Samuel Morland

Sir Samuel Morland, 1st Baronet (* 1625 in Sulhamstead Bannister, today Sulhamstead, Berkshire, † December 30, 1695 in Hammersmith, Middlesex ) was an English scholar, diplomat, spy, inventor and mathematician.

Education

The son of Thomas Morland, the pastor of the Congregational Church of Sulhamstead Bannister was in Berkshire, Cambridge University educated in Winchester School and at Magdalene College, where he spent much time studying mathematics. He was an able Latinist and was proficient in Greek, Hebrew and French - at that time the language of culture and diplomacy. During his school years at Cambridge, he first met Samuel Pepys, to whom he maintained a lifelong acquaintance.

Diplomat

As a passionate pursuer of public affairs, he left Cambridge and entered the civil service. He made a trip to Sweden in 1653, and in 1655 he was sent by Oliver Cromwell on a mission to Italy to protest against the acts of the Duke of Savoy against the Waldenses. He remained in Geneva for a time as ambassador and also wrote a book: The History of the Evangelical Churches of the Valleys of Piedmont ( 1658).

Spy

During the service as secretary to John Thurloe, a government official of the Commonwealth in espionage matters, Morland was supported by the Government of the Commonwealth disillusioned (reportedly after becoming aware of a plot by Sir Richard Willis, Thurloe and Richard Cromwell to the future King Charles II ). As a double agent Morland began in the direction of the Stuart restoration work and was involved in espionage and secret writing activities, which later helped him to enter into royal service.

Inventor

On July 18, 1660 he was awarded the title of nobility Baronet and given a small role in court. However, his main income he achieved by applying his knowledge in mathematics and hydraulics, to construct various machines and maintain - most notably " water engines ", an early type of water pump. For example, he was hired for projects to improve water supply to Windsor Castle, where he over time (around 1675) a valve piston pump capable of " large quantities of water, with far less Außmaß of force than by a chain or other lift pump, " patented. He also experimented in the use of gunpowder to create a vacuum that would suck in water (practically the first innerere combustion engine) and worked on ideas for a steam engine. Morland pumps found applications in the home, in the Navy and in the industry, such as wells, drainage ponds, mines and for fire fighting.

At the same time he also made in other areas inventions. He invented a non-decimal adding machine ( working with English pounds, shillings and pence ), a machine that performed trigonometric calculations, and a calculating machine, which is said to have mastered all four basic arithmetic operations ( it is regarded by some as the first Multipliziermaschine the world; an example is exhibited in the Science Museum in South Kensington).

In 1666 he also received a patent for the manufacture of metal fire stoves, and in 1671 he claimed credit for inventing the speaking trumpet, an early form of the megaphone. He later got a contract to supply the king with mirrors and put it up and keep the royal printing presses repaired. 1681 he was appointed because of his work on the water system of Windsor Magister Mechanicorum (Master of mechanics ) by the king. He also corresponded with Pepys about canon ships, designed a machine to weigh the ship's anchor, developed new forms of barometers, and designed a coding machine.

From 1677 on he lived in Vauxhall in central London and in 1684 he moved into a house in Hammersmith. He became increasingly blind and lost his eyesight about 1692. Three years later, he died on December 30, 1695 and was buried on January 6, 1696 in the Church of Hammersmith.

Works

• The History of the Evangelical Churches of the Valleys of Piedmont. 1658.
• The description and use of two ArithmeTick instruments: Together with a short treatise, explaining and demonstrating the ordinary operations of ArithmeTick: ace Likewise, a perpetual almanack, and several useful tables. London: M. Pitt, in 1673.