Mårten Triewald FRS (18 November 1691 – 8 August 1747), sometimes referred to as Mårten Triewald the Younger, was a Swedish merchant,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

and amateur

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

. Mårten Triewald was the son of Mårten Triewald the Elder, a

farrier A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith's skills (fabricating, adapting, and adju ...

and

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

smith of German origin. Triewald's mercantile activities took him to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

where he attended lectures in Newtonian Experimental Philosophy given by

John Theophilus Desaguliers John Theophilus Desaguliers (12 March 1683 – 29 February 1744) was a French-born British natural philosopher, clergyman, engineer and freemason who was elected to the Royal Society in 1714 as experimental assistant to Isaac Newton. He had stu ...

and with whom he later corresponded. In 1716 Triewald was employed as an inspector at a

coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

, where he studied

mechanics Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...

and the

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

s used there, and made improvements to them. He returned to Sweden in 1726 and at Dannemora mine and built a steam engine there under the designation "fire and air machine" (''eld- och luftmachin'' in archaic Swedish). This steam engine is believed to be the first steam engine in Sweden that was put to practical and industrial use. In 1728 and 1729 Triewald held lectures in mechanics at the Swedish House of Nobility, and demonstrated a collection of physical instruments that he had bought in England. In 1732, these instruments were taken over by

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

, and Triewald's assistant Daniel Menlös was made a professor of mathematics at the university. In 1729 he formed a diving company, and wrote about the use of

diving bell A diving bell is a rigid chamber used to transport divers from the surface to depth and back in open water, usually for the purpose of performing underwater work. The most common types are the open-bottomed wet bell and the closed bell, which c ...

s and equipment for divers under the title ''Konsten att lefa under watn'' ("The art of living under water"). He also took an interest in

bee-keeping Beekeeping (or apiculture, from ) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in artificial beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as '' Melipona'' stingless bees are al ...

and published on this subject (''Tractat om bij'', 1728). Triewald was given the title ''director mechanicus'', and in 1735 was appointed ''kapten-mekanikus'' (Captain of Mechanics) at the Fortification Administration, deemed to be "the only one in the country suitable for this post", and given an annual pension by the Parliament. In 1729, he was elected a member of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala. In 1739, he was one of six founders of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. He was also elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1731. The mansion located in the southwestern part of Kungsholmen that Triewald bought in 1739, ''Triewalds malmgård'', still exists and carries his name. Marten Triewalds daughter Margaret Elisabeth was married to accountant Johan Falkensson (died 1779) who leased Hersbyholm on

Lidingö Lidingö (), also known in its definite form Lidingön and as Lidingölandet, is an island in the inner Stockholm archipelago, northeast of Stockholm, Sweden. In 2023, the population of the Lidingö urban area on the island was 48,162. It is the ...

Mårten Triewald had a brother named Samuel von Triewald, who was a poet, politician and one of the first 'critics' in Sweden. He was also a member of the

."Triewald Made Career as Literary Judge"
- Article in the Swedish daily newspaper

Svenska Dagbladet (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the 1900s the pap ...

29 October 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Triewald, Marten 1691 births 1747 deaths Swedish merchants Swedish engineers Swedish scientists Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Royal Society 18th-century Swedish businesspeople

See also

References