Edward Nairne (298)

Edward Nairne (1726–1 September 1806) was a natural philosopher, a scientific instrument maker, and a member of the American Philosophical Society, elected in 1770. His career began in 1741 with an apprenticeship to a maker of optical instruments. This training was the beginning of a lifetime creating instruments like microscopes and telescopes, but his inventions were diverse and plentiful. He designed pencil erasers, mercury thermometers, magnets, compass needles, and barometers. Some of the most prominent natural philosophers and institutions of the time, including Benjamin Franklin, APS Member Joseph Priestly, Harvard University, and the Royal Greenwich Observatory, commissioned and used Nairne’s instruments. Like many of his contemporaries, Nairne was interested in researching and experimenting with electricity. He created a cylindrical machine that could efficiently generate and emit sparks. His demonstrations with this device, which showed the potential dangers of electric shocks, helped to popularize the use of lightning rods to protect houses and buildings. He also performed electrical experiments to help determine the ideal shape for these rods; the results seemed to show that Benjamin Franklin’s designs were ideal. Because of his expertise, the Royal Society sent Nairne on several occasions to examine buildings that had been destroyed by lightning strikes and to determine what fortifications could have protected them. In 1782, Nairne patented an electrical machine for medical use, which physicians used in the treatment of a wide range of ailments, both neurological and physical. Nairne became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1776 and a founder proprietor of the Royal Institution in 1800. He was possibly the most well-known instrument maker of his time, finding success both in England and abroad. He died in Chelsea in 1806. (DNB)