Rankine, William John Macquorn (1820–1872)
William Rankine has been credited with many things derived from his brilliant career, with perhaps the most unique being the transition of his empirical work into scientific theories published for the benefit of engineering students. He is considered the author of the modern philosophy of the steam engine and also the greatest among all founders of and contributors to the science of thermodynamics.
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on July 5, 1820, Rankine received most of his education from his father, David Rankine, a civil engineer, plus various private tutors. The elder Rankine worked as superintendent for the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway, imparting to his son a love of steam engines. On top of this fine education came two inspiring years at the University of Edinburgh, which helped launch his career in civil engineering, even though he left without earning a degree. He spent a year assisting his father, then worked in Ireland for four years on projects including railroads and hydraulics. Returning to Scotland, he apprenticed under Sir John Benjamin MacNeil, a respected civil engineer of his time. Rankine remained in this profession until the late 1840s before switching to the practice of mathematical physics.
At the age of thirty-five, Rankine was appointed by the Queen's Commission to the Chair of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. This Regius Chair was established in 1855 with great distinction at the fourth oldest university in Great Britain. Despite the great achievements of British inventors, most self–educated, they were often deprived of an appropriate claim to true professional recognition in the areas of architecture and engineering. As a professor, Rankine argued passionately with his University commissioners for the establishment of a diploma in engineering science, later adding a Bsc in science. These were just a few of the achievements that earned him accolades as a pioneer in engineering education.
Rankine's most famous textbook, A Manual of the Steam Engine and Other Prime Movers (1859), set an engineering standard for years to come, delivering systematic instruction to upcoming engineers. This publication was credited with affording inventors a new basis beyond their experimentation to advance the development of the steam engine. Other books Rankine authored include A Manual of Applied Mechanics (1858); A Manual of Civil Engineering (1862); and A Manual of Machinery and Millwork (1869). He also published numerous practical manuals on civil and mechanical engineering and scientific tables for construction, carpentry, architecture and surveying. Somehow in his spare time, he found time to write for entertainment, including Songs and Fables (1874) and A Memoir of John Elder (1871). His research led to such renowned legacies as the Rankine cycle, for ideal operation of a steam engine, as well as his Rankine Tables for cycle efficiencies (comparing performances of steam engines and steam turbines), the construction strength of columns, and his Rankine absolute temperature scale. Many of his tables remain in use today.
Moving into other fields of practical applications, Rankine developed improved strength for iron rails by conducting fatigue testing of existing railroad ties. He was a pioneer in promoting a theory of open water sailing vessels that debunked a simple but common belief of his time—that metal ships could not be made to float. Through his successful research, the size, length, and safety of ships was significantly improved. Through his knowledge of thermodynamics, he played a key role in the advancements in refrigeration equipment. His study of soil mechanics (earth pressures) led to improved retaining walls.
Rankine's works placed him among the greatest of many famous scholars at the University of Glasgow—from Adam Smith in modern economic science, to James Watt with his invention of the double acting steam engine, to Rankine's peer in thermodynamics, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), after whom the absolute scale of temperature was named. Before passing away on Christmas Eve, 1872, in Glasgow, Rankine served as president of the Institute of Engineers in Scotland and honorary member of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester.
Making a statement on the importance of recording and teaching the history of technology, Rankine began his A Manual of the Steam Engine and Other Prime Movers as follows: "Nations are wrongly accused of having, in the most ancient of times, honored and remembered their conquerors and tyrants only, and of having neglected and forgotten their benefactors, the inventors of the useful arts. On the contrary, the want of authentic records of those benefactors of mankind has arisen from the blind excess of admiration, which led the heathen nations of remote antiquity to treat their memory with divine honors, so that their real history has been lost amongst the fables of mythology."
Steam Engines; Thermodynamics.
Bibliography
Cardwell, D. S. L (1971). From Watt to Clausius: The Rise of Thermodynamics in the Early Industrial Age. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Rankine, W. J. M. (1859). Steam Engine and Other Prime Movers. London and Glasgow: Richard Griffin & Company
Thurston, R. H. (1939). A History of the Growth of the Steam Engine. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press
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