Richard Trevithick

(Paperback)

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Description

The career of this erratic genius is an extraordinary story. The son of a Cornish mine captain, Trevithick single-handed totally changed the unwieldy steam engines of Newcomen and Watt to efficient movers with many applications, inventing in the process a range of widely differing machines, from high-pressure engines to the worlds first railway locomotive. His physical strength was legendary. Yet his strength was nothing compared to his mental energy and initiative, involving mechanical refrigeration, tunnelling under the Thames, wreck salvage, agricultural machinery, land reclamation, and gun mountings.

Author Bio

Born in Cornwall in 1920, James Hodge worked for Power Jets Jtd during the Second World War and then with Power Jets (R&D) Ltd as Chief Engineer. A visiting professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University in New York, he later returned to Cornwall and became Engineering Director of Holman Bros of Cambourne. He was for many years chairman of the Trevithick Society.