About
John Theophilus Desaguliers was born in La Rochelle into a Huguenot family. After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, he was brought to England. He studied at Christ Church, Oxford, and was ordained in the Anglican Church. A Fellow of the Royal Society, he became Isaac Newton's experimental demonstrator. He received the Copley Medal three times. Author of a course of experimental philosophy and a treatise on electricity, he introduced the terms conductor and insulator. He improved Savery's steam engine. A Freemason, he served as Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England and helped compile the Constitutions of the Freemasons.
* 1683-03-12 — † 1744-02-28
Major works
- A Course of Experimental Philosophy (1734-1744)scientific work
- A Dissertation Concerning Electricity (1742)treatise
Key milestones
- 1714Elected Fellow of the Royal Society
- 1719Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England
- 1741Awarded the Copley Medal for discoveries on electricity
Themes
experimental physicselectricitynatural philosophyFreemasonryengineering
Sources: catalogues.royalsociety.org · makingscience.royalsociety.org · nature.com