William Fairbairn: the experimental engineer : A study in mid 19th-century engineering /Richard Byrom

"William Fairbairn (1789-1874) was one of the greatest of 19th-century engineers yet he is strangely overlooked. This is the first definitive biography for 140 years. It chronicles Fairbairn's role in the development, in the UK and abroad, of mills, waterwheels, steam engines, boilers, iron steamships, locomotives, iron bridges, cranes and elevators. It provides illustrations for many of today's current areas of debate, as it discusses the sources of Fairbairn's success, the extent of his influence and the reasons for the firm he founded failing within a year of his death. Fairbairn was the leading experimental research engineer of his time; and his Manchester works were an outstanding success, with his trainees producing five professors of engineering and two engineers knighted for their work. Fully researched and profusely illustrated, the book will appeal to all with an interest in engineering history: academics and non-academics alike. The author was introduced to William Fairbairn as an undergraduate in Manchester and went on to gain an MPhil and PhD in Fairbairn studies. He remains fascinated by this remarkable engineer."--Provided by the publisher.