Benjamin Thompson

Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (in German: Reichsgraf von Rumford), (26 March 1753 - 21 August 1814), was an Anglo-American physicist and inventor whose challenges to established physical theory were part of the 19th century revolution in thermodynamics.

Bavarian maturity

In 1785, he moved to Bavaria where he became an aide-de-camp to the Elector Karl Theodor. He spent eleven years in Bavaria, reorganizing the army and establishing workhouses for the poor. During his work he also invented the Rumford Soup, a nutritious soup for the poor, and established the cultivation of the potato in Bavaria.

Related Topics:
1785 - Bavaria - Aide-de-camp - Elector - Karl Theodor - Workhouse - Rumford Soup - Nutritious - Soup - Potato

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Experiments on heat

His experiments on gunnery and explosives led to an interest in heat. He devised a method for measuring the specific heats of solids but was disappointed that Johannes Wilcke had priority.

Related Topics:
Gunnery - Explosives - Specific heat - Solid - Johannes Wilcke

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Thompson next investigated the insulating properties of various materials including fur, wool and feathers. He correctly appreciated that the insulating properties of these natural materials arise from the fact that they inhibit the convection of air. He then made the somewhat reckless, and incorrect, inference that air and, in fact, all gases, were perfect non-conductors of heat{{Ref|R1}}{{Ref|R2}}. He further saw this as evidence of the argument from design, contending that divine providence had arranged for fur on animals in such a way as to guarantee their comfort. Based on this work he created the Baked Alaska in 1804.

Related Topics:
Insulating - Fur - Wool - Feather - Convection - Air - Inference - Gas - Conductor - Argument from design - Divine providence - Baked Alaska - 1804

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In 1797, he extended his claim about non-conductivity to liquids{{ref|R3}}. The idea raised considerable objections from the scientific establishment, John Dalton{{ref|JD}} and John Leslie{{ref|JL}} making particularly forthright attacks. Instrumentation far exceeding anything available in terms of accuracy and precision would have been needed to veryify Thompson's claim. Again, he seems to have been influenced by his theological beliefs{{ref|R4}} and it is likely that he wished to grant water a privileged and providential status in the regulation of human life{{ref|C1}}.

Related Topics:
1797 - Liquid - John Dalton - John Leslie - Accuracy and precision - Theological - Water

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However, his most important scientific work took place in Munich, and centered on the nature of heat, which he contended in An Experimental Enquiry Concerning the Source of the Heat which is Excited by Friction (1798) was not the caloric of then-current scientific thinking but a form of motion. Though this work met with a hostile reception, it was subsequently important in establishing the laws of conservation of energy later in the 19th century.

Related Topics:
Munich - Heat - An Experimental Enquiry Concerning the Source of the Heat which is Excited by Friction - 1798 - Caloric - Motion - Conservation of energy - 19th century

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Inventions

Thompson was an active inventor, developing improvements for chimneys and fireplaces and inventing the double boiler, a kitchen range, and a drip coffeepot. The Rumford fireplace is considered to be a very thermally efficient way to heat a room. Furthermore he was socially active as founder of Munich's English Garden (German Englischer Garten) in 1789.

Related Topics:
Rumford fireplace - Munich - German - Englischer Garten - 1789

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