Men of Invention and Industry — Samuel Smiles
The Project Gutenberg E-text of Men of Invention and Industry, by Samuel Smiles You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org . If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title : Men of Invention and Industry Author : Samuel Smiles Release date : November 1, 1996 [eBook #725] Most recently updated: January 1, 2021 Language : English Other information and formats : www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/725 Credits : Produced by Eric Hutton. HTML version by Al Haines. *** START OF Such men have worked the deliverance of nations and their own greatness. Their hearts are their books; events are their tutors; great actions are their eloquence."—MACAULAY. Contents. Preface CHAPTER I Phineas Pett: Beginnings of English Shipbuilding CHAPTER II Francis Pettit Smith: Practical Introducer of the Screw Propeller CHAPTER III John Harrison: Inventor of the Marine Chronometer CHAPTER IV John Lombe: Introducer of the Silk Industry into England CHAPTER V William Murdock: His Life and Inventions CHAPTER VI Frederick Koenig: Inventor of the Steam-printing Machine CHAPTER VII The Walters of 'The Times': Inventor of the Walter Press CHAPTER VIII William Clowes: Book-printing by Steam CHAPTER IX Charles Bianconi: A Lesson of Self-Help in Ireland CHAPTER X Industry in Ireland: Through Connaught and Ulster to Belfast CHAPTER XI Shipbuilding in Belfast: By Sir E. J. Harland, Engineer and Shipbuilder CHAPTER XII Astronomers and students in humble life: A new Chapter in the 'Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties' PREFACE I offer this book as a continuation of the memoirs of men of invention and industry published some years ago in the 'Lives of Engineers,' 'Industrial Biography,' and 'Self-Help.' The early chapters relate to the history of a very important branch of British industry—that of Shipbuilding. A later chapter, kindly prepared by Sir Edward J. Harland, of Belfast, relates to the origin and progress of shipbuilding in Ireland. Many of the facts set forth in the Life and Inventions of William Murdock have already been published in my 'Lives of Boulton and Watt;' but these are now placed in a continuous narrative, and supplemented by other information, more particularly the correspondence between Watt and Murdock, communicated to me by the present representative of the family, Mr. Murdock, C.E., of Gilwern, near Abergavenny. I have also endeavoured to give as accurate an account as possible of the Invention of the Steam-printing Press, and its application to the production of Newspapers and Books,—an invention certainly of great importance to the spread of knowledge, science, and literature, throughout the world. The chapter on the "Industry of Ireland" will speak for itself. It occurred to me, on passing through Ireland last year, that much remained to be said on that subject; and, looking to the increasing means of the country, and the well-known industry of its people, it seems reasonable to expect, that with peace, security, energy, and diligent labour of head and hand, there is really a great future before Ireland. The last chapter, on "Astronomers in Humble Life," consists for the most part of a series of Autobiographies. It may seem, at first sight, to have little to do with the leading object of the book; but it serves to show what a number of active, earnest, and able men are comparatively hidden throughout society, ready to turn their hands and heads to the improvement of their own characters, if not to the advancement of the general community of which they form a part. In conclusion, I say to the reader, as Quarles said in the preface to his 'Emblems,' "I wish thee as much pleasure in the reading as I had in the writing." In fact, the last three chapters were in some measure the cause of the book being published in its present form. London, November, 1884. CHAPTER I. PHINEAS PETT: BEGINNINGS OF ENGLISH SHIP-BUILDING. "A speck in the Northern Ocean, with a rocky coast, an ungenial climate, and a soil scarcely fruitful,—this was the material patrimony which descended to the English race—an inheritance that would have been little worth but for the inestimable moral gift that accompanied it. Yes; from Celts, Saxons, Danes, Normans—from some or all of them—have come down with English nationality a talisman that could command sunshine, and plenty, and empire, and fame. The 'go' which they transmitted to us—the national vis—this it is which made the old Angle-land a glorious heritage. Of this we have had a portion above our brethren—good measure, running over. Through this our island-mother has stretched out her arms till they enriched the globe of the earth....Britain, without her energy and enterprise, what would she be in Europe?"—Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (1870). In one of the few records of Sir Isaac Newton's life which he left for the benefit of others, the following comprehensive thought occurs: "It is certainly apparent that the inhabitants of this world are of a short date, seeing that all arts, as letters, ships, printing, the needle, &c., were discovered within the memory of history." If this were true in Newton's time, how much truer is it now. Most of the inventions which are so greatly influencing, as well as advancing, the civilization of the world at the present time, have been discovered within the last hundred or hundred and fifty years. We do not say that man has become so much wiser during that period; for, though he has grown in Knowledge, the most fruitful of all things were said by "the heirs of all the ages" thousands of years ago. But as regards Physical Science, the progress made during the last hundred years has been very great. Its most recent triumphs have been in connection with the discovery of electric power and electric light. Perhaps the most important invention, however, was that