Jump to content

Denis Papin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Denis Papin
Denis Papin, unknown artist, 1689
Born(1647-08-22)22 August 1647
Chitenay,nowLoir-et-Cher,France
Died26 August 1713(1713-08-26)(aged 66)
London,Kingdom of Great Britain
NationalityFrench
EducationUniversity of Angers
Known forSteam digester
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Marburg

Denis PapinFRS(French pronunciation:[dənipapɛ̃];22 August 1647 – 26 August 1713)[1]was a Frenchphysicist,mathematician and inventor, best known for his pioneeringinventionof thesteam digester,the forerunner of thepressure cookerand of thesteam engine.[2][3]

Early life and education[edit]

Born inChitenay(Loir-et-Cher,Centre-Val de LoireRégion), Papin attended aJesuitschool there. In 1661, he attended theUniversity of Angers,from which he graduated with a medical degree in 1669.

Career[edit]

In 1673, Papin worked withChristiaan HuygensandGottfried Leibnizin Paris, and became interested in using avacuumto generate motive power.

In 1675, he first visited London, where he worked withRobert Boylefrom 1676 to 1679, publishing an account of his work inContinuation of New Experiments(1680).[4]During this period, Papin invented thesteam digester,a type ofpressure cookerwith asafety valve.He first addressed the Royal Society in 1679 on the subject of his digester, and remained mostly in London. As aHuguenot,Papin found himself greatly affected by the increasing restrictions placed on Protestants byLouis XIV of Franceand by the King's ultimate revocation of theEdict of Nantesin 1685.

In Germany, he was able to live with fellow Huguenot exiles from France, so in about 1687, he left to take up an academic post in Germany.

In 1689, Papin suggested that a force pump or bellows could maintain the pressure and fresh air inside adiving bell.(EngineerJohn Smeatonutilised this design in 1789.[5][6])

While inMarburgin 1690, having observed the mechanical power of atmospheric pressure on his 'digester', Papin built a model of a pistonsteam engine,the first of its kind. In 1705 while teaching mathematics at theUniversity of Marburg,[7]he developed a second steam engine with the help ofGottfried Leibniz,based[citation needed]on an invention byThomas Savery,but this used steam pressure rather than atmospheric pressure. Details of the engine were published in 1707.

In 1705, Papin constructed a ship powered by hand-cranked paddles. An apocryphal story originating in 1851 byLouis Figuireheld that this ship was steam-powered rather than hand-powered and that it was therefore the first steam-powered vehicle of any kind. The myth was refuted as early as 1880 byErnst Gerland[de],though still it finds credulous expression in some contemporary scholarly work.[8]

Papin's ship was said to have been destroyed in 1707 by the boatmen ofMundenwho feared it would threaten their livelihood.[9]The scene of boatmen destroying Papin's ship is depicted in several pieces of art in the eighteenth century and serves as an example of the resistance and fear inspired by the creative destruction that accompanies new technology.[10][11]

Later,[when?]at the iron foundry in Veckerhagen (nowReinhardshagen), he cast the world's first steam cylinder.

In 1707, Papin returned to London leaving his wife in Germany. Several of his papers were put before the Royal Society between 1707 and 1712 without acknowledging or paying him, about which he complained bitterly. Papin's ideas included a description of his 1690 atmospheric steam engine, similar to that built and put into use byThomas Newcomenin 1712, thought to be the year of Papin's death.

Death[edit]

The last surviving evidence of Papin's whereabouts came in a letter he wrote dated 23 January 1712. At the time he was destitute ( "I am in a sad case" ) [Royal Society Archives, 1894, Vol. 7, 74], and it was believed that he died that year and was buried in an unmarked grave in London.

However, a record exists for the burial of a “Denys Papin” in an 18th-century Register of Marriages & Burials[12]which originally came fromSt Bride's Church,Fleet Street, London, but which is stored in theLondon Metropolitan Archives.The record states that Denys Papin was buried at St Bride's on 26 August 1713 – just a few days after his 66th birthday – and that he was buried in the Lower Ground, one of the two burial areas belonging to the church at the time. Since the discovery, in 2016, of the place and date of Papin's burial in 1713, a memorial plaque has been erected in the West Entrance of St Bride's Church, Fleet Street, London, to commemorate his life and his achievements.

  • Robert Boyle and Denis Papin inspecting Papin's digester
    Robert Boyleand Denis Papin inspecting Papin's digester
  • Second Papin steam engine, 1707
    Second Papin steam engine, 1707
  • Steam-driven water-lifting machine by Papin in 1707, reconstruction, from Nouvelle manière d'élever l'eau par la force du feu. Musée des Arts et Métiers
    Steam-driven water-lifting machine by Papin in 1707, reconstruction, fromNouvelle manière d'élever l'eau par la force du feu.Musée des Arts et Métiers
  • The Register from St Bride's Church showing the date of Papin's burial
    The Register from St Bride's Church showing the date of Papin's burial
  • The first piston steam engine, 1690
    The first piston steam engine, 1690
  • Denis Papin's steam digester (1679)
    Denis Papin'ssteam digester(1679)
  • A "Papin" cooking pot, late 18th century
    A "Papin"cooking pot,late 18th century
  • Papin's Memorial in St Bride's Church
    Papin's Memorial in St Bride's Church

Legacy[edit]

Boulevard Denis Papin inCarcassonneis named after him as well as a street inSaint-Michel, Montreal.There is also a statue of Papin with his invention inBlois,at the top of the Escalier Denis Papin, a stairway.

Works[edit]

  • Nouvelle manière pour lever l'eau par la force du feu... par m. D. Papin.A Cassel: pour Jacob Estienne libraire de la cour: par Jean Gaspard Voguel imprimeur. 1707.
  • Nouvelle manière pour lever l'eau par la force du feu (1707)
    Nouvelle manière pour lever l'eau par la force du feu(1707)

References[edit]

  1. ^Excerptfrom St Bride's Register Marriages Burrials
  2. ^Hindle, Brooke; Lubar, Steven (1986).Engines of Change: The American Industrial Revolution 1790-1860.Washington, DC and London: Smithsonian Institution Press.ISBN0-87474-540-3.
  3. ^Acta Eruditorum.Leipzig. 1689. p. 96.
  4. ^Anita McConnell, 'Papin, Denis (1647–1712?)',Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 29 April 2006]
  5. ^Davis, RH(1955).Deep Diving and Submarine Operations(6th ed.). Tolworth, Surbiton, Surrey:Siebe Gorman & Company Ltd.p. 693.
  6. ^Acott, C. (1999)."A brief history of diving and decompression illness".South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society Journal.29(2).ISSN0813-1988.OCLC16986801.Archived from the original on 27 June 2008.Retrieved17 March2009.{{cite journal}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^Daron Acemoğlu;James A. Robinson(20 March 2012).Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty.Crown Publishing Group.ISBN0-307-71921-9.OL16697651W.WikidataQ7997840..
  8. ^Wootton, David (2015).The Invention of Science.New York: Harper Collins. p. 498,647.
  9. ^Valenti, Philip (December 1979)."A Case Study of British Sabotage Leibniz, Papin, and The Steam Engine"(PDF).Fusion:41 – via sci-tech.
  10. ^LIBRARY, SCIENCE, INDUSTRY & BUSINESS LIBRARY/NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY/SCIENCE PHOTO."Destruction of Papin's steamboat, 1707 - Stock Image - V900/0062".Science Photo Library.Retrieved17 April2024.{{cite web}}:|first=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^Limited, Alamy."Destruction of Denis Papin Steamboat,1707 Stock Photo - Alamy".alamy.Retrieved17 April2024.
  12. ^London Metropolitan Archives; Collection: Saint Bride; Title: Register of Marriages Burrials &tc from 1695 to Aug 1714; catalogue reference: P69/BRI/A/005/MS06540/003. (seen June 2016)

Sources[edit]

Porezag, Karsten (August 2020). "Denis Papin (1647-1713) in Marburg und Kassel - Erfinder des Prinzips der atmosphärischen Kolbendampfmaschine und des Dampfschiff-Antriebes" [Denis Papin (1647-1713) in Marburg and Kassel - inventor of the principle of the atmospheric piston steam engine and the steamship propulsion].Hessische Heimat[Hessian homeland] (in German) (1/2 ed.). Gesellschaft für Kultur- und Denkmalpflege.ISSN0178-3173.{{cite book}}:|journal=ignored (help)

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Denis_Papin&oldid=1219386318"