Henry Moseley (engineer)

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Henry Moseley , (born July 9, 1801 Newcastle-under-Lyme , Great Britain , † January 20, 1872 Olveston near Bristol , Great Britain) was a British engineer and Anglican clergyman

Life

Henry Moseley grew up in his hometown and attended elementary school. His parents, Dr. William Willis Moseley and Margaret Moseley b. Jackson, a large private school. At 15 or 16, Henry went to a school in Abbeville , attended a naval school in Portsmouth for a short time, then in 1819 at St John's College (Cambridge) to study, which he graduated in 1826 with a bachelor's degree. Ten years later, Moseley received his master's degree from his alma mater.

In 1827 Moseley began his service in the Anglican Church. After his ordination he worked as an assistant pastor in West Monkton near Taunton and in 1831 advanced to Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy and Astronomy at King's College London , a position he held until 1844; in February 1839 Moseley was elected a Fellow in the Royal Society . Moseley's most important works on structural engineering were created during his time in London, among which his monograph from 1843 stands out, which was edited and commented on in Germany by Hermann Scheffler in 1845 and in the USA by Dennis Hart Mahan in 1856.

Moseley was the first to introduce his British compatriots to the work of Coulomb , Navier and Poncelet . In particular, Moseley popularized Navier's theory of continuous beams , which he expanded and popularized with his pupil William Pole (1814-1900) and others so that it could be used in the construction of the Britannia and Conway bridges. Moseley different first the concept of support line (line of resistance) from the reverse rope line ( line of pressure ) and gave order for the vault theory a surge in development. His principle of least resistance inspired Scheffler and later James Henry Cotterill to carry out further basic research. In 1865, in his essay “On an extension of the dynamical principle of least action”, Cotterill started out directly from Moseley's principle and, years before Castigliano , formulated the energy method in structural engineering. Moseley also published a groundbreaking essay on the dynamic stability of ships in 1850 and in 1860 co-founded the Royal Institution of Naval Architects , for which he served as Vice President until his death.

In 1851 Moseley was appointed to the jury for the world exhibition . Despite these scientific successes, Moseley continued his ecclesiastical career at Bristol Cathedral (1853) and Olveston (1854) and was appointed chaplain to the royal court in 1855.

Moseley's contributions to structural engineering influenced theory formation in Great Britain, the USA, and Germany in the middle of the structural engineering discipline (1825–1900). Moseley was a corresponding member of the Académie des sciences ( Institut de France ) since 1848 .

Works

  • On a new principle in statics, called the principle of least pressure . The London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine, Ser. 3, 1833, Vol. 3, pp. 285-288.
  • On the theory of resistances in statics . The London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine, Ser. 3, 1833, Vol. 3, pp. 431-436.
  • On the equilibrium of the arch . Cambridge Philosophical Transactions, 1835, Vol. 5, pp. 293-313.
  • On the theory of the equilibrium of a system of bodies in contact . Cambridge Philosophical Transactions, 1838, Vol. 6, pp. 463-491.
  • The mechanical principles of engineering and architecture . London: Longman 1843.
  • The mechanical principles of engineering and architecture , 1st part. Translation from English by Hermann Scheffler. Braunschweig: Verlag der Hofbuchhandlung von Eduard Leibrock 1845.
  • The mechanical principles of engineering and architecture . Ed. by DH Mahan. New York: Wiley 1856.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Henry Moseley. Cambridge Alumni Database, accessed April 17, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Prof. JH Cotterill, FRS International Journal of Science, January 26, 1922, accessed on April 18, 2019 (English).
  3. ^ List of members since 1666: Letter M. Académie des sciences, accessed on January 26, 2020 (French).
personal data
SURNAME Moseley, Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British engineer and Anglican clergyman
DATE OF BIRTH July 9, 1801
PLACE OF BIRTH Newcastle-under-Lyme
DATE OF DEATH January 20, 1872
Place of death Olveston near Bristol