The man who invented the Twentieth Century?
Sir Charles Parsons
Charles Parsons was an industrial pioneer who invented the first steam turbine to generate electricity. The development of a steam turbine was recognised in the 19th Century for its potential to propel ships and even today Power Stations use the Parsons Turbine to generate power.
Parsons was born in London and educated at Cambridge University but it was whilst working for the Newcastle firm of Clarke Chapman that he developed the turbine in 1884. The first vessel to use the engine was the Turbinia which was built by Parson??s Marine Steam Turbine Company and trials of the vessel took place off the North east coast. The first public trial of the Turbinia took place in 1897 at a Naval Review at Spithead where she achieved a record speed of 34 knots.
Since the Turbinia numerous famous ships have been powered by Parsons turbines including the Titanic and the Mauretania, which held the Blue Riband for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic for 22 years.
Parsons himself devoting most of his life to improving the steam turbine but he also found time to develop an interest in the construction of large telescopes in his later life and by his death in 1931 he had taken out over 300 patents.
Submitted by: Sarah McLeod, 21 October 2004
