Today in Technology History
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April 4
On April 4, 1823, Karl Wilhelm Siemens (SEE-menz) was born near Hanover in Prussia (now Germany).
Siemens had thirteen siblings. His parents died when he was quite young, so he was raised by an older brother, who wisely forced him to study engineering. He received an excellent education at the best German schools.
In the early 1840s, he moved to England to market an invention his brother had developed. He anglicized his name (becoming Charles William Siemens), and he helped launch the British branch of the company his brother founded, the Siemens company, which still exists.
Today, William Siemens is remembered for three key contributions to technology. First, he helped make steam engines much more efficient. Working with another of his brothers, he designed an engine that wasted less energy than contemporary engines. When these new, efficient engines were used to make steel, they saved so much energy that the price of steel dropped sharply.
Second, he led the effort to lay undersea telegraph cables. He even built a special ship for the purpose, which he named Faraday after the great physicist, and he designed devices for measuring water depth.
Finally, Siemens studied electricity. He made a number of improvements to various electrical devices, including generators and arc lights. He also wrote a number of articles that were ahead of their time, including one about conserving solar energy, one about electrical thermometers, and a few about the "influence of electric light upon vegetation."
He was knighted in 1883 and died later that year, at the age of sixty.
Related links:
Click here to read the Encyclopedia Britannica entry for Siemens.
Click here to read about the early history of the Siemens company.
Click here to see pictures of members of the Siemens family.
Click here to see a picture of Siemens's grave site.
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