George Herman Babcock (June 17, 1832 – December 16, 1893) was an American inventor. He and Stephen Wilcox co-invented a safer water tube steam boiler, and founded the Babcock & Wilcox boiler company.

Biography

Babock was born in

Unadilla Forks, New York Unadilla Forks is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in the Town of Plainfield in Otsego County, New York, United States, at the confluence of the two branches of the Unadilla River on the Otsego- Madison County border. The Unadilla Forks Sc ...

in a family of inventors. As a boy he started his career in the woolen mill industry. When he was still in his teens he started a

printing office In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. Printers can include: *Newspaper printers, often owned by newspaper publishers *Magazine printers, usually independ ...

in Westerly, Rhode Island. Here he founded the ''Literary Echo'' journal, which was later renamed ''The Narragansett'' and was continued until the end of the 19th century. Through his interest in photography he started a printing-press manufacture, for which he invented a polychromatic press for printing in several colors.George H. Babcock; in Memoriam
" in ''Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.'' v.15 1894. After moving to New York Babcock taught mechanical drawing at the

Cooper Institute The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

. He was a draughtsman for the Mystic Iron Company and the Hope Iron Company in Providence. Here with Stephen Wilcox he developed the Babcock and Wilcox engine, which was taken into production. They eventually founded the Babcock & Wilcox boiler company. From 1886-1887 Babcock served as president of the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

. Babcock's water tube steam boiler provided a safer and more efficient production of steam, and was built to work better under higher pressures than earlier boilers. In 1881 their company was incorporated, with Babcock as president and Wilcox as vice president. He died in Plainfield, New Jersey on December 16, 1893. In 1997, Babcock was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Biography
from the

National Inventors Hall of Fame citation
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Babcock, George Herman 1832 births 1893 deaths 19th-century American inventors Presidents of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers American mechanical engineers People from Plainfield, New York Burials in Rhode Island Engineers from New York (state) Inventors from New York (state)