William Murdoch (sometimes spelled Murdock) (21 August 1754 – 15 November 1839) was a Scottish engineer and inventor. It is believed he Anglicised his name to Murdock when he moved to England.
Murdoch was employed by the firm of Boulton and Watt and worked for them in Cornwall as a steam engine erector for ten years, spending most of the rest of his life in Birmingham.
He was the inventor of gas lighting in the early 1790s and coined the term gas...
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William Murdoch (sometimes spelled Murdock) (21 August 1754 – 15 November 1839) was a Scottish engineer and inventor. It is believed he Anglicised his name to Murdock when he moved to England.
Murdoch was employed by the firm of Boulton and Watt and worked for them in Cornwall as a steam engine erector for ten years, spending most of the rest of his life in Birmingham.
He was the inventor of gas lighting in the early 1790s and coined the term gasometer. He also made innovations to the steam engine, including the sun and planet gear and D slide valve. He invented the steam gun and pneumatic tube message system, and worked on one of the first British paddle steamers to cross the English Channel. Murdoch built a prototype steam locomotive in 1784 and made a number of discoveries in chemistry.
He remained an employee and later a partner of Boulton & Watt until the 1830s, and his reputation as an inventor has been obscured by the reputations of Bolton and Watt and the firm they founded....
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