John Ericsson: The Princeton Gun Disaster, Hot Air Engines and the Monitor

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

John Ericsson, born in Sweden in 1803, was a teenage surveyor on the Gota Canal project who carried a footstool to reach his instruments. After building a heat engine that ran on birch wood fumes, he left the Swedish army in 1826 for England, where the engine failed on coal, his locomotive Novelty lost the 1829 Rainhill Trials to George Stephenson's Rocket, and London fire crews rejected the steam fire engine that pumped for five hours at the Argyle Rooms blaze. Mounting debts landed him in debtors' prison.

Naval officer Robert Stockton brought Ericsson to New York in 1839 to build the USS Princeton, with underwater twin screw propellers and a 12-inch gun reinforced with heated iron hoops. Stockton's own thicker cast iron gun burst during an 1844 Potomac cruise, killing the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Navy, and Stockton shifted the blame to Ericsson. Backed by Cornelius Delamater's ironworks, Ericsson prospered with small caloric hot air engines, then reluctantly designed the USS Monitor, built in about 100 days, which fought the CSS Virginia at Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862.

His hot air engine used a regenerator of wire mesh to capture exhaust heat and preheat incoming air.
He won the Rumford Prize for his work in thermodynamics.
The Monitor's low, flat deck was inspired by the lumber rafts he had seen as a child in Sweden.
In 1883 he built a solar powered air engine using curved mirrors in rectangular troughs.
He died on March 8, 1889, and after public outcry the Navy sent the cruiser USS Baltimore to carry his remains to Sweden.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(16184)

The Art of Adult Friendship: Why Quality Matters More Than Quantity

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore how our understanding of friendship changes as we grow old...

9 Nov 18min

Summer Explained: The Science, History, and Traditions of the Warmest Season

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore summer, the season most closely associated with sunshine, ...

7 Nov 18min

Sir Patrick Stewart: From Shakespeare to Star Trek, the Life and Legacy of a Legend

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the extraordinary life of Sir Patrick Stewart, the acclaim...

7 Nov 49min

Larry David: The Genius of Social Awkwardness, Seinfeld, and Curb Your Enthusiasm

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the life and career of Larry David, the comedian, writer, ...

6 Nov 38min

Why Australian Shepherds Aren't From Australia

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the history of the Australian Shepherd, an intelligent, en...

5 Nov 45min

Labrador Retriever: From Newfoundland Fishing Dogs to Modern-Day Heroes

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore the remarkable history of the Labrador Retriever, one of t...

4 Nov 53min

Discovering Ireland: A Journey Through History, Culture, and the Wild Atlantic Way

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!In this episode of pplpod, we explore Ireland through the philosophy of slow travel: go slower, ...

3 Nov 48min

Willie Hutch: An Overnight I'll Be There Lyric and The Mack's Soundtrack

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!William McKinley Hutchins was born in Los Angeles in December 1944 and raised in Dallas, where h...

2 Nov 21min