-
1 Grove, Sir William Robert
SUBJECT AREA: Electricity[br]b. 11 July 1811 Swansea, Walesd. 1 August 1896 London, England[br]Welsh chemist and physicist, inventor of the Grove electrochemical primary cell.[br]After education at Brasenose College, Oxford, Grove was called to the Bar in 1835. Instead of immediately practising, he became involved in electrical research, devising in 1839 the cell that bears his name. He became Professor of Experimental Philosophy at the London Institution from 1840 to 1845; it was during this period that he built up his high reputation among physicists. In 1846 he published On the Correlation of Physical Forces, which was based on a course of his lectures. He returned to the practice of law, becoming a judge in 1871, but retained his interest in scientific research during his sixteen-year occupancy of the Bench. He served as a member of the Council of the Royal Society in 1846 and 1847 and played a leading part in its reform. Contributing to the science of electrochemistry, he invented the Grove cell, which together with its modification by Bunsen became an important source of electrical energy during the middle of the nineteenth century, before mechanically driven generators became available. The Grove cell had a platinum electrode immersed in strong nitric acid, separated by a porous diaphragm from a zinc electrode in weak sulphuric acid. The hydrogen formed at the platinum electrode was immediately oxidized by the acid, turning it into water. This avoided the polarization which occurred in the early copper-zinc cells. It was a very powerful primary cell with a high voltage and a low internal resistance, but it produced objectionable fumes. Grove also invented his "gas battery", the earliest fuel cell, in which a current resulted from the chemical energy released from combining oxygen and hydrogen. This was developed by Rawcliffe and others, and found applications as a power source in manned spacecraft.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsKnighted 1872. FRS 1840. Fellow of the Chemistry Society 1841. Royal Society Royal Medal 1847.Bibliography1846, On the Correlation of Physical Forces, London; 1874, 6th edn, with reprints of many of Grove's papers (his only book, an early view on the conservation of energy).1839, "On a small voltaic battery of great energy", Philosophical Magazine 15:287–93 (his account of his cell).Further ReadingObituary, 1896, Electrician 37:483–4.K.R.Webb, 1961, "Sir William Robert Grove (1811–1896) and the origin of the fuel cell", Journal of the Royal Institute of Chemistry 85: 291–3 (for the present-day significance of Grove's experiments).C.C.Gillispie (ed.), 1972, Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Vol. V, New York, pp. 559–61.GWBiographical history of technology > Grove, Sir William Robert
-
2 Electricity
-
3 Kirkaldy, David
[br]b. 4 April 1820 Mayfield, Dundee, Scotlandd. 25 January 1897 London, England[br]Scottish engineer and pioneer in materials testing.[br]The son of a merchant of Dundee, Kirkaldy was educated there, then at Merchiston Castle School, Edinburgh, and at Edinburgh University. For a while he worked in his father's office, but with a preference for engineering, in 1843 he commenced an apprenticeship at the Glasgow works of Robert Napier. After four years in the shops he was transferred to the drawing office and in a very few years rose to become Chief. Here Kirkaldy demonstrated a remarkable talent both for the meticulous recording of observations and data and for technical drawing. His work also had an aesthetic appeal and four of his drawings of Napier steamships were shown at the Paris Exhibition of 1855, earning both Napier and Kirkaldy a medal. His "as fitted" set of drawings of the Cunard Liner Persia, which had been built in 1855, is now in the possession of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, London; it is regarded as one of the finest examples of its kind in the world, and has even been exhibited at the Royal Academy in London.With the impending order for the Royal Naval Ironclad Black Prince (sister ship to HMS Warrior, now preserved at Portsmouth) and for some high-pressure marine boilers and engines, there was need for a close scientific analysis of the physical properties of iron and steel. Kirkaldy, now designated Chief Draughtsman and Calculator, was placed in charge of this work, which included comparisons of puddled steel and wrought iron, using a simple lever-arm testing machine. The tests lasted some three years and resulted in Kirkaldy's most important publication, Experiments on Wrought Iron and Steel (1862, London), which gained him wide recognition for his careful and thorough work. Napier's did not encourage him to continue testing; but realizing the growing importance of materials testing, Kirkaldy resigned from the shipyard in 1861. For the next two and a half years Kirkaldy worked on the design of a massive testing machine that was manufactured in Leeds and installed in premises in London, at The Grove, Southwark.The works was open for trade in January 1866 and engineers soon began to bring him specimens for testing on the great machine: Joseph Cubitt (son of William Cubitt) brought him samples of the materials for the new Blackfriars Bridge, which was then under construction. Soon The Grove became too cramped and Kirkaldy moved to 99 Southwark Street, reopening in January 1874. In the years that followed, Kirkaldy gained a worldwide reputation for rigorous and meticulous testing and recording of results, coupled with the highest integrity. He numbered the most distinguished engineers of the time among his clients.After Kirkaldy's death, his son William George, whom he had taken into partnership, carried on the business. When the son died in 1914, his widow took charge until her death in 1938, when the grandson David became proprietor. He sold out to Treharne \& Davies, chemical consultants, in 1965, but the works finally closed in 1974. The future of the premises and the testing machine at first seemed threatened, but that has now been secured and the machine is once more in working order. Over almost one hundred years of trading in South London, the company was involved in many famous enquiries, including the analysis of the iron from the ill-fated Tay Bridge (see Bouch, Sir Thomas).[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsInstitution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland Gold Medal 1864.Bibliography1862, Results of an Experimental Inquiry into the Tensile Strength and Other Properties of Wrought Iron and Steel (originally presented as a paper to the 1860–1 session of the Scottish Shipbuilders' Association).Further ReadingD.P.Smith, 1981, "David Kirkaldy (1820–97) and engineering materials testing", Transactions of the Newcomen Society 52:49–65 (a clear and well-documented account).LRD / FMW
См. также в других словарях:
Grove, Sir William Robert — ▪ British physicist born July 11, 1811, Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales died Aug. 1, 1896, London British physicist and a justice of Britain s high court (from 1880), who first offered proof of the thermal dissociation of atoms within a molecule … Universalium
GROVE. SIR WILLIAM ROBERT — lawyer and physicist, burn at Swansea; called to the bar; was made a judge in 1871, and knighted a year later, and from 1875 to 1887 he was one of the judges in the High Court of Justice; throughout his life he busied himself in optical and… … The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
William Robert Grove — William Grove Pour les articles homonymes, voir Grove. William Robert Grove Sir William Robert Grove (né le 11 juillet … Wikipédia en Français
William Robert Grove — Infobox Scientist name = PAGENAME box width = image width =150px caption = PAGENAME birth date = 11 July, 1811 birth place = Swansea in Wales death date = 1 August, 1896 death place = London residence = citizenship = nationality = ethnicity =… … Wikipedia
Sir William Grove — Grove bei einem Treffen der British Association for the Advancement of Science (1844) Grove sches Element (Holzstich 1897) Sir William Robert Grove (* … Deutsch Wikipedia
William Robert Grove — Grove bei einem Treffen der British Association for the Advancement of Science (1844) Grove sches Element (Holzstich 1897) Sir William Robert Grove (* … Deutsch Wikipedia
William Grove — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Grove. William Robert Grove Sir William Robert Grove (né le 11 juillet 1811 à Swansea … Wikipédia en Français
William Grove — Grove bei einem Treffen der British Association for the Advancement of Science (1844) … Deutsch Wikipedia
Grove — (spr. grōw ), 1) Sir William Robert, Physiker, geb. 14. Juli 1811 in Swansea, gest. 2. Aug. 1896 in London, studierte die Rechte in Oxford, war fünf Jahre Advokat in London, widmete sich dann der Physik, wurde 1840 Professor an der London… … Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon
Grove-Element — [ grəʊv ; nach dem britischen Physiker Sir William Robert Grove, * 1811, ✝ 1896], ein elektrochemisches Element mit einer Zinkelektrode als Kathode und einer nichtauflösbaren Platinelektrode als Anode sowie Salpetersäure als Elektrolyt … Universal-Lexikon
Grove [2] — Grove (spr. grohw), Sir William Robert, engl. Physiker, geb. 14. Juli 1811 in Swansea, 1841 Prof. zu London, gest. das. 2. Aug. 1896; entdeckte die galvanische Gasbatterie; Hauptwerk: »On the correlation of physical forces« (6. Aufl. 1874;… … Kleines Konversations-Lexikon
