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John B. Dunlop (1840-1921)
John B. Dunlop introduced the idea of using air-filled tyres instead of solid rubber ones to make bicycle travel more comfortable.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Dunlop, John B.
John B. Dunlop (1840-1921) -
John P. Holland (1841 - 1914)
John Philip Holland, inventor of the modern submarine, was born on 24 February 1841 in Liscannor, County Clare.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Holland, John Philip
John P. Holland (1841 - 1914) -
Hemans Plaque
This plaque was put up to commemorate George Willoughby Hemans, railway engineer, by the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Hemans, George Willoughby
Hemans Plaque -
Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1744-1817)
In 1813, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, educational writer and engineer, published 'An Essay on the Construction of Roads and Carriages'.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Edgeworth, Richard Lovell
Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1744-1817) -
Maude Jane Delap (1866-1953)
This plaque commemorating Maude Jane Delap was put up by the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Delap, Maude Jane
Maude Jane Delap (1866-1953) -
John Purser Griffith (1848-1938)
John Purser Griffith, civil engineer, was President of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland in 1887-1889 and of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1919-20 and was elected a Commissioner of Irish Lights in 1913 and Senator of the Irish Free State in 1922.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Griffith, John Purser
John Purser Griffith (1848-1938) -
Holland in a Submarine
John Holland developed the modern submarine, fitted with a petrol engine for surface propulsion and electric storage batteries and motor for running submerged.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Holland, John Philip
Holland in a Submarine -
William Petty FRS (1623-1687)
William Petty, surveyor and landowner, came to Ireland in 1652 as the Physician-General of Cromwell's army.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Petty, William
William Petty FRS (1623-1687) -
Robert Manning (1816-1897)
Robert Manning, civil and estate engineer, researched aspects of rainfall, river volumes and water runoff.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Manning, Robert
Robert Manning (1816-1897) -
Robert Stawell Ball FRS (1840-1913)
Robert Stawell Ball, astronomer and mathematician, was born in Dublin in 1840.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Ball, Robert Stawell
Robert Stawell Ball FRS (1840-1913) -
Robert Boyle (1627 - 1691)
Robert Boyle was born in Co. Waterford in 1627. Boyle's Law states that for a fixed amount of gas kept at a fixed temperature, P and V are inversely proportional.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Boyle, Robert
Robert Boyle (1627 - 1691) -
The Delap Sisters
Donegal-born Maude Delap maintained a laboratory in her home in Valentia, where she did much significant marine work.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Delap, Maude Jane
The Delap Sisters -
Agnes Mary Clerke
Agnes Mary Clerke was a 19th century astronomer, born in Skibbereen, County Cork.
Wiki Commons
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Agnes Mary Clerke -
Robert Mallet FRS (1810-81)
Robert Mallet researched the properties and strengths of materials and attempted a scientific explanation of fracture in terms of the molecular structure of the metal.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Mallet, Robert
Robert Mallet FRS (1810-81) -
William Rowan Hamilton FRS (1805-1865)
William Rowan Hamilton was Andrews Professor of Astronomy at Trinity College Dublin, Royal Astronomer of Ireland at Dunsink Observatory and President of the Royal Irish Academy
Wiki Commons
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William Rowan Hamilton FRS (1805-1865) -
Sir Robert Ball
Ball (1840-1913) came from a Dublin scientific family. He worked at Birr Castle as tutor to the Parsons family and as assistant on the great telescope. He spent nearly 20 years as professor at Dunsink Observatory before moving to Cambridge University. He was a gifted photographer, despite being blind in one eye, and took wonderful photographs of lighthouses and lighthouse keepers when he went on inspections with the Commissioners of Irish Lights. He also gave successful lecture tours in the USA.
Image is present on following page(s): A New Algebra
Sir Robert Ball -
W.H.S. Monck (1839-1915)
This commemorative plaque for W.H.S. Monck was put up by the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Monck, William Henry Stanley
W.H.S. Monck (1839-1915) -
Thomas Grubb (1800-1878)
Thomas Grubb and his son set up an engineering works in Rathmines, building some of the world's greatest telescopes, many of which are still in operation.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Grubb, Thomas
Thomas Grubb (1800-1878) -
Thomas McLaughlin (1896-1971)
Thomas Aloysius McLaughlin, physicist and electrical engineer, was born in 1896 at Drogheda.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): McLaughlin, Thomas
Thomas McLaughlin (1896-1971) -
Peter Rice
<P> Rice (1935-92) helped architects to realise their designs, found elegant solutions to structural problems, and pioneered the use of many new materials including cast-steel, glass and fabric. </P> <P> One of his first major projects was the Sydney Opera House, where he worked as lead engineer on Jørn Utzon's design for the majority of its construction. </P>
Image: Courtesy of Sydney Opera House Trust
Image is present on following page(s): Modern Engineering
Peter Rice -
Ardnacrusha
<P> This great project was the vision of Irish engineer Tommy McLaughlin, and construction was by German company, Siemens. The project's success meant it was a model for other large-scale hydro schemes and persuaded other small developing countries to try something similar. </P> <P> The project made Siemens, and paved the way for the rural electrification scheme. In 2002, Ardnacrusha (pictured above) won two major international honours, ranking it alongside the Eiffel Tower, the space shuttle and the Japanese bullet train. </P>
Image: courtesy of Brendan Delany
Image is present on following page(s): Modern Engineering
Ardnacrusha -
Birr Leviathan
William Parsons, Third Earl of Rosse, designed a reflecting telescope in the 1840s. It had a mirror 72 inches (1.83 m) in diameter, the largest in the world at the time. This is an image of the 72 inch after restoration.
Courtesy of Birr Scientific and Heritage Foundation
Image is present on following page(s): Parsons, William
Birr Leviathan -
Sorcha
Sorcha -
George Francis Mitchell (1912-1997)
George Francis Mitchell, botanist, geologist and geomorphologist was a distinguished student in Trinity College Dublin and was a lecturer there from 1934-79 and later as Pro-Chancellor of the University of Dublin between 1985 and 1987.
Courtesy of the National Science & Engineering Plaques Committee
Image is present on following page(s): Mitchell, George Francis (Frank)
George Francis Mitchell (1912-1997) -
The Railway Era
<P> The coming of the railways coincided with the arrival of the telegraph, and marked the start of a new era. The country was changing, and quickly. Before then people could travel only as fast as a horse could carry them, now they could travel at nearly 100 miles an hour. </P> <P> The railways introduced mass transport, and fostered emigration and the move to the cities, the development of seaside resorts, and even a standard time zone across the country - all the trains kept 'Dublin time'. </P> <P> National markets developed, with national newspapers and brand-name products replacing small local ones. Whole empires were built on the back of railways. But with World War I interest switched to roads and motor cars, and many railway lines fell into disrepair and closed. </P>
Image: sketch of the Dublin-Kingstown railway, opened in 1834
Image is present on following page(s): Transport and Health
The Railway Era -
Brennan's Gyroscopically-Balanced Monorail
Louis Brennan's gyroscopically-balanced monorail was completed and succesfully demonstrated in 1909. Like most of his inventions it was designed for military use, however due to concerns over the reliability of the gyroscope the design was never adopted.
Image is present on following page(s): Military
Brennan's Gyroscopically-Balanced Monorail -
The First Successful Submarine
John Philip Holland (1841-1914, pictured above), was born in Liscannor, Co Clare, and died in the USA at the outbreak of World War I. A few weeks later, a small German submarine sank three British cruisers in under an hour, killing 1,400 men - Holland's invention had changed naval warfare forever.
Image is present on following page(s): Military
The First Successful Submarine -
Mitchell's Screw-Pile Lighthouse
<P> Alexander Mitchell invented the screw-pile, a major improvement over the standard straight pile. With his son, he patented his cast iron screwpile design in the 1830s. By 1840 Mitchell combined his cast iron screwpile moorings with another pile construction technique and built the first screwpile lighthouse type at the mouth of the Wyre, an important harbor in Lancashire, England. Mitchell used 36-inch-diameter wooden timbers on whose bottoms were attached his cast iron screwpile devise. Completed in 1841, his structure was the first lighthouse to be built upon a screwpile foundation made entirely of iron. </P> <P> A protected, screw-pile lighthouse was typically a light-weight, wooden tower on iron stilts, the legs of which are tipped with cork-screw like flanges. These legs are turned into the soft ground of protected waters, such as bays and sounds. This new type of lighthouse was dependent upon the development of wrought-iron columns for the legs and cast-iron for the screw-like flanges. This technology permitted the construction of lighthouses on sites too soft to support the weight of a heavy tower. </P> <P> <EM> Text & Right Image: Courtesy of <A HREF="http://www.uscg.mil">USCG</A>. Left Image: 'Screw-Pile Lighthouse' from ''Sea Stories'', publ. 1910 by Century Co. N.Y. </EM> </P>
Image is present on following page(s): Innovative Ways
Mitchell's Screw-Pile Lighthouse -
The First Practical Endoscope
A primitive endoscope had been invented in the USA in 1827, to look inside the bladder, but its poor light source made it ineffective. Francis Cruise (1834-1912) built an improved endoscope with a powerful paraffin lamp and mirrors to reflect the light into the patient's bladder. It was successfully demonstrated in 1865, received considerable international attention, and later commercial versions came with various attachments for peering into nearly every orifice. Image: The box holds a paraffin lamp; the attachment is a cystoscope to view inside a patient's bladder.
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The First Practical Endoscope -
The First Hypodermic Injection
The patient had an agonising pain in her face that had kept her awake. The conventional painkiller then was to drink a solution of morphine, but powerful though it was, it provided no relief. Francis Rynd realised that morphine would be more effective if you could deliver it direct to the site of the pain. He used a surgical instrument called a trocar to puncture a small hole in the woman's face, and allowed some morphine solution to flow in through a tube. The operation was relatively painless, and the woman later slept well for the first time in months. It was effectively the first local anaesthetic, and the technique was soon widely used to treat pain. Image: A commercial version of Francis Rynd's syringe. There is no plunger (the lever is to facilitate the injection), and the solution simply flowed in under gravity.
Image is present on following page(s): Medical
The First Hypodermic Injection -
Milk Chocolate
Sir Hans Sloane was introduced to chocolate while working in the Caribbean as surgeon to the West Indies fleet in the 1680s. He added milk to make it a more palatable drink, and his tasty concoction was sold by London apothecaries as a remedy and popularised by Cadbury's in the 1800s.
Image: Sir Hans Sloane and a drinking-chocolate wrapper.
Image is present on following page(s): Edible Inventions
Milk Chocolate -
George Gabriel Stokes FRS (1819-1903)
George Gabriel Stokes was a physicist, born in Skreen, County Sligo, in 1819.
Wiki Commons
Image is present on following page(s): Stokes, George
George Gabriel Stokes FRS (1819-1903)