DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1311#0213
180 THE GREAT EXHIBITION
lives of "working men/' who, by their well-directed industry and ingenuity, have dis-
tinguished themselves above their fellows, and contributed new or improved principles of
importance to the manufacturing resources of the world. We trust these notices will be
interesting, as illustrative of the progress of art culture, and will also serve as an encou-
raging excitement to thousands of " working-men" of our own day, any one of whom may
possibly have it in his power to add his mite to the general store of valuable experiences,
and to receive his reward in fame and fortune for himself and his descendants.
James Watt.—The celebrity of some men may be compared to a meteor which appears
for a short time and then vanishes away; their memory is only found in their marble
monuments. Others, again, like planets, have succeeded in attaining a more permanent
distinction; they have conferred benefits upon their fellow men which remain after them;
they require no busts—no empty gorgeous structures to tell that they have lived; their
memory is in their works. Of the latter class was James Watt, the immortal discoverer
of the steam-engine. He was born in 1736, at Greenock, in Scotland, where his father
was a merchant and magistrate. His grandfather and uncle both distinguished them-
selves as mathematicians and engineers. The subject of our memoir was educated in his
native town, which has long been distinguished as a port of extensive commercial relations
and for the elegance and substantiality of the works of its mechanics, especially in refer-
ence to navigation. Till the age of sixteen he continued at the grammar-school. At
the age of eighteen he was sent to London, being bound to a distinguished mathematical
instrument maker. Here, however, the delicacy of his health, from an attack of rheu-
matism, occasioned by working one winter's day in the open air, prevented him from
deriving any advantage from his situation, and he was soon obliged to return to his native
country. In 1757 he went to reside in the University of Glasgow, being appointed philo-
sophical instrument maker to that seminary, with apartments in the building. In this
situation he remained till 1764, when he married his cousin, Miss Miller. He then
established himself in the town as an engineer. While in this capacity, he was consulted
with regard to the great canal which traverses Scotland from east to west, termed the
Caledonian Canal; and he is said to have projected the canal which unites the Clyde
and the Forth. An accidental circumstance, however, had given a different bent to his
pursuits. One of Newcomen's steam-engines had been sent to him from the Natural
Philosophy class for the purpose of being repaired, and this turned his attention to the
power of steam, of which he was destined to make such splendid applications.
It has been usually admitted that the first individual who ascertained the fact that steam
was capable of raising weights or water, was the marquis of Worcester. M. Arago, however,
in the Annuaire for 1837, denies the accuracy of this conclusion, and claims the discovery
for Salomon de Caus, a countryman of his own. A few extracts in the words of the
respective authors will enable the reader to draw his own inferences. Hiero, of Alexan-
dria, 120 years before the Christian era, was acquainted with the fact that steam, under
certain circumstances, could give rise to motion. In 1543, Blasco de Garay, a sea captain,
proposed to the emperor Charles V., to make embarkations even when there was a perfect
calm, and without sails and oars. In June of the same year he is said to have made an
experiment with a vessel of 200 tons, which he carried into Barcelona, according to some
at the rate of a league per hour; according to others at the rate of two leagues in three
hours. The apparatus which he employed was a large cauldron of water attached to
wheels connected with the sides of the vessel. This account is given by M. Gonzalez, in
Zach's astronomical correspondence for 1826. It is altogether, however, so improbable
that little importance can be attached to it; such is the Spanish claim to the discovery of
the force of vapour. In 1615, Salomon de Caus wrote a work entitled Les liaisons des
Forces Mouvantes, fyc. In this he states that if water be introduced into a copper globe,
lives of "working men/' who, by their well-directed industry and ingenuity, have dis-
tinguished themselves above their fellows, and contributed new or improved principles of
importance to the manufacturing resources of the world. We trust these notices will be
interesting, as illustrative of the progress of art culture, and will also serve as an encou-
raging excitement to thousands of " working-men" of our own day, any one of whom may
possibly have it in his power to add his mite to the general store of valuable experiences,
and to receive his reward in fame and fortune for himself and his descendants.
James Watt.—The celebrity of some men may be compared to a meteor which appears
for a short time and then vanishes away; their memory is only found in their marble
monuments. Others, again, like planets, have succeeded in attaining a more permanent
distinction; they have conferred benefits upon their fellow men which remain after them;
they require no busts—no empty gorgeous structures to tell that they have lived; their
memory is in their works. Of the latter class was James Watt, the immortal discoverer
of the steam-engine. He was born in 1736, at Greenock, in Scotland, where his father
was a merchant and magistrate. His grandfather and uncle both distinguished them-
selves as mathematicians and engineers. The subject of our memoir was educated in his
native town, which has long been distinguished as a port of extensive commercial relations
and for the elegance and substantiality of the works of its mechanics, especially in refer-
ence to navigation. Till the age of sixteen he continued at the grammar-school. At
the age of eighteen he was sent to London, being bound to a distinguished mathematical
instrument maker. Here, however, the delicacy of his health, from an attack of rheu-
matism, occasioned by working one winter's day in the open air, prevented him from
deriving any advantage from his situation, and he was soon obliged to return to his native
country. In 1757 he went to reside in the University of Glasgow, being appointed philo-
sophical instrument maker to that seminary, with apartments in the building. In this
situation he remained till 1764, when he married his cousin, Miss Miller. He then
established himself in the town as an engineer. While in this capacity, he was consulted
with regard to the great canal which traverses Scotland from east to west, termed the
Caledonian Canal; and he is said to have projected the canal which unites the Clyde
and the Forth. An accidental circumstance, however, had given a different bent to his
pursuits. One of Newcomen's steam-engines had been sent to him from the Natural
Philosophy class for the purpose of being repaired, and this turned his attention to the
power of steam, of which he was destined to make such splendid applications.
It has been usually admitted that the first individual who ascertained the fact that steam
was capable of raising weights or water, was the marquis of Worcester. M. Arago, however,
in the Annuaire for 1837, denies the accuracy of this conclusion, and claims the discovery
for Salomon de Caus, a countryman of his own. A few extracts in the words of the
respective authors will enable the reader to draw his own inferences. Hiero, of Alexan-
dria, 120 years before the Christian era, was acquainted with the fact that steam, under
certain circumstances, could give rise to motion. In 1543, Blasco de Garay, a sea captain,
proposed to the emperor Charles V., to make embarkations even when there was a perfect
calm, and without sails and oars. In June of the same year he is said to have made an
experiment with a vessel of 200 tons, which he carried into Barcelona, according to some
at the rate of a league per hour; according to others at the rate of two leagues in three
hours. The apparatus which he employed was a large cauldron of water attached to
wheels connected with the sides of the vessel. This account is given by M. Gonzalez, in
Zach's astronomical correspondence for 1826. It is altogether, however, so improbable
that little importance can be attached to it; such is the Spanish claim to the discovery of
the force of vapour. In 1615, Salomon de Caus wrote a work entitled Les liaisons des
Forces Mouvantes, fyc. In this he states that if water be introduced into a copper globe,