Dionysius Lardner

Dionysius Lardner (April 3, 1793 - April 29, 1859), was an Irish scientific writer who popularised science and technology, and edited the, 134 volume, Cabinet Cyclopedia.

Early life in Dublin

His father, was William Lardner a solicitor in Dublin, who wished his son to follow the same calling. After some years of uncongenial desk work, Lardner entered Trinity College, Dublin in 1812, and obtained a B.A. in 1817 and an M.A. in 1819. He married Cecilia Flood on 19 December 1815, but they separated in 1820 and were divorced in 1835. About the time of the separation, he began a relationship with a married woman, Anne Maria Darley Boursiquot, the wife of a Dublin wine merchant. It is believed that he fathered her son, Dion Boucicault, the actor and dramatist. Lardner provided him with financial support until 1840. Whist in Dublin, Lardner began to write and lecture on scientific and mathematical matters, and to contribute articles for publication by the Irish Academy. ^[1]

Career in London

In 1828 Lardner became professor of natural philosophy and astronomy at University College, London, a position he held until he resigned his professorship in 1831. Though lacking in originality or brilliancy, Lardner showed himself to be a successful popularizer of science. He was the author of numerous mathematical and physical treatises on such subjects as algebraic geometry (1823), the differential and integral calculus (1825), the steam engine (1828), besides hand-books on various departments of natural philosophy (1854-1856); but it is as the editor of Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia (1830-1844) that he is best remembered. The Cabinet Cyclopaedia eventually comprised 134 volumes, and many of the ablest savants of the day contributed to it. Sir Walter Scott contributed a history of Scotland and Thomas Moore contributed a history of Ireland. Connop Thirlwall provided a history of Ancient Greece, whilst Robert Southey provided a section on naval history. Many eminent scientists contributed as well. Lardner himself was the author of the treatises on arithmetic, geometry, heat, hydrostatics and pneumatics, mechanics (in conjunction with Henry Kater) and electricity (in conjunction with CV Walker). ^[2] The Cabinet Library (12 vols., 1830-1832) and the Museum of Science and Art (12 vols., 1854-1856) were his other chief undertakings. A few original papers appear in the Royal Irish Academy's Transactions (1824), in the Royal Society's Proceedings (1831-1836) and in the Astronomical Society's Monthly Notices (1852-1853); and two Reports to the British Association on railway constants (1838, 1841) are from his pen.

Involvement in scandal

In 1840 Lardner’s career received a major setback as a result of his involvement with Mary Spicer Heaviside, the wife of Captain Richard Heaviside, of the Dragoon Guards. Lardner ran off to Paris with Mrs Heaviside, pursued by her husband. Although Heaviside subjected Lardner to a flogging, he was unable to persuade his wife to return with him. That same year Heaviside successfully sued Lardner for damages for ‘criminal conversation’ (adultery) and received a judgment for £8,000. The Heavisides were divorced in 1841, and in 1846 Lardner was able to marry Mary Heaviside. The scandal caused by his affair with a married woman, effectively ended his career in England, so Lardner and his wife remained in Paris until his death in 1859. He was able to maintain some sort of career by lecturing in the United States between 1841 and 1844, a career that proved financially rewarding. ^[3]

Disagreements with Brunel

Lardner became involved in a number of ill-advised public disagreements with Isambard Kingdom Brunel regarding technical matters, in which he came off worst. While Brunel was building the broad-gauge Great Western Railway, Lardner carried out some experiments with the company’s flagship locomotive, North Star. He asserted that, whilst the engine was capable of hauling 82 tons at 33 m.p.h., it was only capable of hauling 16 tons at 41 m.p.h. He also recorded excessive fuel consumption at higher speeds. Lardner attributed this to the greater wind resistance of broad-gauge engines. Brunel and his assistant Daniel Gooch carried out there own experiments on the same locomotive and found that the only problem was that the blast pipe was too small. This was easily rectified and the North Star’s performance immediately improved. At the next meeting of the Company’s directors, Brunel triumphantly dismissed Lardner’s evidence. ^[4] Lardner also criticised Brunel regarding his design of the Box Tunnel on the Great Western Railway. The tunnel had a 1 in 100 from the east end to the west end. Lardner asserted that if a trains brakes were to fail in the tunnel, it would accelerate in the tunnel to over 120 m.p.h., at which speed the passengers would suffocate. Brunel pointed out that Lardner’s calculations totally disregarded air resistance and friction, a basic error. ^[4] When Brunel was proposing to build SS Great Western for the transatlantic passage to New York, Lardner spoke at a meeting of the British Society for the Advancement of Science, stating that: “As the project of making the voyage directly from New York to Liverpool, it was perfectly chimerical, and they might as well talk of making the voyage from New York to the Moon… 2,080 miles is the longest run that a steamer could encounter – at the end of that distance she would require a relay of coals”. Again Brunel was able to show that Lardner’s calculations were too simplistic. The principle that Brunel understood, which Lardner did not, was that the carrying capacity of a ship increases as the cube of its dimensions, whilst the water resistance only increases as the square of its dimensions. This meant that large ships were more fuel efficient, and could carry sufficient coal for the long voyage across the Atlantic. Brunel was proved right when the Great Western steamed into New York harbour with 200 tons of coal to spare. ^[4]

Further information

Lardner is mentioned in Karl Marx's 'Das Capital' and was well respected as an economist. He mixed with the rich and famous. He was involved in the founding of the University of London, the first person to hold the post of Professor of Natural History and Astronomy there. He was influential in publicising Charles Babbage's Difference engine, and his fall from grace in 1840, when his erroneous prophesies on steam had become famous and his affair with the married Mary Heaviside became public knowledge, may have contributed to society's rejection of Babbage's ideas.

Bibliography

References include: Kieran Byrne, 'Mechanics's Institutes in Ireland before 1855' (thesis, University College Cork,) Richard Fawkes 'Dion Boucicault'; Norman McMillan 'Prometheus's Fire'; Mark Blaug (ed.)'William Whewell (1794-1866), Dionysius Lardner (1793- 1859), Charles Babbage (1792-1871)'; J.N. Hays article 'Dionysius Lardner' in the Dictionary of National Biography; Nora Crook's introduction to 'Mary Shelley's Literary Lives and other writings' as well as several other journal articles. Archives include Letters to Babbage, Letters in the Wellcome Institute, including a 9 page autobiography in French, etc.

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.