William Murdoch.

William Murdoch (sometimes spelled Murdock) (August 21, 1754 - November 15, 1839) was a Scottish engineer and inventor. He was employed by the firm of Boulton and Watt and worked for them in Cornwall as a steam engine erector for ten years, spending most of the rest of his life in Birmingham. He was the inventor of gas lighting in the early 1790s and coined the term gasometer. In addition to gas he made a number of innovations to the steam engine, including the sun and planet gear and D slide valve, invented the steam gun and pneumatic tube message system, worked on one of the first British paddle steamers to cross the English Channel, built a prototype steam locomotive in 1784 and made a number of discoveries in the field of chemistry. He remained an employee and later a partner of Boulton & Watt until the 1830s and his reputation as an independent inventor has tended to be obscured by the reputations of those two men and the firm they founded. This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... August 21 is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1754 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. ... 1839 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Royal motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within the UK Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... The firm of Boulton and Watt, a partnership between Matthew Boulton and James Watt, made steam engines at their Soho Foundry in Smethwick, near Birmingham, England. ... Motto: Onen hag oll (Cornish: One and all) Geography Status Ceremonial and (smaller) Non-metropolitan county Region South West England Population - Total (2004 est. ... A steam engine is an external combustion heat engine that makes use of the thermal energy that exists in steam, converting it to mechanical work. ... The city from above Centenary Square. ... Gas lighting is the process of burning piped natural gas or coal gas for illumination. ... A German gasometer. ... The sun and planet gear was a method of converting vertical motion to rotary motion and utilised a reciprocating steam engine. ... The D Slide Valve was a form of rectilinear slide valve for use in rotative steam engines invented by William Murdoch and patented in 1799. ... Pneumatic tubes or capsule pipelines are systems of air-driven containers in a network of tubes used for transporting physical objects. ... Paddle steamer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: La Manche, IPA: , the sleeve), also for some time known in England as the British Sea, is the part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the... Prototypes or prototypical instances combine the most representative attributes of a category. ... A locomotive (from lat. ... Chemistry (derived from the Arabic word kimia, alchemy, where al is Arabic for the) is the science that deals with the properties of organic and inorganic substances and their interactions with other organic and inorganic substances. ... The firm of Boulton & Watt, was initially a partnership between Matthew Boulton and James Watt, formed in 1775 to make steam engines at their Soho Foundry in Smethwick, near Birmingham, England. ...

Early Life

William Murdoch was born near Cumnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland, the third of seven children and the first son to survive beyond infancy. The son of John Murdoch, a former Hanoverian artillery gunner and a Millwright and tenant of Bellow Mill on the estate of James Boswell in Auchinleck, he was educated until the age of ten at the Old Cumnock Kirk School before attending Auchinleck school under William Halbert, author of a highly regarded arithmetic textbook. There he excelled in mathematics. Cumnock is a burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland. ... East Ayrshire (Siorrachd Inbhir Àir an Ear in Gaelic) is one of 32 unitary council regions in Scotland. ... Royal motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within the UK Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... The House of Hanover (the Hanoverians) were a German royal dynasty which succeeded the House of Stuart as kings of Great Britain in 1714. ... For the thrash metal band, see Artillery (band) Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... Derived from the trade of carpentry, a millwright originally was a specialised carpenter who was trained as a carpenter and as well had working knowledge of gear ratios, driveshaft speeds, and other equations. ... ASHLEY BOSWELL ---- BOGGYYYYYYYYYYY James Boswell James Boswell (October 29, 1740 - May 19, 1795) was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Auchinleck (sometimes pronounced Affleck) is a town with a population of ca. ... Kirk can mean several things: As a common noun, kirk is the Scots and Scottish English word for church, attested as a noun from the 14th century onwards, but as an element in placenames much earlier. ... Arithmetic or arithmetics (from the Greek word αριθμός = number) in common usage is a branch of (or the forerunner of) mathematics which records elementary properties of certain operations on numerals, though professional mathematicians often treat arithmetic as a synonym for number theory. ... Mathematics is often defined as the study of topics such as quantity, structure, space, and change. ...

In addition to formal education he learned the principles of mechanics, practical experimentation and the working of metal and wood from watching and assisting his father's work. There are numerous reports that in his youth William was responsible for the construction of one of the 30 bridges over the River Nith, although it is possible that this derives from his fathers work in building the Craikston Bridge over Lugar Water in 1774, which William would certainly have been involved in. Mechanics refers to: a craft relating to machinery (from the Latin mechanicus, from the Greek mechanikos, meaning one skilled in machines), or a range of disciplines in science and engineering. ... There are at least two rivers named Nith: One is in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland and passes through the town of Sanquhar. ... The Lugar Water, or River Lugar, is created by the confluence of Bello Water and Guelt Water, both of which flow from the hills of the Southern Uplands in East Ayrshire, Scotland. ...

Tales also abound of William carrying out early experiments into natural gas using coal heated in a copper kettle in a small cave 70 feet from his father's mill. There is however no contemporary documentation for these claims. Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground mining or open-pit mining (strip mining). ...

Birmingham

In 1777, at the age of 23, he walked to Birmingham, a distance of over 300 miles, in order to ask for a job with James Watt, the famous steam engine manufacturer. It is likely that both Watt and Murdoch were already aware of each other due to their connections with James Boswell who had made several visits to Watt's workshop at Soho. Watt's partner Matthew Boulton was so impressed by Murdoch's wooden hat, made on a lathe of his own design that he gave him a job. Watt began his career with Bolton and Watt in the pattern shop of their Soho Foundry making patterns for the casting of machine parts. He progressed quickly and by 1778 Watt had written: The city from above Centenary Square. ... James Watt James Watt (January 19, 1736 – August 25, 1819) was a Scottish inventor and engineer whose improvements to the steam engine were fundamental to the changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution. ... A steam engine is an external combustion heat engine that makes use of the thermal energy that exists in steam, converting it to mechanical work. ... Matthew Boulton. ... A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood derives from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ... Conventional metalworking lathe In woodturning, metalworking, metal spinning, and glassworking, a lathe is a machine tool which spins a block of material so that when abrasive, cutting, or deformation tools are applied to the block, it can be shaped to produce an object which has rotational symmetry about an axis... Soho Foundry is a factory created by Matthew Boulton and James Watt at Smethwick, near Birmingham, England, for the manufacture of steam engines. ...

if William Murdoch is not at home he should be sent for immediately as he understands the patterns and care must be taken to avoid mistakes of which our engine shop has been too guilty.

Murdoch soon progressed to work in fitting and erecting steam engines and was often dispatched away from Soho for this work.

By 1779 Boulton was writing to Watt:

I think Wm. Murdock a valuable man and deserves every civility and encouragement.

On his first solo job erecting an engine at Wanlockhead Mine Murdoch made the first of many improvements to the standard Boulton and Watt engine by rearranging the gears to enable the steam valve to be automatically worked by the action of the exhaust shaft. Wanlockhead is a village in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland nestling in the Lowther Hills, which form part of the Southern Uplands. ... An engine is something that produces some effect from a given input. ... Spur gears found on a piece of farm equipment. ... For the computer software/games company, see Valve Software A valve is a device that regulates the flow of fluids (either gases, fluidised solids, slurries or liquids) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. ...

Murdoch also became a member of the Lunar Society, a regular gathering of influential scientists and industrialists from around Birmingham. The Lunar Society was a discussion club of prominent industrialists and scientists, who met regularly between 1765 and 1813 in Birmingham, England. ...

Cornwall

In September 1779 Murdoch was sent to Redruth in Cornwall as a senior engine erector, responsible for the erection, maintenance & repair of Bolton & Watt engines. These were used for pumping water out of the Cornish Tin mines, and therefore the efficiency and efficacy of the engines was an important factor in the amount of tin, and money, which could be extracted from a mine. At that time steam engines were not simply sold to customers but operated, and maintained by the builders for groups or individuals known as 'adventurers' (shareholders). The engine manufacturers were paid not for a completed engine but through a complex formula calculated on the basis of that engines performance, as Watt described: Map sources for Redruth at grid reference SW700420 Redruth (Cornish: Rysrudh) is a town in the south-west of Cornwall, Britain. ... Motto: Onen hag oll (Cornish: One and all) Geography Status Ceremonial and (smaller) Non-metropolitan county Region South West England Population - Total (2004 est. ... General Name, Symbol, Number tin, Sn, 50 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 5, p Appearance silvery lustrous gray Atomic mass 118. ... Efficiency is the capability of acting or producing effectively with a minimum amount or quantity of waste, expense, or unnecessary effort. ... In general, efficacy is the ability to produce an effect, usually a specifically desired effect. ...

Our profits arise not from making the engine, but from a certain proportion of the savings in fuel which we make over any common engine, that raises the same quantity of water to the same height.

Therefore Murdoch's skill in getting the most out of his engines directly impacted upon Boulton and Watts profits. This he did so successfully that by 1782 Boulton was writing:

We want more Murdocks, for of all others he is the most active man and best engine erector I ever saw...When I look at the work done it astonishes me & is entirely owing to the spirit and activity of Murdoch who hath not gone to bed 3 of the nights.

Due to the frequent problems which could occur with steam engines Murdoch was kept busy traveling around the area repairing and attempting to improve the performance of the engines under his care.

Industrial Espionage

In Cornwall at that time there were a number of engine erectors competing with each other, each with different technical methods of achieving the same ends. As such a great deal of copying of mechanical innovations, and violation of patents went on, often through the reporting of casual conversations between engineers and practical observations of engine modifications . The risk of his patents being infringed upon was something which particularly exercised Watt and so Murdoch was, in addition to his other activities, called upon to make reports and swear out affidavits for legal actions against Boulton and Watts competitors. In the closeknit and clannish Cornwall of the time this was sometimes at his own risk. As one of his colleagues stated to Watt: A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a person for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which is new, inventive, and... An affidavit is a formal sworn statement of fact, written down, signed, and witnessed (as to the veracity of the signature) by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public. ...

If he makes an Affidavit against Carpenter or Penandrea, there will be no safety for him in Redruth.

This early industrial espionage did not operate all in one direction and Murdoch was often required to undertake inspections of competitors engines, either to determine whether patents had been infringed or to assess the effectiveness of those engines.

Mechanical Improvements and Inventions

While in based in Cornwall Murdoch had to deal with a wide range of mechanical problems related to steam engines and this led him into making practical improvements to the basic steam engine designs used by Boulton and Watt. From 1782 there is evidence that Murdoch was discussing and collaborating with Watt on a number of inventions and improvements. There is however a dearth of letters from Murdoch to Watt from 1780 until 1797 in the Watt archive, possibly, as argued by John Griffiths, due to an attempt by Watt's son, James Watt Junior, to uphold his fathers reputation by removing any evidence of the origin of some of the inventions he patented. It is almost certain that Murdoch's contract of employment, in common with those for other employees of Boulton and Watt, specified that anything he invented would be the intellectual property of his employers, and frequently it was they who filed, and benefited from, patents on these inventions. Intellectual property, or IP, refers to a legal entitlement which sometimes attaches to the expressed form of an idea, or to some other intangible subject matter. ... A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a person for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which is new, inventive, and...

One of Murdoch's most significant inventions, for which evidence exists to attribute it to him, was the sun and planet gear which allowed steam power to be used to "produce a continued Rotative or Circular Motion round an Axis or Centre, and thereby to give Motion to the Wheels of Mills or other Machines". This gear converted the vertical motion of a beam, driven by a small steam engine, into circular motion using a 'planet', a cogwheel fixed at the end of the pumping rod (connected to the beam) of the engine. With the motion of the beam this revolved around, and turned, the 'sun' a larger rotating cog which turned the drive shaft. This system of achieving rotary motion was patented in his own name by James Watt in October 1781 although Samuel Smiles, biographer of Boulton and Watt, attributes this to Murdoch and there also exists a drawing of the sun and planet system in Murdoch's hand dated August 1781. Other evidence attributing this invention to William Murdoch takes the form of a letter from Boulton to a colleague concerning Watt's forthcoming October patents in which he writes: The sun and planet gear was a method of converting vertical motion to rotary motion and utilised a reciprocating steam engine. ... Spur gears found on a piece of farm equipment. ... Cog is a term with several meanings: A part of a gear system A small sailing vessel called a cog (ship) A tenon that extends all the way through another piece of wood, in joinery The evil robots in Toontown Online COG is also an acronym for: Center of gravity... Drive Shaft (sometimes written as Drive-Shaft or DriveSHAFT) is a fictional band featured in the American drama/adventure television series Lost, created by J.J. Abrams. ...

He has another rotative scheme to add, which I could have told him of long ago when first invented by William Murdock but I do not think it a matter of much consequence.

Another innovation of Murdoch's was his 1799 invention of a much simplified and more efficient steam wheel than those in use at the time. A precursor of the steam turbine the steam wheel allowed the wheel to be directly turned by the pressure of the steam moving through it. By this time Murdoch's contract had been amended and he was able to patent this device in his own name. A rotor of a modern steam turbine, used in a power plant A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into useful mechanical work. ...

Murdoch also carried out a numner of experiments with compressed air and developed the first pneumatic message system which worked by using compressed air to propell a message in a cylinder through a tube to its intended destination. This system was developed by the London Pneumatic Dispatch Company and became widely used, Harrods in particular used this system until the 1940's. Murdoch also used compressed air to ring a bell at his home to announce visitors. Pneumatics, from the Greek πνευματικός (pneumatikos, coming from the wind) is the use of pressurized gases to do work in science and technology. ... Pneumatic tubes are systems of air-driven containers in a network of tubes used for transporting physical objects. ... Harrods is an upmarket department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London. ...

Some of Murdoch's other minor inventions and experiments were; a machine developed in 1784 or 1785 in Cornwall for drilling wooden pipes, in 1810 this was further developed and patented for stone pipes, a steam cannon which he attempted to use in 1803 to knock down a wall at Soho, a steam gun in the same year which fired 3cm lead bullets; and machinery to grind and compress peat moss under great pressure to produce a material with "the appearance of the finest Jet". Stone can refer to any of the following: Stone may be used as a building material, as in this dry stone wall Look up stone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A small cast-iron cannon on a carriage ????? Cannon also refers to a large, smooth-bored, muzzle-loading gun used before the advent of breech-loading, rifled guns firing explosive shells. ... The word grinding can mean many things: Grinding is a manufacturing process that uses friction with a rough surface to wear away or smooth the surface of a work piece. ... Species See text Sphagnum is a genus of mosses commonly called peat moss due to its prevalence in peat bogs. ... Jet is a geological material that is not considered a mineral in the true sense of the word, but rather, a mineraloid derived from decaying wood under extreme pressure. ...

Steam Powered Locomotion

Drawing of William Murdoch's first Steam Carriage Model

An important invention for which William Murdoch's name is little known is Britain's first working model of a steam engine carriage, or locomotive in 1784. French engineer Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot had had already demonstrated from 1769 by building two full sized working steam vehicles, one of which could carry 4 tons, the utility of such a device. All that was needed was a more effective design. Image File history File links Murdoch_steam_carriage. ... Image File history File links Murdoch_steam_carriage. ... A steam engine is an external combustion heat engine that makes use of the thermal energy that exists in steam, converting it to mechanical work. ... A locomotive (from lat. ... Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (25 September 1725 – 2 October 1804) was a French inventor who built what may have been the worlds first self-propelled mechanical vehicle or automobile. ...

The earliest mention of Murdoch's thoughts and plans for this method of transport was in March 1784 when his colleague in Cornwall, Thomas Wilson, wrote to Watt on Murdoch's "new scheme":

It is no less than drawing carriages upon the road with steam engines...he says that what he proposes, is different from anything you ever thought of, and that he is positively certain of its answering and that there is a great deal of money to be made by it.

Replies from Watt made it clear that he thought there was no future in such an idea and, fearful of losing Mudochs services in Cornwall, attempted to disuade him from the scheme.

A later letter from Boulton disclosed more details of Murdoch's ideas

He proposes to catch most of the condensed Steam by makeing it strike against broad Copper plates & the condensed part trickeling down may be caught and returned into its Boiler or other reservoir. This may do some good in rain or frosty weather & he proposes to have different sized revolvers to apply at every hill & every vale according to their angle with ye Horizon... I verely believe he would sooner give up all his cornish business & interest than be deprived of carrying the thing into execution.

In the same letter Boulton also secretly urged Watt to include a scheme for a steam powered carriage in his patent application, which Watt did shortly thereafter.

I have given such descriptions of engines for wheel carriages as I could do in the time and space I could allow myself; but it is very defective and can only serve to keep other people from similar patents.

By this time Murdoch had already built a working model of his steam carriage; held in the Museum of Science and Industry, Birmingham till its closure in 1997; and accounts exist from witnesses who "saw the model steam carriage run around Murdoch's living room in Redruth in 1784." This is the first recorded example in Great Britain of a man-made machine moving around completely under its own power. Museum of Science and Industry can refer to: Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, United States Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, FL, United States Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, England National Museum of Science and Industry, England This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid...

Murdoch's working model was a three wheeled vehicle about a foot in height with the engine and boiler placed between the two larger back wheels with a spirit lamp underneath to heat the water and a tiller at the front turning the smaller front wheel. The mechanics of the model locomotive incorporated a number of innovations, such as a boiler safety valve, having the cylinder partly immersed in the boiler and using a new valve system on the lines of the D-slide valve. A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a meter. ...

This model was not the only one made by Murdoch as he continued experimenting with the design and by August 1786 had made at least one other model, of a different size, which we know of. Apart from this Murdoch doesn't appear to have worked much on his ideas from 1784 to 1786 due to the continuing high volume of work for Boulton and Watt; his marriage in 1785 and the birth of their twins in the same year. Shortly after this birth, and with a second model already built, Murdoch took steps to patent his steam locomotive. However at Exeter on the way to London he was met by Boulton who persuaded him to return to Cornwall without registering the patent. As Boulton wrote to Watt on 2 September 1795: Fraternal twin boys in the tub The term twin most notably refers to two individuals (or one of two individuals) who have shared the same uterus (womb) and usually, but not necessarily, born on the same day. ... The city of Exeter is the county town of Devon, in England, UK. It is located at 50° 43′ 25″ N, 3° 31′ 39″ W. In the 2001 census its population was recorded at 111,066. ...

He said He was going to London to get Men but I soon found he was going there with his Steam Carg to shew it & to take out a patent. He haveing been told by Mr W. Wilkn what Sadler had said & he had likewise read in the news paper Simmingtons puff which had rekindled all Wms fire & impations to make Steam Carriages. However I prevailed upon him readily to return to Cornwall by the next days dilligence & he accordingly arivd here this day at noon, since which he hath unpacked his Carg & made Travil a Mile or two in Rivers;s great room in a Circle makeing it carry the fire Shovel, poker & tongs.

This demonstration of his steam carriage in Rivers Great Room, at the King's Head, Truro, was the first public demonstration in Britain given of Steam locomotion in action. Truro is Cornwalls only city and its administrative centre. ...

Although after 1786 there is no further mention of Murdoch's work on Steam Carriages in Watt or Boultons correspondence a volume of evidence exists that he continued to work on it without his employers support and some argue that a full size version was built.

One story often told, both in respect of a full size carriage & one of his models, is that one night Murdoch decided to test his carriage outside on the open road and it soon outpaced him, leaving him to chase after it. Whilst chasing it he encountered a local clergyman in a state of considerable distress who had mistaken his carriage, with its billowing smoke & fire burning under the boiler, for the devil. This story may be accurate, however is more likely to relate to a model than to a full size steam carriage. see also Holy Orders The following terms have traditional meanings for the Anglican Church, and possibly beyond: A churchman is in principle a member of a church congregation, in practice someone in holy orders. ... The Devil is the name given to a supernatural entity, who, in most Western religions, is the central embodiment of evil. ...

Another story often told, this one almost certainly apocryphal, is of Murdoch travelling from "mine to mine in a steam chaise lit by gas", given the state of the roads at that time this can be discounted. However it is argued by John Griffiths that Murdoch may have built a full size steam carriage some time in the 1790's, which could be the source of this story.

One fact important to the latter development of the steam locomotive by others was that William Murdoch's house at Redruth was next door to that of Richard Trevithick in 1797 & 1798, who could have seen and been influenced by Murdoch's experiments, and who would certainly have been aware of his work in this area. There is also a story told by Murdoch's son John of a visit by Trevithick to see a model engine in 1794: Richard Trevithick. ...

The model of the wheel carriage engine was made in the summer of 1792 and was then shown to many of the inhabitants of Redruth - about two years after Trevithick and A. Vivian called at my father's hourse in Redruth... My father mentions that... on that day they asked him to show his model of the wheel carriage engine which worked with strong steam and no vacuum. This was immediately shown to them in a working state.

In any event without the support of Boulton and Watt, who appear to have opposed Murdochs work due to the need to use high pressure steam which Watt distrusted, Murdoch was unable to develop or gain publicity for his invention and it was left to Trevethick and others to develop it commercially later.

Chemistry Discoveries

In addition to his mechanical work Murdoch also experimented in the field of chemistry and made a number of discoveries. One such was the discovery, first recorded in 1784, of iron cement made from sal ammoniac, or ammonium chloride and iron filings, apparently discovered when Murdoch observed that these 2 components had accidentally mixed in his tool bag and formed a solid mass. This iron cement was used to fix and harden the joints of steam engines, thus creating a hard durable seal. General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Atomic mass 55. ... sabki maaa ki chooot !! In the general sense, a cement is any material with adhesive properties. ... Sal ammoniac is a rare mineral composed of ammonium chloride, NH4Cl. ... Ammonium chloride or Sal Ammoniac (chemically ammonium chloride (NH4Cl); also nushadir salt, zalmiak, sal armagnac, sal armoniac, and salt armoniack) is, in its pure form, a clear white water-soluble crystalline salt with a biting taste. ...

Another discovery, and the first for which Murdoch took out a patent was that of

The art or method of making from the same materials and by the same processes entirely new copperas, vitriol, and different sorts of dye or dying stuff, paints and colours, and also a composition for preserving the bottoms of all kinds of vessels and all wood required to be immersed in water, from worms, weeds, barnacles, and every other foulness which usually does or may adhere thereto.

This patent was filed in 1791 and although it was not developed at the time this can be seen as the first step in the development of aniline dyes and coatings. Aniline, phenylamine or aminobenzene (C6H5NH2) is an organic chemical compound which is a primary aromatic amine consisting of a benzene ring and an amino group. ...

British Isinglass

In 1795 Murdoch developed a replacement for Isinglass, a precipitate made from sturgeon used in the clarifying of beer to remove impurities, which had to be imported from Russia at great expense. Murdoch's replacement was made from dried Cod and was much cheaper than the 25 shillings a pound which Isinglass cost. This cost saving was so attractive that the Committee of London Brewers paid £2000 for the right to use his invention. Isinglass is a substance obtained from the swimbladders of fish (especially sturgeon), used for the clarification of wine and beer. ... Species See text Sturgeon (Acipenser) is a genus of fish, of which some twenty different species are known, from European, Asiatic and North American rivers. ... Species Gadus morhua Gadus macrocephalus Gadus ogac Cod surfacing This article is about codfish; for other meanings, see COD. Cod is the common name for the genus Gadus of fish, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name of a variety of other fishes. ... The shilling (or informally: bob) was an English coin first issued in 1548 for Henry VIII, although arguably the testoon issued about 1487 for Henry VII was the first English shilling. ... The pound sterling is the official currency of the United Kingdom (UK). ...

Murdoch's Isinglass replacement was so effective that in a court case brought by the British Customs and Excise Authorities, the noted Chemist, Sir Humphry Davy in answer to a question on whether it was "proper to be used for the purpose of fineing beer" testified that: Her Majestys Customs and Excise (HMCE) was a department of the British Government in the UK. It was responsible for the collection of Value-added tax, Customs Duties, Excise Duties, and other indirect taxes such as Air Passenger Duty, Climate Change Levy, Insurance Premium Tax, Landfill Tax and Aggregates... Sir Humphry Davy. ...

I believe it is if properly prepared - it is the same substance as Isinglass.

Use of Murdoch's "Isinglass made of British fish" continued and played an important role in reducing British brewers reliance on imported raw materials.

Gas Lighting

The key invention for which Murdoch is best known is the application of gas lighting as a replacement for oil and tallow produced light. It was in 1792 that he first began experimenting with the use of gas, derived from the combustion of coal and other materials, for lighting. There is some uncertainty as to when he first demonstrated this process in practice, however most sources identify this as between 1792 and 1794. Gas lighting is the process of burning piped natural gas or coal gas for illumination. ... Oil is a generic term for organic liquids that are not miscible with water. ... Tallow is rendered beef or mutton fat (suet). ... A gas is one of the four main phases of matter (after solid and liquid, and followed by plasma), that subsequently appear as a solid material is subjected to increasingly higher temperatures. ...

Inorder to use gas for practical purposes it was first necessary to develop a working method for the production and capture of the gas. There is considerable doubt as to the date by which this process was perfected. However numerous accounts exist that by 1794 Murdoch was producing coal gas from a small retort containing burning coals with a three or four foot iron tube attached, through which he piped the gas before sending it through an old gun barrel and igniting it to produce light. A retort in use. ... General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Atomic mass 55. ... 155 mm M198 howitzer U.S. Army soldier with a compact M249 variant USS Iowa (BB-61) fires a full broadside of nine 16/50 and six 5/38 guns during a target exercise near Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, 1 July 1984. ...

It is frequently claimed that Murdoch's house at Redruth - or his cottage at Soho - was the first domestic residence to be lit by gas. While this claim can be more believably applied to his cottage in Redruth than to Soho most witnesses to his private demonstrations of gas lighting agree that his gas production and lighting apparatus was in fact set up in his workshop or foundry in his yard, rather than the house itself and that there was no permanent gas lighting in place in his home. In view of the smell, risk of poisoning and chance of accidental combustion of this experimental method of lighting it is no surprise that it was not, even by its inventor, used as widely or as casually as is today often claimed. This article is about the factory that makes castings of metal. ... Combustion or burning is a chemical process, an exothermic reaction between a substance (the fuel) and a gas (the oxidizer), usually O2, to release heat. ...

Over the next few years Murdoch performed "a series of experiments upon the quantity and quality of the gasses contained in different substances" and upon the best way of transporting, storing, purifying and lighting these. It is known, by the account of William Fairbairn that Murdoch occasionally used his gas as a portable lantern. Sir William Fairbairn Sir William Fairbairn (February 19, 1789 - August 18, 1874) was a Scottish engineer. ... Stone lantern A lantern is a portable lighting device used to illuminate broad areas. ...

It was a dark winter's night and how to reach the house over such bed roads was a question not easily solved. Mr Murdoch, however, fruitful in resource, went to the gasworks where he filled a bladder which he had with him, and, placing it under his arm like a bagpipe, he discharged through the stem of an old tobacco pipe a stream of gas which enabled us to walk in safety to Medlock Bank.

In 1798 Murdoch returned to Birmingham to work in the Soho foundry and continued his experiments with gas, as part of which he lit the interior of the Soho main building, although it is likely that it was lit only in part and not (at this time) permanently. In 1802 as part of the public celebrations of the Peace of Amiens he made a public exhibition of his lighting by illuminating the exterior of the Soho Foundry. The first industrial factory to be illuminated by gas was the Philips and Lee cotton mill in Manchester which was fully lit by Murdoch in 1805, four years after the idea was first broached. Initially this mill contained 50 gas lights, although this soon grew to 904. The length of time taken to complete this project was partly due to experimentations and improvements in the process developed by Murdoch to make the lighting of a large factory by gas practicable & cost effective - such as purifying the gas with lime to remove the smell and determining the best temperature to heat coal to obtain the maximum quantity of gas - although Murdoch continued to be involved in other engine work for Boulton and Watt, which took up much of his time. The Treaty of Amiens was signed on March 25, 1802 (Germinal 4, year X in the French Revolutionary Calendar) by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquis Cornwallis as a Definitive Treaty of Peace between France and Britain. ... Cotton plant as imagined and drawn by John Mandeville in the 14th century Cotton is a soft fiber that grows around the seeds of the Cotton plant (Gossypium spp. ... Manchester is a city in the North West of England, UK. The place is named from the old British name Mamucium plus ceaster, derived from the old Latin Castra. Manchester is a metropolitan borough with city status. ... Lime is a general term for various naturally occurring minerals and materials derived from them in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides of calcium predominate. ... Temperature is the physical property of a system which underlies the common notions of hot and cold; the material with the higher temperature is said to be hotter. ...

Despite his pioneering work with gas Murdoch never made any money from this invention due to his failure to obtain a patent; which may have been partly a result of the advice of James Watt, Junior, that the discovery was not patentable; and partly due to the commercial failure of his earlier patent of 1791 for an early form of aniline dye. This failure to apply for a patent, despite the commercial participation of Boulton and Watt in this field, left the fledgeling industry of gas production and lighting open for exploitation by other commercial interests, such as his former assistant Samuel Clegg and Friedrich Winzer. In large part this was due to the failure of Boulton and Watt to make sufficient effort to expand from the factory and mill lighting market which they dominated by 1809 into the street and domestic lighting market. This reason for this lassitude is unknown but can be attribute to lack of interest, a misappreciation of the size of the potential market and a lack of desire to be involved in smaller less prestigious projects. By May 1809 Boulton and Watt faced little competition in any gas market due to their success in lobbying Parliament to block the granting of a charter for the National Heat and Light Company, their only real competitior in this field. However despite blocking the charter until 1812 this advantage was squandered as Boulton and Watt did not develop the gas market, or technology, and in 1814 abandoned the gas business. A few decades later most towns in Britain were lit by gas and most had their own gasworks. Aniline, phenylamine or aminobenzene (C6H5NH2) is an organic chemical compound which is a primary aromatic amine consisting of a benzene ring and an amino group. ... Lobbying is the practice of private advocacy with the goal of influencing a governing body, in order to ensure that an individuals or organizations point of view is represented in the government. ... The British Houses of Parliament, London, UK A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system derived from that of the United Kingdom. ... Gasification is a process that converts carbonaceous materials, such as coal or biomass, into carbon monoxide and hydrogen. ...

Apart from the benefits of gas lighting and heating the production process of coal gas yielded a number of other substances which were subsequently successfully exploited. Such as coke; ammonia; phenol (carbolic acid), a disinfectant and one of the components of bakelite the first synthetic plastic invented in 1910; and coal tar which contained a number of organic chemicals. Coal tar was subsequently used to produce the first synthetic dye, mauve, by William Perkin in 1856 and in 1853 was found, by Charles Gerhardt to contain the chemical acetylsalicylic acid, now known as aspirin. Coke is a solid carbonaceous residue derived from low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal from which the volatile constituents (including water, coal-gas and coal-tar) are driven off by baking in an airless oven at temperatures as high as 1,000 degrees Celsius so that the fixed carbon and... Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula NH3. ... Phenol, also known under the old name carbolic acid, is a colorless crystalline solid with a typical sweet tarry odor. ... Bakelite distributor rotor Bakelite is a brand named material based on the thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, developed in 1907-1909 by Dr. Leo Baekeland. ... Coal tar is the liquid by-product of the distillation of coal to make coke. ... Organic chemistry is the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and synthesis of organic compounds that by definition contain carbon. ... Yarn drying after being dyed in the early American tradition, at Conner Prairie living history museum. ... Mauve (French form of Malva, mallow) is a pale grayed pink-lilac color, one of many in the range of purples. ... Sir William Henry Perkin (March 12, 1838 – July 14, 1907) was an English chemist best known for his discovery, at the age of 18, of the first aniline dye, mauveine. ... Charles Frédéric Gerhardt (August 21, 1816 - August 19, 1856) was a French chemist. ... Aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid is a drug in the family of salicylates, often used as an analgesic (against minor pains and aches), antipyretic (against fever), and anti-inflammatory. ...

The Caledonia Paddle Steamer

Boulton and Watt had been involved in a minor way with attempts to apply steam power to boats, providing in 1807 for Robert Fulton the engine for The Clermont, the first steamboat to run on the Hudson river. Murdoch was primarily responsible for designing and building this engine and for agreeing technical details and designs with Fulton, who also worked on the design of the engine. Boulton and Watt also provided engines for a number of other marine vessels. However it wasn't until the purchase of The Caledonia by James Watt Jr. in 1817 that they became seriously involved in the marine engineering business. The task of refitting The Caledonia, building and installing new engines and boilers and making her seaworthy and efficient in fuel consumption was a difficult process and Murdoch, although frequently suffering from fever and Rheumatism, directed this. By August the vessel was able to be tested on its intended route, from Surrey Commercial Docks, London to Gravesend and at first made 8 miles per hour (mph). During its sea trials Murdoch carried out experiments on The Caledonia to measure the effect on fuel consumption and speed on changes in the depth of the paddles and whether one or both engines was used. This resulted in an increase of speed to 12mph. Robert Fulton Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was a US engineer and inventor, who was widely credited with developing the first steam-powered ship. ... View of the Hudson in the 1880s showing Jersey City The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk in Mahican, is a river running mainly through New York State but partly forming the boundary between the states of New York and New Jersey. ... See Fever for the Kylie Minogue album; Fever is also a song by Otis Blackwell. ... Rheumatism or Rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the heart, bones, joints, kidney, skin and lung. ... The Surrey Commercial Docks were a large group of docks in Rotherhithe on the south bank (the Surrey side) of the Thames in east London. ... Gravesend can refer to: Gravesend, Kent, England Gravesend, New York, USA This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Miles per hour is a unit of speed, expressing the number of international miles covered per hour. ...

While carrying out trials The Caledonia was challenged to a race by their competititors for the London to Gravesend route, the Sons of Commerce. Actually there were 2 races to Gravesend, both of which were won by the Boulton and Watt vessel, by a greater margin on the second attempt. The result was that the proprietors of the Sons of Commerce placed an order with Boulton and Watt for a new steamboat engine. There were also a number of other orders for steamboat engines, both for commercial customers and the Royal Navy and Murdoch was in effect the head of this branch of the business, being referred to and deferred to on all aspects of their marine business. It is estimated that from 1813 until 1825 over 3,000 horsepower of marine engines were made by Boulton and Watt, around 40 to 60 vessels. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ... The horsepower (hp) is the name of several non-metric units of power. ...

Shortly after the trials were completed The Caledonia carried out a crossing of the English Channel when Watt Jr. took it to Rotterdam and up the Rhine to Koblenz. Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: La Manche, IPA: , the sleeve), also for some time known in England as the British Sea, is the part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the... For other places named Rotterdam, see Rotterdam (disambiguation) Rotterdam ( (help· info)), located in the province of Zuid Holland, is the second largest municipality in the Netherlands (after Amsterdam), yet depending on the calculation methods the agglomeration in which Rotterdam is situated vies with the Amsterdam agglomeration for first spot in... At 1,320 kilometres (820 miles) and an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second, the Rhine (German Rhein, French Rhin, Dutch Rijn, Romansch: Rein, Italian: Reno) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe. ... Koblenz (also Coblenz in older German spellings; French Coblence; from Latin Confluentes, confluence or merging (rivers)) is after Mainz and Ludwigshafen am Rhein the third largest city in Rhineland-Palatinate (german Rheinland-Pfalz), Germany. ...

Later Years

Murdoch wrote a paper, "Account of the Application of Gas from Coal to Economical Purposes" which was presented to the Royal Society in 1808. In that year he was awarded their Rumford Gold Medal for "both the first idea of applying, and the first actual application of gas to economical purposes". The premises of the Royal Society in London. ...

In 1817 Murdoch moved into a large new house he had built outside Birmingham. The house incorporated a number of curiosities and innovations he has designed including gas lighting, a doorbell worked by compressed air and an air conditioning system: described by Joshua Field as "He has a good stove for heating the rooms with hot air which enters the rooms and staircases at convenient places." A doorbell is a signaling device commonly found near a door, it is an object primarily used to piss off balding jokes with genuine light-beer drinking attitudes. ... Note: in the broadest sense, air conditioning can refer to any form of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning. ...

In 1815 he designed and installed the first gravity fed piped hot water system since classical times at Leamington Spa Baths. The Royal Pump Rooms and Baths Leamington Spa, (Properly Royal Leamington Spa but commonly called just Leamington) (pronounced Lemmington — IPA: ) is a spa town in central Warwickshire, in England. ...

In September 1830, in declining health at age 76, Murdoch's partnership with Boulton & Watt which began in 1810 came to an end, at which point he was receiving £1,000 per year. The reasons for this d appear to be both the increasing unprofitability of Boulton and Watt and Murdoch's increasing ill health

At the celebration of the centenary of gas lighting in 1892, a bust of Murdoch was unveiled by Lord Kelvin in the Wallace Monument, Stirling, and there is also a bust of him by Sir F. L. Chantrey at St. Mary's Church, Handsworth, where he was buried. William Thomson, Archbishop of York, has the same name as this man. ... The Wallace Monument Wallaces sword The Wallace National Monument was opened in 1869, in memory of William Wallace, the 13th century Scottish folk hero. ... Stirling (Sruighlea in Gaelic) is a city in central Scotland. ... St. ...

His life and works are commemorated by the Moonstones; a statue of him, Boulton and Watt, by William Bloye; and Murdock Road, all in Birmingham. There is also a Murdoch House in Rotherhithe, London. The Moonstones are a set of eight carved memorials to various members of the Lunar Society. ... A gilded bronze statue of Boulton, Watt and Murdoch by William Bloye stood until recently on a plinth of Portland stone, outside the Register Office, in Birmingham, England. ... William Bloye was a sculptor, active in Birmingham either side of the second world war, and head of sculpture at Birmingham School of Art, where one of his pupils was Raymond Mason. ... The city from above Centenary Square. ... Historic Mayflower Pub Albion Canal Riverside Developments View from Stave Hill over Canary Wharf Stave Hill woodland Rotherhithe is a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames in east London in the London Borough of Southwark, facing Wapping and the Isle of Dogs on the north bank. ...

References

• John Griffiths; The Third Man, The Life and Times of William Murdoch 1754-1839; Andre Deutsch; 1992; ISBN 0233987789
• Janet Thomson; The Scot Who Lit The World, The Story Of William Murdoch Inventor Of Gas Lighting; 2003; ISBN 0953001326

See also

• Caledonia

Caledonia is an old Latin name (given by the Roman Empire) for a region corresponding approximately to the part of modern-day Scotland north of a line between the estuaries of the rivers Forth and Clyde. ...

External link

Murdoch Flyer Project A project to build a replica of Murdoch's steam powered carriage