Name Index

To

A short story of Thomas Newcomen

by

Dwight Goddard

Worcester, MA: Wyman & Gordon (1904), 7 pp.

Prepared by Michael Steer

Thomas Newcomen (February 1664 - 5 August 1729) invented the first practical steam engine for pumping water, the Newcomen steam engine. He was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling, born in Dartmouth to a merchant family and baptised at St. Saviour's Church on 24 February 1664. In those days flooding in coal and tin mines was a major problem, and Newcomen was soon engaged in trying to improve ways to pump out the water from the mines. His ironmonger's business specialised in designing, manufacturing and selling tools for the mining industry. The Newcomen engine held its place without material change for about 75 years, its use spreading gradually to areas of the UK and mainland Europe. The monograph's author, Dwight Goddard was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1861. He held responsible engineering positions at a number of companies in Massachusetts and Ohio. In 1906 he published a book of biographical essays titled Eminent Engineers, and later sold an invention to the U.S. Government which was used during World War I. It apparently made him a wealthy man and allowed him to retire from industry in 1913. Wyman and Gordon, publishers, produced a series of short biographies of engineers, whose names have been included in this index. This rare and much sought-after book was produced digitally by Google from a copy in the University of Wisconsin Library collection and can be downloaded from HathiTrust. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.