This exhibition explores the inventions, discoveries, and fascinations of John Smeaton and Johann 'John' Beckmann. Both were pioneers in their respecive fields of invention, working in the late 18th Century to bring innovation to the use and examination of the public. We will explore their work and lives through the books in our collection, starting with Leeds-born Smeaton and 'The Story of John Smeaton and the Eddystone Lighthouse' (1876 edition).
John Smeaton
Smeaton was born in 1739, in Austhorpe, Leeds. He attended Leeds Grammar School, and after a brief stint at his father's law firm became a mathematical instrument maker, the first 'expert witness' in a law trial, and the first self-considered 'civil engineer'. He worked on 19 civil enginnering comissions between 1758 and 1792, and is an important figure in the history, redevelopment, and refinement of concrete. He is remembered as an innovator and respected researcher - as evidenced by this 1876 book telling the story of his development of the Eddystone Lighthouse for children.
As well as his civil engineering legacy, however, Smeaton was an active physicist and researcher. He published several books and papers investigating the relationship of water and wind to human machines, including the 1754 book photographed from the Library's collection. He experimented on a small model of a water wheel for seven years, improving the efficiency of water work and aiding England's Industrial Revolution.
The Eddystone Lighthouse
On the edge of Devon county lies a ledge of rocks named Eddystone, or Eddystone Rocks. These rocks are in line with Lizard Head in Cornwall, and the Start Point in Devonshire. Consequently, it forms a perilous obstruction within the Channel, and the construction of a lighthouse on this hazardous formation came to be regarded as urgent. The task, however, seemed so dangerous that no one attempted it until 1696, when it was undertaken by Henry Winstanley - "an eccentric but ingenius man" who sets precedent for the following three men to construct Eddystone lighthouses. His lighthouse is pictured first here. When the lighthouse burnt down in 1755, Smeaton took on the task.
Smeaton's lighthouse (pictured here) was finished in 1759, four years after construction began. According to the 1876 'Story of John Smeaton and the Eddystone Lighthouse', this was thanks to the “lusty arms and willing hearts" of its builders making "rapid progress”. It was 18 meters tall and lit by a 24-tallow candle chandelier. Smeaton based its design off of an oak tree, and used both local stone and a new 'hydraulic lime' of his own invention - essentially inventing concrete that cured in water. The lighthouse stood until 1882, when it was replaced not because it had degared beyond use but because the rocks underneath had eroded and destabilised the foundations. The top of the lighthouse was subsequently rebuilt on land at Plymouth Hoe through public subscription, as a monument to Smeaton's work and service - his innovation preserved for future generations to see.
Johann 'John' Beckmann
Johann Beckmann was born in 1739 in Hanover, Germany. Much like Smeaton, he was fascinated by technology his entire life, studying it and travelling Europe to observe it at work in mines, factories, and museums throughout his life. Beckmann is also seen as the first Western man to study, research, and teach technology as an academic subject, with many dubbing him the first historian of inventions. In fact, he is widely regarded as the man who coined the word 'technology' (originally meaning 'the science of trades'). We will explore some of Beckmann's work as a historian below, through an 1814 English translation of his 1780 book 'Beiträge zur Geschichte der Erfindungen' - or, 'A History of Inventions and Discoveries'.
Magnetic Cures
“About the end of the 17th century, magnetic tooth-picks and ear pickers were made and extolled as a secret preventative against pain in the teeth, eyes, and ears.”
Though these might have fallen out of fashion, we still use magnets in medicine today - in dentures, cancer treatment and diagnosis, and more.
Butter
“This substance, though commonly used at present in the greater part of Europe, was not known, or known very imperfectly, to the ancients.”
One thing a reader notices quickly is Beckmann’s determination to discover whether the ancients had any knowledge, or use, of his particular subject; in this case, butter. His treatment of all human inventions is remarkably unanimous despite the technology they use - whether machine, food, or mending!
Catalogues of Books
“In perusing these old catalogues one cannot help being astonished at the sudden and great increase of books; and when one reflects that a great, perhaps the greater, part of them no longer exist, this perishableness of human labours will excite the same sensations as those which arise in the mind when one reads in a church-yard the names and titles of persons long since mouldered into dust.”
Lusty Arms and Willing Hearts
This exhibition was produced for Heritage Open Day 2022, themed around Astounding Inventions. John Smeaton and Johann Beckmann are but two examples of scientific minds that dedicated their lives to the innovation and discovery this Open Day theme explores. Their similarities are shared with hundreds of other scientists - coining of terms, invention, and unrelenting passion for their fields. To learn more about the work and willing hearts of people like Ada Lovelace and Caroline Haslett, go here to check out Heritage Open Day events accross the UK!
With thanks to:
Exhibition: Aidan Thackray, Finnian Davies, and Niimi Day Gough
Digital: Niimi Day Gough
Bibliography
Images: 'The Story of John Smeaton and the Eddystone Lighthouse', Edinburgh: T. Nelson and Sons, 1876/ Smeaton, John, 'An Account of Some Experiments upon a Machine for Measuring the Way of a Ship at Sea', 1754/ Viscount Mahon, Charles 'Principles of Electricity, containing Divers new Theorems and Experiments', London: P. Elmsly, 1779.
Information: Knowles, Eleanor, 'John Smeaton', Engineering Timelines (2022), Tietz, Tabea, 'How Johann Beckmann invented the Science of Technology', SciHi Blog (2021).