Elihu Thomson
Elihu Thomson | |
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| Born | March 29, 1853 |
| Died | March 13, 1937 (aged 83) |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | Yale, Tufts, Harvard |
| Awards | Rumford Medal · Edison Medal · French Legion of Honor · Hughes Medal · John Fritz Medal |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Electrical engineering |
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Elihu Thomson (March 29, 1853 – March 13, 1937) was an engineer and inventor who was instrumental in the founding of major electrical companies in the United States, United Kingdom and France.
Biography
He was born in Manchester (England) on 29 March 1853, but his family moved to Philadelphia in 1858.[1] By 1880 he established, with Edwin J. Houston, the Thomson-Houston Electric Company. In 1892 this merged with the Edison General Electric Company to become the General Electric Company. Thomson's name is further commemorated by the British Thomson-Houston Company (BTH), and the French companies Thomson and Alstom. His early companies are also involved in the history of The General Electric Company Limited (GEC) in Britain and the Compagnie Générale d'Electricité in France.
Thomson was a prolific inventor, being awarded over 700 patents. For example, he invented the induction wattmeter mechanism used in electric meters. He was the first recipient of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers AIEE (now Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)) Edison Medal, bestowed upon him in 1909 "For meritorious achievement in electrical science, engineering and arts as exemplified in his contributions thereto during the past thirty years." Ironically, Thomson and Houston had been involved in a very public and acrimonious dispute with Edison in 1877-78 over etheric force.
He was a founder member, as well as the second president, of the International Electrotechnical Commission.
He served as acting president of MIT from 1920-1923.[2]
Thomson died in his estate in Swampscott, Massachusetts.
The Elihu Thomson House in Swampscott was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1976.
X-Ray Safety
Thomson was one of the few pioneering physicists who were convinced of the dangers of X-Rays and radiation in a period where the subject was treated as a novelty in both science and popular culture, in blithe ignorance of health hazards. In 1896, Thomson deliberately exposed the little finger of his left hand to an x-ray tube for several days, half an hour per day. The resultant effects — pain, swelling, stiffness, erythema and blistering — were convincing for Thomson and others, but not for all. Many prominent physicians still denied that x-rays were in any way harmful, although ofttimes the denial was tempered by a qualification that the effects noted were attributable to misuse of the x-ray.
Patents
Thomson held more than 700 patents. Thomson used his patent in his company, Thomson-Houston Company, and later in General Electric.
- U.S. patent 261,790 Electric-Arc Lamp
- U.S. patent 283,437 Electric Lamp
- U.S. patent 297,200 Electric-Arc Lamp
- U.S. patent 302,963 Regulator For Dynamo-Electric Machines
- U.S. patent 335,159 System Of Electric Distribution
- U.S. patent 350,956 Automatic Compensator For Magnets
- U.S. patent 367,469 System Of Electric Distribution
- U.S. patent 360,122 System Of Electric Distribution
- U.S. patent 403,707 Process Of Electric Soldering
- U.S. patent 451,345 Method Of Electric Welding
- U.S. patent 461,144 Electric-Arc Lamp
- U.S. patent 461,856 Mode Of Making Tools
- U.S. patent 478,145 Electric-Arc Lamp
- U.S. patent 488,585 Electric-Arc Lamp
- U.S. patent 500,629 Electric Switch
- U.S. patent 508,647 Electric-Lighting System
- U.S. patent 501,114 Lightning-Arrester
- U.S. patent 502,788 Regulator For Electric Generators
- U.S. patent 518,291 Mode Of Cooling Electric Motors
- U.S. patent 735,621 Electrostatic Motor
- U.S. patent 1,078,225 Electrical Welding Of Sheet Metal
See also
References
- ^ James Sheire (1975-07-30), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Elihu Thomson House / Elihu Thomson Administration Building (PDF), National Park Service, retrieved 2009-06-22 and Template:PDFlink
- ^ [1] Elihu Thomson Papers at the American Philosophical Society
- Carlson, W. Bernard. Innovation as a Social Process: Elihu Thomson and the Rise of General Electric, 1870-1900 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991).
- Woodbury, David O. Elihu Thomson, Beloved Scientist (Boston: Museum of Science, 1944)
- Haney, John L. The Elihu Thomson Collection American Philosophical Society Yearbook 1944.
- Thomson, Elihu. Address by Elihu Thomson on Physics in the Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 48th Meeting August, 1899.
