] left successors distinguished for great charity, Divine love, and strict attention to the rules of discipline following indeed uncertain cycles in the computation of the great festival of Easter, because, far away as they were out of the world, no one had supplied them with the synodal decrees relating to the Paschal observance.”
Columba wandered the land, clothed in the habit and cowl usually worn by the Basilian or Benedictine monks, with a Celtic tonsure and his mighty crosier. I recommend half closing your eyes and imagining a grey cloaked, Gandalf-like figure, standing near the shell strewn shore, with a currach pulled up on the beach, and the Celtic cross and ruins of Iona in the background. Columba died on Iona, on the 9th of June, 597AD. His relics were finally removed in 849 and divided between the new formed Scotland and his homeland of Ireland. The Monymusk Reliquary, from around 750 and thought to be the ‘Brechbennoch’ that was carried into battle at Bannockburn, probably contained a relic of St Columba.
At its peak the magical Scottish island of Iona produced ‘The Book of Kells’, which was a masterpiece of Dark Age European art that now resides in Ireland. A couple of hundred years after St. Columba, the nasty Vikings descended on Iona and, within fifty years, it was in ruins. The significance of Iona can be measured by the fact that there are forty-eight Scottish kings buried on the island. It later became the site of a Benedictine Abbey and of a miniature Cathedral, but these were dismantled by the Covenanters, in 1561, when a part of Columba’s prophecy was fulfilled: “In Iona of my heart, Iona of my love, instead of Monks’ voices shall be lowing of cattle, but ere the world come to an end Iona shall be as it was.” Iona also had an affect on Samuel Johnson, who observed; “That man is little to be envied, whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona.”
Nigel Tranter wrote about him in the novel entitled simply ‘Columba’, which a truly engaging and entertaining read.
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Robert Stevenson
Robert Stevenson was born on the 8th of June, 1772.
Robert Stevenson, FRSE, MWS, FGSL, MICE, was a noteworthy Scottish civil engineer, but he is best known as a builder of lighthouses, such as the Bell Rock and Lismore. Stevenson is credited with practically inventing the Scottish lighthouse system, and was the inventor of the intermittent and flashing-light system now universally used by modern lighthouses. For over one hundred and fifty years Robert Stevenson and his descendants designed most of Scotland’s Lighthouses. Battling against the odds and the elements, the Stevensons constructed wonders of engineering that have withstood the test of time. That was an amazing achievement.
Robert Stevenson was born in Glasgow on the 8th of June, 1772, but when his father died of fever, two years later, the family moved to Edinburgh, where Robert was enrolled at the High School. His mother remarried, to Thomas Smith, an Edinburgh ironsmith and streetlight designer, and as a young man, Robert acted as assistant to his stepfather, who was involved in the supervision of such Scottish lighthouses as existed at that time. Those were few in number and crudely illuminated by coal fires, albeit Thomas Smith had already done much to improve them, through the introduction of oil lamps and reflectors.
Stevenson attended Anderson’s College and the University of Glasgow, and worked hard to qualify himself as a civil engineer. In 1791, as an early endorsement of his abilities, he was entrusted, at least in part, with the building of the lighthouse on Little Cumbrae, on the Firth of Clyde. Then, in 1794, Stevenson was delegated the superintendence of the erection of the Pentland Skerries Lighthouse. Stevenson worked as partner to his stepfather for the Northern Lighthouse Board and together they built nine lights, between 1786 and 1806. During his thirty-four years afterwards as sole engineer with the Board, Stevenson was responsible for designing eighteen more of Scotland’s lighthouses.
Perhaps Stevenson’s greatest achievement is the Bell Rock Lighthouse, which still stands, eleven miles out to sea off the east coast of Scotland, practically 200 years after it was first built. This incredible feat of engineering, over thirty meters high and precariously poised on a treacherous sandstone reef, has not required a single repair to its stonework since the day it was completed, in 1811. Many regard it as the finest lighthouse ever built and the most outstanding engineering achievement of the 19th Century.
Nevertheless, there remains a controversy over whether all the credit should go to Stevenson. Without doubt, it was his idea. He surveyed the reef in the summer of 1800 and devised a plan for a substantial stone tower, which he submitted to the Board. His plan was rejected at first, however, the debate stems from the Board’s decision, after the tragedy of HMS York, which was ripped apart on the Rock, to turn to another Scot; John Rennie.
Rennie had never actually built a lighthouse, but the Board was so impressed by his record that he was given the job of Chief Engineer, with Stevenson given the role of Resident Engineer. There can be no question that the two men collaborated on the design, based on Stevenson’s original plan, but when the twenty-four great lanterns were lit for the first time on the 1st of February, 1811, there was no question over who had actually built the Bell Rock Lighthouse – that was definitely Stevenson.
It was Stevenson who had endured the daily rigours, the back breaking hardships and the violent storms, for over four years, to complete the work, whilst Rennie only ever made two visits to the Rock during the entire period of construction, from 1807 to 1810. The minutes of a statutory general meeting of the Board of Northern Lighthouses following Stevenson’s death neatly sum up the facts: “[The Board] …desire to record their regret at the death of this zealous, faithful and able officer, to whom is due the honour of conceiving and executing the great work of the Bell Rock Lighthouse... .”
Robert Stevenson began a dynasty, which became known as the ‘Lighthouse Stevensons’. Between 1790 and 1940, eight members of the family planned, designed and built ninety-seven lighthouses around the Scottish coast. Robert was the father of lighthouse builders Alan, David and Thomas Stevenson, grandfather of David and Charles, and great-grandfather of Alan, who continued the dynasty.
Stevenson was responsible for the introduction of clockwork mechanisms to rotate the lighthouse beams and was indeed the inventor of intermittent and flashing lights. He received a gold medal from the King of the Netherlands for those flashing lights, but he was also involved in other forms of engineering. He was involved in canal building, harbour and railway construction, and suggested the use of flanged wheels and flexible rails for railways (as opposed to the brittle cast iron ones used beforehand). Stevenson also drained the Nor’ Loch, designed and built Regent Road around Calton Hill in Edinburgh, and the Hutcheson Bridge in Glasgow.
His grandson, Robert Louis Stevenson, wrote, “Whenever I smell salt water, I know I am not far from the works of my ancestors. There is scarce a deep sea light from the Isle of Man to North Berwick, but one of my blood designed it. The Bell Rock stands monument for my grandfather, the Skerry Vhor for my Uncle Alan and when the lights come on at sundown along the shores of Scotland, I am proud to think they burn more brightly for the genius of my father.”
Robert Stevenson married Jean Smith who, curiously enough, was the daughter of his stepfather by an earlier marriage, which meant his ‘father’ was also his father-in-law. Robert retired, in 1843, and died on the 12th of July, 1850. He was buried in New Calton Cemetery, in Edinburgh, together with his wife and eight of his thirteen children, who sadly failed to survive into adulthood.
Robert Stevenson, FRSE, MWS, FGSL, MICE, was a noteworthy Scottish civil engineer, but he is best known as a builder of lighthouses, such as the Bell Rock and Lismore. Stevenson is credited with practically inventing the Scottish lighthouse system, and was the inventor of the intermittent and flashing-light system now universally used by modern lighthouses. For over one hundred and fifty years Robert Stevenson and his descendants designed most of Scotland’s Lighthouses. Battling against the odds and the elements, the Stevensons constructed wonders of engineering that have withstood the test of time. That was an amazing achievement.
Robert Stevenson was born in Glasgow on the 8th of June, 1772, but when his father died of fever, two years later, the family moved to Edinburgh, where Robert was enrolled at the High School. His mother remarried, to Thomas Smith, an Edinburgh ironsmith and streetlight designer, and as a young man, Robert acted as assistant to his stepfather, who was involved in the supervision of such Scottish lighthouses as existed at that time. Those were few in number and crudely illuminated by coal fires, albeit Thomas Smith had already done much to improve them, through the introduction of oil lamps and reflectors.
Stevenson attended Anderson’s College and the University of Glasgow, and worked hard to qualify himself as a civil engineer. In 1791, as an early endorsement of his abilities, he was entrusted, at least in part, with the building of the lighthouse on Little Cumbrae, on the Firth of Clyde. Then, in 1794, Stevenson was delegated the superintendence of the erection of the Pentland Skerries Lighthouse. Stevenson worked as partner to his stepfather for the Northern Lighthouse Board and together they built nine lights, between 1786 and 1806. During his thirty-four years afterwards as sole engineer with the Board, Stevenson was responsible for designing eighteen more of Scotland’s lighthouses.
Perhaps Stevenson’s greatest achievement is the Bell Rock Lighthouse, which still stands, eleven miles out to sea off the east coast of Scotland, practically 200 years after it was first built. This incredible feat of engineering, over thirty meters high and precariously poised on a treacherous sandstone reef, has not required a single repair to its stonework since the day it was completed, in 1811. Many regard it as the finest lighthouse ever built and the most outstanding engineering achievement of the 19th Century.
Nevertheless, there remains a controversy over whether all the credit should go to Stevenson. Without doubt, it was his idea. He surveyed the reef in the summer of 1800 and devised a plan for a substantial stone tower, which he submitted to the Board. His plan was rejected at first, however, the debate stems from the Board’s decision, after the tragedy of HMS York, which was ripped apart on the Rock, to turn to another Scot; John Rennie.
Rennie had never actually built a lighthouse, but the Board was so impressed by his record that he was given the job of Chief Engineer, with Stevenson given the role of Resident Engineer. There can be no question that the two men collaborated on the design, based on Stevenson’s original plan, but when the twenty-four great lanterns were lit for the first time on the 1st of February, 1811, there was no question over who had actually built the Bell Rock Lighthouse – that was definitely Stevenson.
It was Stevenson who had endured the daily rigours, the back breaking hardships and the violent storms, for over four years, to complete the work, whilst Rennie only ever made two visits to the Rock during the entire period of construction, from 1807 to 1810. The minutes of a statutory general meeting of the Board of Northern Lighthouses following Stevenson’s death neatly sum up the facts: “[The Board] …desire to record their regret at the death of this zealous, faithful and able officer, to whom is due the honour of conceiving and executing the great work of the Bell Rock Lighthouse... .”
Robert Stevenson began a dynasty, which became known as the ‘Lighthouse Stevensons’. Between 1790 and 1940, eight members of the family planned, designed and built ninety-seven lighthouses around the Scottish coast. Robert was the father of lighthouse builders Alan, David and Thomas Stevenson, grandfather of David and Charles, and great-grandfather of Alan, who continued the dynasty.
Stevenson was responsible for the introduction of clockwork mechanisms to rotate the lighthouse beams and was indeed the inventor of intermittent and flashing lights. He received a gold medal from the King of the Netherlands for those flashing lights, but he was also involved in other forms of engineering. He was involved in canal building, harbour and railway construction, and suggested the use of flanged wheels and flexible rails for railways (as opposed to the brittle cast iron ones used beforehand). Stevenson also drained the Nor’ Loch, designed and built Regent Road around Calton Hill in Edinburgh, and the Hutcheson Bridge in Glasgow.
His grandson, Robert Louis Stevenson, wrote, “Whenever I smell salt water, I know I am not far from the works of my ancestors. There is scarce a deep sea light from the Isle of Man to North Berwick, but one of my blood designed it. The Bell Rock stands monument for my grandfather, the Skerry Vhor for my Uncle Alan and when the lights come on at sundown along the shores of Scotland, I am proud to think they burn more brightly for the genius of my father.”
Robert Stevenson married Jean Smith who, curiously enough, was the daughter of his stepfather by an earlier marriage, which meant his ‘father’ was also his father-in-law. Robert retired, in 1843, and died on the 12th of July, 1850. He was buried in New Calton Cemetery, in Edinburgh, together with his wife and eight of his thirteen children, who sadly failed to survive into adulthood.
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