The life and times of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney

the long version

Dale H. Porter has combined recent research by local Cornish historians with his own investigations of nineteenth-century London politics and society to reconstruct Goldsworthy Gurney's remarkable life. Gurney's research led to associations with Humphry Davy, Michael Faraday, and other leading scientists of the day, and though he never gained membership in the Royal Society, his public lectures on the elements of chemistry proved popular and lucrative. A variety of experiments led him to develop the "lime-light," which illuminated theaters throughout the century; he patented heating stoves still in use at Ely and Durham cathedrals; and he even devised a piano with glass strings. He also built one of the first practical steam locomotives, which ran on the roads rather than rails. In 1829 a Gurney steam vehicle made the longest journey under steam power known up to that time - a two-day trip from London to Bath and back. A campaign of legislative and sometimes physical harassment undercut Gurney's early triumphs, and competition from Robert Stephenson's railways drove him out of business. He then designed gas lighting, heating, and ventilation systems for the new Houses of Parliament at Westminster. At the same time, he experimented with innovative methods of coal mine ventilation, lighthouse signaling, and urban pollution control. Examining Gurney's procedures in the light of recent research on the nature of scientific and technological thinking, Porter recasts the long-debated question of the impact of science upon British industrial development. He shows that Gurney's chemistry investigations were quite consistent with the best scientific practice of his time, but that his concept of invention lacked the sophistication of Britain's emerging professional engineers. The well-illustrated text explores the social, political, and technical communities in which Gurney flourished and provides a rich biography as well as a thoughtful assessment of his limitations and achievements.