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inflated with air so that the wheels presented "a cushion of air to the ground, rail or track on which they run". This elastic belt of rubberized canvas was enclosed within a strong outer casing of leather which was bolted to the wheel. Thomson's "Aerial Wheels" were demonstrated in London's
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on 26 July 1822. Robert was the eleventh of twelve children of a local woolen mill owner. His family wished him to study for the ministry, but Robert refused, one reason being his inability to master
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could be passed through the rollers in either direction, and had completed the first working model of his elliptic rotary
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Robert's father gave him a workshop, and by the time he was 17 years old he had rebuilt his mother's washing
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529:"The Engineer - Late, great engineers: Robert William Thomson - of aerial wheels and fountain pens"
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He amassed a large sum from his inventions and lived in a huge townhouse at 3 Moray Place on the
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126:(29 June 1822 – 8 March 1873) was a Scottish inventor known for inventing the refillable
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in west
Edinburgh on the path leading from the centre of the cemetery to the south-west.
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Biographical Index of Former
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002
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Biographical Index of Former
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002
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Thomson married Clara Hertz (daughter of a diamond merchant) on the island of
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charges by the use of electricity, thus greatly reducing the loss of lives in
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He died at home in
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in 1846 and in the US in 1847. His tyre consisted of a hollow belt of
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firm of civil engineers where he devised a new method of detonating
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to a merchant. Two years later he returned home and taught himself
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467:"Scotland's Forgotten Inventor – Robert William Thomson"
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Thomson next worked as a railway engineer and supervised the
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which was accepted by
Parliament and eventually developed.
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Writing and drawing instruments (the self-filling pen)
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in March 1847 and were fitted to several horse-drawn
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Elastic belts, seats and other supports or cushions.
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Dividing hard substances such as rock stone and coal
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Improvements in obtaining and applying motive power
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Thomson's house (right) at 3 Moray Place, Edinburgh
366:A tribute to Thomson in his birthplace, Stonehaven
330:The grave of Robert William Thomson, Dean Cemetery
305:. From 1869 to 1871 he served as president of the
355:. His wife survived him and remarried in 1875 to
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427:Use of electricity to detonate explosive charges
343:. They had two sons and two daughters including
208:which he perfected in later life. He served an
554:. The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006.
496:. The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006.
660:Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame inductees
625:. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
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421:The washing mangle with reversible mangles
357:John Fletcher Moulton (later Lord Moulton)
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410:Guiding road steamers on street tramways
401:Applying steam power in cultivating land
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297:In 1863 he was elected a Fellow of the
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169:. Robert left school es, where he was
680:19th-century Scottish businesspeople
574:edinburgh Post Office Directory 1872
417:Thomson was also the originator of:
585:"Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame"
290:In 1849 he invented the refillable
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447:Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame
445:In 2020 he was inducted into the
430:Machinery for sugar manufacturing
262:Thomson was 23 years old when he
16:Scottish businessman and inventor
622:Dictionary of National Biography
616:"Thomson, Robert William"
153:He was born on 29 June 1822 in
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307:Royal Scottish Society of Arts
228:. He then went to work for an
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675:British railway entrepreneurs
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270:. He was granted a patent in
670:Burials at the Dean Cemetery
395:Improvements in steam gauges
37:Illustration of Thomson for
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161:, He was baptised into the
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299:Royal Society of Edinburgh
210:engineering apprenticeship
589:engineeringhalloffame.org
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185:with the help of a local
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433:The portable steam crane
424:Elliptical rotary engine
371:Patents and developments
257:Eastern Counties Railway
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650:People from Stonehaven
517:see the US Patent 5104
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240:throughout the world.
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118:Robert William Thomson
25:Robert William Thomson
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347:and Elspeth, wife of
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301:, his proposer being
253:South Eastern Railway
247:of chalk cliffs near
189:who had knowledge of
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69:8 March 1873 (age 50)
303:Charles Piazzi Smyth
157:in the northeast of
665:Steam road vehicles
404:Elastic wheel tyres
349:Wind in the Willows
316:in west Edinburgh.
655:Scottish inventors
535:. 18 January 2023.
436:Hydraulic dry dock
378:see US Patent 5104
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359:and died in 1888.
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163:Church of Scotland
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469:. Historic-UK.com
376:Pneumatic tyre (
345:Courtauld Thomson
222:civil engineering
220:before joining a
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85:Burial place
50:29 June 1822
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645:1873 deaths
640:1822 births
595:19 February
224:company in
191:mathematics
179:electricity
171:apprenticed
111:and Elspeth
99:Clara Hertz
91:, Edinburgh
634:Categories
473:26 October
453:References
155:Stonehaven
54:Stonehaven
285:carriages
234:explosive
230:Edinburgh
183:astronomy
175:chemistry
132:pneumatic
109:Courtauld
73:Edinburgh
264:patented
251:for the
245:blasting
214:Aberdeen
159:Scotland
130:and the
104:Children
77:Scotland
58:Scotland
441:Honours
351:author
226:Glasgow
591:. 2012
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500:
335:Family
272:France
218:Dundee
198:mangle
187:weaver
96:Spouse
552:(PDF)
494:(PDF)
249:Dover
238:mines
202:linen
167:Latin
121:PRSSA
597:2022
556:ISBN
498:ISBN
475:2008
341:Java
266:his
216:and
181:and
141:Life
135:tyre
124:FRSE
79:, UK
66:Died
60:, UK
47:Born
212:in
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