Henry Wilde

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Henry Wilde (born January 19, 1833 in Manchester , † March 28, 1919 in Alderly Edge , Cheshire ) was a British engineer.

Life

Henry Wilde, a wealthy man from Manchester, invented the self-charging dynamo , called the " magneto -electric machine" or magneto-electric exciter . Often this invention is attributed to Werner von Siemens , but made them both independent of each other. Wilde was the first to publish his invention and his documents were brought to the Royal Society by Michael Faraday in 1866 . The self-charging dynamo replaced the permanent magnets in previous designs with electromagnets, thereby creating an improvement in performance. The machine attracted a lot of attention at the time, especially since Wilde demonstrated the capabilities of his machine in spectacular demonstrations by using it to melt iron bars.

Academic donations

Wilde became a member of the Lit & Phil Society in 1859 and its president from 1894 to 1896. He is considered a patron of the promotion of science. Among other things, he considered, donated and promoted:

  • the Wilde Memorial Lecture at the Lit & Phil Society
  • the Prix Wilde, (Prize of the Académie des Sciences in Paris)
  • a donation to the Institute of Electrical Engineers, Benevolent Fund
  • a reading and a scholarship at Oxford University
  • a professorship at Oxford University
  • two dynamos at the Clarendon laboratories in 1888.
  • the Henry Wilde Prize in Philosophy, Oxford

In his will, he left the rest of his fortune to Oxford University.

Using his dynamo

First, his dynamo was used by the Royal Navy to power more powerful headlights. The dynamo was also preferred in electroplating .

Wildes trial

The Wildes process named after him is a method of copper-plating pressure rollers, which he patented in 1875. The dynamo is used to supply the electricity for the copper plating and either to mix the electrolyte or to rotate the workpiece. This process enables a uniform thickness of the copper, which is essential in the printing shop.

Authorship lawsuits

Wilde began a series of lawsuits to establish his authorship of the dynamo. He even went so far as to challenge the Siemens brothers' authorship of the word "Dynamo" (Wilde attributed the authorship to Golding Bird). When the Royal Society tried to award him their highest honor, the Albert Medal, Wilde replied with a letter from his lawyer, in which he reprimanded them for not recognizing him as the sole inventor. Nevertheless, the RSA awarded him the medal in 1900.

Awards

The dedication of the Albert Medal Wilde was awarded by the RSA in 1900 reads:

“ For the discovery and practical demonstration of the indefinite increase of the magnetic and electric forces from quantities indefinitely small, a discovery now used in all dynamo machines; and for its application to the production of the electric search light and to the electro-deposition of metals from their solution. " (in English: “ for the discovery and practical demonstration of the unlimited increase in magnetic and electrical forces of unknown magnitude, a discovery that is used today in all dynamos and for application in the manufacture of electric headlights and the electroplating of metals from solutions. ”)

literature

  • Ronald M. Birse, 'Wilde, Henry (1833-1919)', rev. Brian Bowers, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 13 March 2009
  • Donald Cardwell, James Joule: A Biography, Manchester University Press ND, 1989 ISBN 0-7190-3479-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.deutsches-museum.de/sammlungen/meisterwerke/meisterwerke-iii/dynamomaschine/
  2. ^ Henry Wilde, "Experimental researches into electricity and magnetism," Proceedings of the Royal Society, 1866, pp107-111.
  3. ↑ Cardwell, p218.
  4. ↑ Cardwell, pp218-219.
  5. ↑ Trevor Henry Aston, MG Brock, MC Curthoys, The History of the University of Oxford, Volume VII, p460, Oxford University Press, 2000 ISBN 0-19-951017-2 .
  6. ↑ Cardwell, p218.
  7. ^ A b c Journal of the Society of Arts, p617, vol 48, 29th June 1900.
  8. ↑ Alexander Watt and Arnold Philip, Electroplating and Electrorefining of Metals, p151, Watchmaker Publishing, 2005 ISBN 1-929148-45-3 .
  9. ↑ Cardwell, p220.
  10. ↑ RSA: Albert Medal recipients retrieved 4th March 2009.
personal data
SURNAME Wilde, Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British engineer
DATE OF BIRTH January 19, 1833
PLACE OF BIRTH Manchester
DATE OF DEATH March 28, 1919
Place of death Alderly Edge , Cheshire