John Theophilus Desaguliers (pronounced day-za-güly-ay) (13 March 1683 – 29 February 1744) was a natural philosopher born in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. He was a member of the Royal Society of London beginning 29 July 1714. He was presented with the Royal Society's highest honour, the
Copley MedalThe Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society of London for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science, and alternates between the physical sciences and the biological sciences"...
, in 1734, 1736 and 1741, the 1741 award being for his "discovery of the properties of Electricity". He studied at Oxford, became experimental assistant to Sir
Isaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton FRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian who is perceived and considered by a substantial number of scholars and the general public as one of the most influential men in history...
, and later popularized Newtonian theories and their practical applications.
He has been credited as the inventor of the
planetariumA planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
, on the basis of some plans he published.
Born in
La RochelleLa Rochelle is a city in south-western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department....
, Desaguliers was an immigrant to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from France.
John Theophilus Desaguliers (pronounced day-za-güly-ay) (13 March 1683 – 29 February 1744) was a natural philosopher born in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. He was a member of the Royal Society of London beginning 29 July 1714. He was presented with the Royal Society's highest honour, the
Copley MedalThe Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society of London for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science, and alternates between the physical sciences and the biological sciences"...
, in 1734, 1736 and 1741, the 1741 award being for his "discovery of the properties of Electricity". He studied at Oxford, became experimental assistant to Sir
Isaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton FRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian who is perceived and considered by a substantial number of scholars and the general public as one of the most influential men in history...
, and later popularized Newtonian theories and their practical applications.
He has been credited as the inventor of the
planetariumA planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...
, on the basis of some plans he published.
Biography
Born in
La RochelleLa Rochelle is a city in south-western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department....
, Desaguliers was an immigrant to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from France. He was born into a
HuguenotThe Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Since the eighteenth century, Huguenots have been commonly designated "French Protestants", the title being suggested by their German co-religionists or "Calvinists"...
(Protestant) family and fled to England at the age of 11 (1694) to escape the consequences of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He was educated at
Christ Church, OxfordThis article is about the Oxford college. For other uses, see Christ Church or Christchurch .Christ Church , is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
, and succeeded
Dr. KeillJohn Keill was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was primarilya mathematician and important disciple of Isaac Newton. He studied at Edinburgh University, under David Gregory, and obtained his bachelors degree in 1692 with a distinction in physics and mathematics...
in reading lectures on experimental philosophy at Hart Hall. He was the first who introduced the reading of lectures in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, where he had for his auditors not only the learned and the great, but also
George IGeorge I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
and
George IIGeorge II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death....
and the royal family. In 1714, he was chosen a member of the Royal Society, to whose Transactions he communicated some valuable papers. In 1718, he completed his degrees at Oxford as bachelor and doctor of laws. Desaguliers' reputation as a scientist was sealed not only by his three awards from the Royal Society, but also by publication of a two volume work entitled
A Course of Experimental Philosophy. Publication of the first volume coincided with the year he first received the Copley Medal (1734), while the second volume's publication came 10 years later in 1744, the year of his death. The first volume concerns theoretical and practical mechanics with an explanation of the basics of Newtonian physics. The second volume contains material oriented toward practical application of scientific findings.
An inventor as well as a scientist, Desaguliers improved upon the
steam engineA steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.The idea of using boiling water to produce mechanical motion has a long history, going back about 2000 years...
design of
Thomas SaveryThomas Savery was an English inventor, born at Shilstone, a manor house near Modbury, Devon, England.-Career:Savery became a military engineer, rising to the rank of Captain by 1702, and spent his free time performing experiments in mechanics...
through the addition of a
safety valveA safety valve is a valve mechanism for the automatic release of a substance from a boiler, pressure vessel, or other system when the pressure or temperature exceeds preset limits. It is part of a bigger set named pressure safety valves or pressure relief valves...
. He also designed methods for heating liquid boilers with steam rather than fire, presumably increasing their safety significantly.
Additionally, Desaguliers was a Freemason, elected as the third Grand Master in 1719, Deputy Grand Master in 1723 and 1725 of the newly formed
Premier Grand Lodge of EnglandThe Premier Grand Lodge of England was founded on 24 June 1717 as the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster and it existed until 1813 when it united with the Ancient Grand Lodge of England to create the United Grand Lodge of England. It was the first Masonic Grand Lodge to be created...
.
Role as priest and hydraulic engineer at Cannons
Desaguliers was also a priest in the
Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches...
. Through the patronage of
James Brydges, 1st Duke of ChandosJames Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos PC was the first of fourteen children by Sir James Brydges, 3rd Baronet of Wilton Castle, Sheriff of Herefordshire, 8th Lord Chandos; and Elizabeth Barnard. Three days after his father's death on 16 October 1714, he was created Viscount Wilton and Earl of...
, he was nominated in 1714 to the
livingOriginally a benefice was a gift of land for life as a reward for services rendered. The word comes from the Latin noun beneficium, meaning "benefit"...
of St Lawrence's church, Little Stanmore (sometimes called Stanmore Parva, or
WhitchurchWhitchurch is a locality in Edgware, in the London Borough of Barnet, England. Historically part of Middlesex, the parish is also known as Little Stanmore....
), then in
MiddlesexMiddlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
. His duties as a parish priest were combined with being chaplain to the Duke, as St Lawrence's church was at the edge of the duke's estate,
Canons ParkCanons Park is a residential suburb of London, situated in the north west London Borough of Harrow. It is located to the south of Stanmore, the west of Edgware, and the east of Wealdstone.-Etymology and history:...
.
The church was rebuilt in the baroque style in 1715. As the chapel at
CannonsCannons was a stately home in Edgware, Middlesex built for James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos between 1713 and 1724 at a cost of £200,000 but which in 1747 was razed to the ground and its contents dispersed....
was not completed until 1720, the church was the location of first performances of the so-called Chandos Anthems by
George Frideric HandelGeorge Frideric Handel was a German-English Baroque composer, who is famous for his operas, oratorios, and concerti grossi. His life and music may justly be described as "cosmopolitan": he was born in Germany, trained in Italy, and spent most of his life in England...
, who was in 1717/18, like Desaguliers, a member of the Duke's household.
The Canons estate benefited from Desaguliers' scientific expertise which was applied to the elaborate water garden there. He also technical adviser to an enterprise in which Chandos had invested, the
York Buildings CompanyThe York Buildings Company was an English company in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.-Waterworks:The full name of the comapny was The Governor and Company for raising the Thames Water at York Buildings...
, which used steam-power to extract water from the Thames. In 1718 Desaguliers dedicated to the Duke his translation of
Edme MariotteEdme Mariotte was a French physicist and priest.- Biography :Edme Mariotte was the youngest son of Simon Mariotte, administrator at the district Til-Châtel , and Catherine Denisot . His parents lived in Til-Châtel and had 4 other children: Jean, Denise, Claude, and Catharine...
's treatise on the motion of water. Desaguliers appears to have been distracted from his parochial duties by his other interests, and the Duke complained that there were unreasonable delays in burying the dead. However, despite falling out with his patron, Desaguliers retained the living until his death.
Portraits
There are at least three surviving portraits of Desaguliers dating to 1725 (42 years of age), all held by the National Portrait Gallery in London and available for on-line viewing.
Personal life
On 14 October 1712 he married Joanna Pudsey, daughter of William and Anne Pudsey of Kidlington, near Oxford. They had four sons and three daughters, for most of whom they acquired aristocratic godparents, but only two children survived beyond infancy: John Theophilus (1718–1751) graduated from Oxford, became a clergyman, and died childless, while Thomas Desaguliers (1721–1780) led a distinguished scientific military career. On 1 April 1748 he became chief firemaster at the
ArsenalThe Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, originally known as the Woolwich Warren, carried out armaments manufacture, ammunition proofing and explosives research for the British armed forces. It was sited on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England...
, Woolwich, a post which he held until the end of his life, and seems to have been the first to be employed by the English army to apply scientific principles to the production of cannon and the powers of gunnery.. It was Thomas Desaguliers who designed and supervised the fireworks for the first performance of Handel's
Music for the Royal Fireworks in Green Park.
Decline
Desaguliers had long suffered from
goutGout is a disease hallmarked by elevated levels of uric acid in the bloodstream. In this condition, crystals of monosodium urate or uric acid are deposited on the articular cartilage of joints, tendons, and surrounding tissues...
every winter, and died after several months of severe illness at his home in the Bedford Coffee House,
Covent GardenCovent Garden is a district in London, England, located in the easternmost parts of the City of Westminster and the southwestern corner of the London Borough of Camden...
,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, on 29 February 1744; he was buried on 6 March in the
Savoy ChapelThe Savoy Chapel or the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy is a chapel off the Strand, London, dedicated to St John the Baptist. It was originally built in the medieval era off the main church of the Savoy Palace...
, Savoy Street, London.
External links