Alexander Bain (October 1811 – January 2, 1877) was a Scottish instrument inventor, technician, and clockmaker. He invented the electric clock. Bain installed the railway telegraph lines between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Bain was born in Watten, Caithness, Scotland. Bain's father was a crofter. Bain had a twin sister, Margaret, and, in total, he had six sisters and six brothers. Bain did not excel in school and was apprenticed to a clockmaker in Wic...
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Alexander Bain (October 1811 – January 2, 1877) was a Scottish instrument inventor, technician, and clockmaker. He invented the electric clock. Bain installed the railway telegraph lines between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Bain was born in Watten, Caithness, Scotland. Bain's father was a crofter. Bain had a twin sister, Margaret, and, in total, he had six sisters and six brothers. Bain did not excel in school and was apprenticed to a clockmaker in Wick.
Having learned the art of clockmaking, he went to Edinburgh, and in 1837 to London, where he obtained work as a journeyman in Clerkenwell. Bain frequented the lectures at the Polytechnic Institution and the Adelaide Gallery and later constructed his own workshop in Hanover Street.
In 1840, desperate for money to develop his inventions, Bain mentioned his financial problems to the editor of the Mechanics Magazine, who introduced him to Sir Charles Wheatstone. Bain demonstrated his models to Wheatstone, who, when asked for his opinion, said ...
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