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John Smeaton ( 8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792 ) was a Civil Engineer – indeed, he is often regarded as the "father of civil engineering" – responsible for the design of Bridge s, Canal s, Harbour s and Lighthouse s. He was also a more than capable Mechanical Engineer and an eminent Physicist . He was associated with the Lunar Society . LAW AND PHYSICS He was born at Austhorpe near Leeds , West Yorkshire , England . After studying at Leeds Grammar School , he joined his father's law firm, but then left to become a mathematical instrument maker (working with Henry Hindley ), developing, among other instruments, a Pyrometer to study material expansion and a whirling speculum or horizontal top (a maritime Navigation aid). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1753 , and in 1759 won the Copley Medal for his research into the mechanics of Waterwheel s and Windmill s. His paper addressed the relationship between pressure and velocity for objects moving in air, and his concepts were subsequently developed to devise the 'Smeaton Co-efficient'. However, over the period 1759- 1782 , he performed a series of further experiments and measurements on waterwheels that led him to support and champion the '' Vis Viva '' theory of German Gottfried Leibniz , an early formulation of Conservation Of Energy . This led him into conflict with members of the academic establishment who rejected Leibniz's theory, believing it inconsistent with Sir Isaac Newton 's Conservation Of Momentum . The debate was sadly marred by unfortunate nationalistic sentiments on the establishment's part. CIVIL ENGINEERING Recommended by the Royal Society, Smeaton designed the third Eddystone Lighthouse (1755-59). He pioneered the use of 'hydraulic lime' (a form of Concrete ) and developed a technique involving dovetailed blocks of granite in the building of the lighthouse. His lighthouse remained in use until 1877 when - with the rock underlying the structure's foundations beginning to erode - it was dismantled and partially rebuilt at Plymouth Hoe . Deciding that he wanted to focus on the lucrative field of civil engineering, he commenced an extensive series of commissions, including:
Because of his expertise in engineering, Smeaton was called to testify in a court for a case related to the silting-up of the harbour at Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk in 1782 . He is considered to be the first Expert Witness to appear in an English court. MECHANICAL ENGINEER Employing his skills as a mechanical engineer, he devised a water engine for the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in 1761 and a watermill at Alston , Cumbria in 1767 (he is credited by some for inventing the cast iron axle shaft for waterwheels). He also improved Thomas Newcomen 's atmospheric Steam Engine , erecting one at Chasewater mine in Cornwall in 1775. LEGACY Highly regarded by other engineers, he contributed to the Lunar Society and founded the Society of Civil Engineers in 1771 . He coined the term ''civil engineers'' to distinguish them from military engineers graduating from the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich . After his death, the Society was renamed the Smeatonian Society, and was a forerunner of the Institution Of Civil Engineers , established in 1818 . His pupils included canal engineers James Brindley and William Jessop and architect and engineer Benjamin Latrobe . He died after suffering a stroke while walking in the garden of his family home at Austhorpe, and was buried in the parish church at Whitkirk , West Yorkshire. John Smeaton lends his name to a high school in the suburbs of Leeds, adjacent to the Pendas Fields estate near Austhorpe. He is also mentioned in the song '' I Predict A Riot '' (as a symbol of a more dignified and peaceful epoch in Leeds history) by the Kaiser Chiefs , who are natives of Leeds. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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