Today in Technology History
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May 31
On May 31, 1744, inventor Richard Lovell Edgeworth was born in Bath, England.
Edgeworth was educated in Ireland and England, and he was acquainted with many of the luminaries of his day -- including the philosopher Rousseau and the engineer James Watt. A fellow of the Royal Society, Edgeworth was actively interested in science.
He also had a knack for inventing. In the late 1790s, he wrote "An Essay on the Art of Conveying Secret and Swift Intelligence," in which he proposed the creation of a "tellograph." Basically, his invention consisted of 30 tall towers spread out over the 130-mile distance between the cities of Dublin and Galway. Encoded messages were transmitted from tower to tower using large triangular pointers, so news could reach Dublin in just eight minutes. Unfortunately, Ireland's weather reduced visibility and made his tellograph impractical, despite the substantial money and time invested in it.
Edgeworth also invented a small wooden contraption with metal legs that expanded and contracted as humidity changed, so the device walked forward at a speed that gave "a rough indication of the comparative moisture of the air." Other inventions included a number of vehicles for transportation, a new method for paving roads, and several small devices (like a turnip cutter).
Not only an inventor, Edgeworth was a member of Parliament and a father of 22 children (by four non-simultaneous wives). One of his daughters (Maria) became a novelist of some distinction.
Edgeworth died in 1817. One of his children lived until 1897 -- fully 153 years after her father's birth.
Related links:
Click here to read a biography of Edgeworth.
Click here to read about the Edgeworth family and estate.
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