John Theophilus Desaguliers (13 March 1683 – 29 February 1744) was a natural philosopher born in France. He was a member of the Royal Society of London beginning 29 July 1714. He was presented with the Royal Society's highest honor, the Copley Medal, in 1734, 1736 and 1741, the 1741 award being for his "discovery of the properties of Electricity".^[1][2] Desaguliers at one time assisted Sir Isaac Newton in his experiments and through his speakings and writings was among Newton's staunch advocates. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (856x1070, 1125 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: John Theophilus Desaguliers ... March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... Events June 6 - The Ashmolean Museum opens as the worlds first university museum. ... February 29 is the 60th day of a leap year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 306 days remaining. ... // Events The third French and Indian War, known as King Georges War, breaks out at Port Royal, Nova Scotia The First Saudi State founded by Mohammed Ibn Saud Prague occupied by Prussian armies Ongoing events War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) Births January 10 - Thomas Mifflin, fifth President... Natural philosophy is a term applied to the objective study of nature and the physical universe before the development of modern science. ... ... The Copley Medal is a scientific award for work in any field of science, the highest award granted by the Royal Society of London. ... Sir Isaac Newton, PRS, (4 January [O.S. 25 December 1642] 1643 – 31 March [O.S. 20 March] 1727) was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, alchemist, inventor, and natural philosopher who is generally regarded as one of the most influential scientists in history. ...

Desaguliers was an immigrant to England from France. He was born into a Huguenot (Protestant) family and fled to England at the age of 11 (1694) to escape the consequences of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. After another 11 years (1705), he graduated from Oxford with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Desagulier's reputation as a scientist was sealed not only by his three awards from the Royal Society, but also by publication of a two volume word entitled A course of Experimental Philosophy. Publication of the first volume coincided with the year he first received the Copley Medal (1734), while the second volume's publication came 10 year later in 1744, the year of his death. The first volume concerns theoretical and practical mechanics with an explanation of the basics of Newtonian physics. The second volume contains material oriented toward practical application of scientific findings.^[3] In the 16th and 17th centuries, the name of Huguenots came to apply to members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France, or historically as the French Calvinists. ... The Edict of Fontainebleau (October 1685) was an edict issued by Louis XIV of France. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ...

An inventor as well as a scientist, Desaguliers improved upon the steam engine design of Thomas Savery through the addition of a safety valve. He also designed methods for heating liquid boilers with steam rather than fire, presumably increasing their safety significantly.^[4] A safety valve is an automatic valve mechanism for the release of a gas from a boiler or other system when the pressure or temperature exceeds preset limits. ...

Additionally, Desaguliers was a Freemason, elected as the third Grand Master in 1719, Deputy Grand Master in 1723 and 1725 to the newly formed Grand Lodge of England. American Square & Compasses Freemasonry is a worldwide fraternal organization. ...

There are at least three surviving portraits of Desaguliers dating to 1725 (42 years of age), all held by the National Portrait Gallery in London and available for on-line viewing.^[5] The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in central London which was opened in 1856. ...

References

1. ^  Copley archive winners 1799-1731. The Royal Society. Retrieved 2005-02-12. The work honored is not detailed on this site.
2. ^  Fellows of the Royal Society - D. The Royal Society. Retrieved 2005-02-12. This PDF document also contains birth and death dates.
3. ^  Gory, Paul. A Course of experimental philosophy. Retrieved 2005-02-12. Translated French=>English using Babel Fish, 2005-02-12.
4. ^  John Theophilus Desaguliers, French-born scientist and inventor, 1725. Science & Society Picture Library. Retrieved 2005-02-12.
5. ^  John Theophilus Desaguliers (1683-1744), Natural philosopher. Sitter in 3 portraits. The National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 2005-02-12.

Mackey, Albert G., Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, An, The Masonic History Company, Chicago, 1966. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Babel Fish is a web-based application developed by AltaVista (now part of Yahoo!) which machine translates text or web pages from one of several languages into another. ...