Adam Walker (1730/31 – 11 February 1821) was an English writer and inventor. He gave lectures on astronomy, aided by one of his inventions, the
eidouranion
An eidouranion is a kind of orrery that combined mechanical movement with a method of back projection. Its invention is attributed to Adam Walker (1731-1821) who in the 1780s built one measuring 27 feet in diameter. He used it to accompany his le ...
.
Life
Walker was born in
Patterdale
Patterdale (Saint Patrick's Dale) is a small village and civil parish in the eastern part of the English Lake District in the Eden District of Cumbria, in the traditional county of Westmorland, and the long valley in which they are found, also ...
in
Westmorland
Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...
, the son of a woollen manufacturer. He left school almost before he could read, but continued to study on his own. He borrowed books, and occupied his leisure in constructing models of neighbouring corn mills, paper mills and
fulling mill
Fulling, also known as felting, tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelled waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven or knitted cloth (particularly wool) to elimin ...
s. His reputation as a student at the age of fifteen procured him the post of usher at
Ledsham school in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Three years later he was appointed writing-master and accountant at the
Free School in Macclesfield, where he studied mathematics and produced his first publication, ''A System of Family Bookkeeping, with a Ready Ruled Book'' (1758). He also made some ventures in trade which were unsuccessful, and lectured on astronomy in Manchester. The success of his lectures encouraged him, after four years at Macclesfield, to set up a school in Manchester in 1762 on his own account. This, however, he gave up in 1766 for the purpose of travelling as a lecturer in
natural philosophy
Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior throu ...
, and, after visiting many towns in northern England and southern Scotland, and spending four years in Ireland, he met
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...
, who induced him to lecture in the
Theatre Royal in Haymarket in 1778. Meeting with success, he took a house in George Street,
Hanover Square, and gave lectures every winter to numerous audiences. He was engaged as lecturer by the provost of Eton College,
Edward Barnard, whose example was followed by the heads of Westminster, Winchester, and other public schools.
Inventions
Walker amused his leisure by perfecting various mechanical inventions. Among others he devised engines for raising water, carriages to go by wind and steam, a road mill, a machine for watering land, and a dibbling plough. He also planned the rotatory lights on the Scilly Isles, erected on St Agnes' Island in 1790 under his supervision. On 29 July 1772 he took out a patent (No. 1020) for an improved harpsichord, called the "Cœlestina" which was capable of producing continuous tones. On 21 February 1786, by another patent (No. 1533), he introduced a method of thermo-ventilation, on lines formerly proposed by Samuel Sutton, on 16 March 1744 (patent No. 602), with whose ideas, however, Walker was unacquainted. He proposed to ventilate as well as heat a house without expense by means of a kitchen fire. His method, though economically fallacious, was not without ingenuity.[
Walker also constructed an "]eidouranion
An eidouranion is a kind of orrery that combined mechanical movement with a method of back projection. Its invention is attributed to Adam Walker (1731-1821) who in the 1780s built one measuring 27 feet in diameter. He used it to accompany his le ...
", or transparent orrery, which he used to illustrate his astronomical lectures. These were published in pamphlet form, under the title ''An Epitome of Astronomy'', and reached a twenty-sixth edition in 1817.[
Walker died in ]Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
, Surrey on 11 February 1821, and was buried in the family vault in Hayes, Middlesex.[
]
Works
His chief works were:[
# ''Analysis of Course of Lectures on Natural and Experimental Philosophy'' (2nd edition 1771, 12th edition 1802).
# ''A Philosophical Estimate of the Causes, Effect, and Cure of Unwholesome Air in large Cities'' (1777).
# ''Ideas suggested on the spot in a late Excursion through Flanders, Germany, France, and Italy'' (1790).
# ''Remarks made in a Tour from London to the Lakes of Westmoreland and Cumberland'' (1792).
# ''A System of Familiar Philosophy'' (1799, new edition 1802), 2 vols.
He was the author of several articles in the '']Philosophical Magazine
The ''Philosophical Magazine'' is one of the oldest scientific journals published in English. It was established by Alexander Tilloch in 1798;John Burnett"Tilloch, Alexander (1759–1825)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford Univer ...
'' and in Arthur Young's ''Annals of Agriculture''.[
]
Family
Walker had three sons: William (1767–1816), who assisted his father in his astronomical lectures; Adam John, Rector of Bedston in Shropshire; and Deane Franklin (1778–1865), who, after the death of his brother William, continued his father's lectures at Eton, Harrow, and Rugby, as well as his popular discourses in London; and a daughter, Eliza (died 1856), who was married to Benjamin Gibson of Gosport, Hampshire.[
]
References
Attribution
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Adam
1730 births
1821 deaths
People from Westmorland
English inventors
18th-century English non-fiction writers