John Smeaton was an English engineer and physicist who was known as the “Father of Civil Engineering.” He was a master at his job and called himself a Civil Engineer, a well-known pioneer in his field. At first, he wanted to be a lawyer like his father, but he changed his mind and decided to make instruments instead. He learned most of what he knows about science by reading books and going to meetings of the Royal Society of London. Along with his work in mechanical engineering, he built bridges, canals, and harbors. He came up with new ways to build, whether it was the kind of material he used or a way to make the object stronger. Every project he worked on was a masterpiece because of how hard he worked and how much he cared. He turned engineering, which had been thought of as a craft, into a scientific process of experimenting and coming up with mechanisms for building. He was the first person to use the term “civil engineer,” and he also started the world’s first engineering society. His hard work gives everyone a reason to be brave about the decisions they make in life and work hard to make their dreams come true.
Early years and childhood
He was born on June 8, 1724, in the English town of Austhorpe, Leeds. His dad was a lawyer who ran a law firm.
When he was young, he used to forge and cast to make hand tools. He built a small lathe for turning wood and a steam engine that pumped water out of his father’s pond.
When he was 16, his father talked him into joining the law firm he worked for. He began studying law at the office where his father worked. Two years later, he was getting ready to become a lawyer for real when he decided to quit and follow his dream of becoming an instrument maker.
John Smeaton’s Career
In 1748, he opened his own shop in London’s Great Turnstile. He did not know much about science or making tools, but he did know a few things. Henry Hindley, a friend of his, taught him how to make instruments.
In 1750, he worked with Dr. Gowin Knight to make a mariner’s compass, which became standard equipment for the Royal Navy. Along with the compass, he also made a prototype of a machine that could measure how fast a ship was going, but it wasn’t very accurate when the seas were rough.
In 1751, he moved his shop from Great Turnstile to Furnival Inn Court, which was bigger, and hired three people to work for him.
In 1752, he did some tests about the power of windmills and water wheels that worked well and showed how well he knew science and engineering.
In 1756, he was chosen to build the new lighthouse on Eddystone Rocks near Plymouth, England. It was his first engineering project and one of his most well-known ones.
In 1759, he wrote a paper about watermills, which were the main way people got power at the time. The Copley Award was given to him for his work.
In 1760, he showed how good he was at mechanical engineering by making a water pumping machine that used water pressure. This machine was later replaced by James Watt’s steam engine. He also made a pyrometer to study the expansion of materials.
During his career, he designed and oversaw the building of many canals, bridges, and harbors, including Scotland’s Coldstream Bridge, Ripon Canal, Aberdeen Bridge, Peterhead Harbour, and Forth and Clyde Canal. He also helped build 43 mills, the most important of which was the Carron Company ironworks in 1769.
In 1782, he built the first five-sailed smock mill in Britain. It was the Chimney Mill at Spital Tongues in Newcastle upon Tyne. He is also known for adding an air pump to Edmund Halley’s diving bell so that it could be used underwater as well.
He was a member of the Lunar Society and helped start the “Society of Civil Engineers” in 1771. In 1818, the Society of Civil Engineers became the “Institution of Civil Engineers.”
From 1759 to 1782, he did some experiments that showed that Gottfried Leibniz’s theory of the conservation of energy was right. But Isaac Newton’s followers didn’t like his discovery because they thought his explanation didn’t fit with Newton’s theory of the conservation of momentum.
Works of note
One of his most famous pieces shows how the lighthouse on Eddystone Rocks was built between 1756 and 1759. After two other lighthouses were destroyed by storms, he was chosen to build a strong one, which he did successfully. He was the first person to use “hydraulic lime” for the building’s foundation, and he was also the first person to use dovetailed granite blocks to build it.
In 1759, he wrote a paper called “An Experimental Enquiry Concerning the Natural Powers of Water and Wind to Turn Mills and Other Machines Relying on Circular Motion.” This paper looked at the relationship between air pressure and the speed of moving objects, and his ideas were later used to create the “Smeaton Coefficient.”
He came up with the term “civil engineers” to differentiate them from the military engineers of the time. In 1771, he also helped start the “Society of Civil Engineers.”
Awards & Achievements
In 1753, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society because of papers he had written about making instruments.
In 1759, he was given the Copley Award for his groundbreaking work on how waterwheels and windmills work.
In 1834, the group he helped start, the Society of Civil Engineers, was renamed the “Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers” in his honor.
Personal History and Legacies
He never got married and didn’t have any kids.
He died of a stroke on October 28, 1792. He was buried in Whitkirk, West Yorkshire, in the parish church.
He was a great personality who encouraged the emerging talents of his time. William Jessop, a canal engineer, and Benjamin Latrobe, an architect, were among the people he taught.
Estimated Net worth
John Smeaton’s estimated net worth is $7 million, and his main income comes from being a physicist, engineer, mechanical engineer, and civil engineer. We don’t have enough information on John Smeaton’s cars or his way of life.