Hiram Stevens Maxim

Hiram Stevens Maxim
This article is about Hiram Stevens Maxim. For his son, automotive pioneer and co-founder of the ARRL, see Hiram Percy Maxim.
Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim
Born February 5, 1840(1840-02-05)
Sangerville, Maine, USA
Died November 24, 1916(1916-11-24) (aged 76)
London, England, UK
Resting place West Norwood Cemetery
Occupation Inventor
Children Hiram Percy Maxim,
Florence Maxim Cutter,
Adelaide Maxim Joubert
Relatives Hudson Maxim (brother)

Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (February 5, 1840 – November 24, 1916) was an American-born inventor who emigrated to England at the age of forty-one, although he remained an American citizen until he became a naturalized British subject in 1900.[1][2] He was the inventor of the Maxim Gun – the first portable, fully automatic machine gun[3] – and the ubiquitous mousetrap.[4] He laid a claim to inventing the lightbulb,[5] and even experimented with powered flight, but his large aircraft designs were never successful.[6] However, his "Captive Flying Machine" amusement ride, designed as a means by which to fund his research while generating public interest in flight, was highly successful.[7]

Contents

Birth

Maxim was born in Sangerville, Maine in the United States in 1840. He became an apprentice coachbuilder at the age of 14 and ten years later took up a job at the machine works of his uncle, Levi Stephens, at Fitchburg, Massachusetts. He subsequently worked as an instrument maker and as a draughtsman. (His early jobs in these arenas led him to often be disappointed with workers when he ran his own companies later on in life.)

Family

His brother, Hudson Maxim, was also a military inventor, specializing in explosives. They worked quite closely together until later in life, there was a disagreement on a patent of smokeless powder. The patent, Hiram claimed, had been put under the name 'H. Maxim,' and that because of this, his brother was able to stake a claim at the powder being his own. Hudson was a skilled and knowledgeable man, and sold armaments in the U.S., while Hiram worked mainly in Europe. Hudson had success in the States, which caused jealousy from Hiram (he lamented having "a double" of himself running around in the States. The jealousy and disagreements caused a rift between the brothers that would last the rest of their lives.[8]

He married his first wife, Jane Budden, in 1867. Their children were: Hiram Percy Maxim; Florence Maxim, who married George Albert Cutter, and Adelaide Maxim, who married Eldon Joubert, Ignacy Jan Paderewski's piano tuner.[9]

Hiram Percy Maxim followed in his father's and uncle's footsteps and became a mechanical engineer and weapons designer as well, but he is perhaps best known for his early amateur radio experiments and for founding the American Radio Relay League. His invention of the "Maxim Silencer" for noise suppression came too late to save his father's hearing.[10] Hiram Percy would later author a biography on his father called, "A Genius in the Family." This biography contained about 60 anecdotes of Hiram Percy's experiences with his father throughout his early life (until about 12). Most of these short stories are incredibly funny and capturing; they give a reader an insider's (and child's) view on this magnificently brilliant man's personal and family life. The same family he would later abandon when moving to Europe (which would become a permanent move).[11]

He married his second wife, Sarah, daughter of Charles Hayes of Boston, in 1881. It is not clear if he was legally divorced from his first wife at this time.

There is also a controversial case with a woman called Helen Leighton. She claimed that Maxim had married her in 1878 and that "he was knowingly committing bigamy" against his current wife, Jane Budden. In this "marriage," she claimed that Maxim had fathered a child by her (Romaine). The case was eventually dropped, at a settlement under $1,000 (the original amount asked for was $25,000), and Maxim put the case and near public humiliation behind him. Later in life though he did leave 4,000 sterling to a Romaine Dennison who may in fact have been the Romaine that Leighton claimed he had fathered. It is an unsolved mystery of Maxim's life. [12]

Emigration and knighthood

In 1881, Maxim arrived in England in order to reorganize the London offices of the U.S. Electric Lighting Company.[13] By 1900, his visits back to the United States became infrequent and in that same year, Maxim became a naturalized British subject. In the following year, Queen Victoria bestowed a knighthood upon him.[14] Unfortunately, Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901, and the actual knighting was done by Maxim's "friend and new king, Edward VII."[15]

Profession

Maxim was a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour; a Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer; Member of the London Chamber of Commerce; Member of the Royal Institution; Member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science; Member of the British Empire League; and Member of the Royal Society of Arts.[16]

The Maxim machine gun

Further information: Maxim gun
1895 .303 tripod mounted Maxim machine gun. Photo: Max Smith
Maxim machine gun mounted on a Dunonald gun carriage

Maxim was reported to have said: "In 1882 I was in Vienna, where I met an American whom I had known in the States. He said: 'Hang your chemistry and electricity! If you want to make a pile of money, invent something that will enable these Europeans to cut each others' throats with greater facility.'"[17]

As a child, Maxim had been knocked over by a rifle's recoil, and this inspired him to use that recoil force to automatically operate a gun. Between 1883 and 1885 Maxim patented gas, recoil and blow-back methods of operation. After moving to England, he settled in a large house formerly owned by Lord Thurlow in West Norwood where he developed his design for an automatic weapon, using an action that would close the breech and compress a spring, by storing the recoil energy released by a shot to prepare the gun for its next shot. He thoughtfully ran announcements in the local press warning that he would be experimenting with the gun in his garden and that neighbours should keep their windows open to avoid the danger of broken glass.[18]

Maxim founded an armaments company to produce his machine gun in Crayford, Kent, which later merged with Nordenfeldt and the Vickers Corporation in 1896, becoming 'Vickers, Son & Maxim'. Their updated design, referred to as the Vickers gun after Maxim's resignation from the board in 1911 on his 71st birthday, was the standard British machine gun for many years. With arms sales led by Basil Zaharoff, variants of the Maxim gun were bought and used extensively by both sides during World War I.

In his later years Maxim became profoundly deaf, as his hearing had been damaged by years of exposure to the noise of his guns.[19]

Inventions

Maxim is also credited with inventing the common mousetrap and, as a long-time sufferer from bronchitis, he also patented and manufactured a pocket menthol inhaler and a larger "Pipe of Peace", a steam inhaler using pine vapour, that he claimed could relieve asthma, tinnitus, hay fever and catarrh.[20] After being criticised for applying his talents to quackery, he protested that: "it will be seen that it is a very creditable thing to invent a killing machine, and nothing less than a disgrace to invent an apparatus to prevent human suffering".[17]

He also invented a curling iron, an apparatus for demagnetizing watches, magno-electric machines, devices to prevent the rolling of ships, eyelet and riveting machines, aircraft artillery, an aerial torpedo gun, coffee substitutes, and various oil, steam, and gas engines.[21]

Maxim developed and installed the first electric lights in a New York City building (the Equitable Life Building (New York City) at 120 Broadway) in the late 1870s.[17] However, he was involved in several lengthy patent disputes with Thomas Edison over his claims to the lightbulb. One of these actions regarded the incandescent bulb, for which Maxim claimed that Edison was credited by means of his better understanding of patenting law (though in England Joseph Wilson Swan had already obtained the first patent in 1878). He claimed an employee of his (Maxim's) had falsely patented the invention under his own name, and that Edison proved the employee's claim to be false, knowing that patent law would mean the invention would become public property, allowing Edison to manufacture the lightbulb without crediting Maxim as the true inventor.

Flying machines

Maxim's flying machine

Maxim's father had earlier conceived of a helicopter powered by two counter-rotating rotors, but was unable to find a powerful enough engine to build it. Hiram first sketched out plans for a helicopter in 1872, but when he built his first "flying machine" he chose to use wings. Commencing work in 1889, he built a 145 feet (44 m) long craft that weighed 3.5 tons, with a 110 feet (34 m) wingspan that was powered by two compound 360 horsepower (270 kW) steam engines driving two propellers. In trials at Bexley in 1894 his machine rode on 1,800 feet (550 m) of rails and was prevented from rising by outriggers underneath and wooden safety rails overhead, somewhat in the manner of a roller coaster.[22] His apparent goal in building this machine was not to soar freely, but to test if it would lift off the ground. During its test run all of the outriggers were engaged, showing that it had developed enough lift to take off, but in so doing it damaged the track; the "flight" was aborted in time to prevent disaster. The craft was almost certainly aerodynamically unstable and uncontrollable, which Maxim probably realized, because he subsequently abandoned work on it.[23]

Captive Flying Machines

The Sir Hiram Maxim Captive Flying Machines operating at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 2006

In order to both fund his research into flight and to popularise the notion of flight, Maxim designed and built an amusement ride for the Earl's Court exhibition of 1904. The ride was based on a test rig he had devised for his research, and consisted of a large spinning frame from which cars hung captive. As the machine spun, the cars would be swung outward through the air, simulating flight. The ride was similar to the later Circle Swing ride, popularised in the USA by renowned roller coaster designer Harry Traver.

Maxim originally intended to use primitive aerofoils and wings to allow riders to control their flight, but this was outlawed as unsafe. As a result, Maxim quickly lost interest in the project, declaring the adapted ride as "Simply a glorified merry-go-round". Nevertheless, his company built several more rides of various sizes at The Crystal Palace and various seaside resorts including Southport, New Brighton, and Blackpool, all of which opened in 1904. Originally Maxim had only intended to build two, but a lengthy breakdown on the original Earl's Court ride forced him to build more in order to make the venture profitable. He had plans for further variations of the ride but his disillusionment with the amusement business meant that they were never realised.

Although he expressed regrets about the whole project, the rides were held in high regard within the amusement industry and the Blackpool ride still operates to this day as part of what is now the Pleasure Beach amusement park. Along with the same park's similarly historic River Caves, it is the oldest operating amusement ride in Europe. The Flying Machines has the distinction of being virtually unchanged from Maxim's original design. The Blackpool ride's name is now usually abbreviated to the "Flying Machine" or "Flying Machines", although the full name, "Sir Hiram Maxim's Captive Flying Machines", is given at the ride entrance.

In 2001 Disney's California Adventure opened, featuring the Golden Zephyr, a modern day recreation of the Traver version of the ride. The ride itself is much smaller than the Blackpool version with cars swinging out to a much less severe angle. Nevertheless, engineers from Disney visited Blackpool to inspect the Maxim ride (the only example of either version still standing) in order to help design their ride.

Grahame-White, Blériot, and Maxim Company

In 1911 he headed the newly formed Grahame-White, Blériot, and Maxim Company, founded with the two aviators and two hundred thousand pounds of capital.[24] He had hoped to produce military aircraft capable of scouting or dropping a 500 lb (230 kg) bomb, but his failing health and financial difficulties with his other enterprises restricted his ability to develop this enterprise before his death.[25]

Philosophy and religion

In addition to his Civil, Mechanical and Electrical endeavours, Maxim "compiled and edited" a book he titled "Li Hung Chang's Scrapbook".[16] This book was addressed to Li Hung Chang (also spelled Li Hongzhang and Li Hung-chang) and endeavoured to address a belief that "The Chinese were generally puzzled as to how it was possible for people who are able to build locomotives and steamships to have a religion based on a belief in devils, ghosts, impossible miracles, and all the other absurdities and impossibilities peculiar to the religion taught by the missionaries" (Op. cit. Foreword page x).

Maxim held European missionaries in China in low esteem, for reasons described in the scrap-book. He stated "...it was my aim, in compiling for His Excellency a scrap-book with explanatory notes, to put the Chinaman right in this respect. I wished to show that we were not all fools." (Op.cit. Foreword page x). His scrap-book comprised some 400 pages with 42 illustrations, presenting his views on The Nature of Christianity; Christianity in China; and his conclusions on subjects including Miracles, Spirituality, Faith; and the influence of the Bible on the civilization of Europe and America. He concluded his scrap-book with an appeal to the Missionaries and his thoughts on the reason for the failure of what he described as "Missionary Propaganda" in China.

Death

Gravestone of Sir Hiram Maxim

Maxim died in London on November 24, 1916, as the Great War raged on. He is buried in West Norwood Cemetery with Lady Sarah Maxim and his grandson, Lt. Colonel Maxim Joubert.

Books

  • Artificial and Natural Flight[26]
  • Li Hung Chang's Scrapbook[16]
  • A New System of Preventing Collisions at Sea[27]
  • My Life. With 11 Text Illustrations and 10 Plates.[28]
  • Monte Carlo facts and fallacies[29]

Patents

  • GB189700207 (1897 with Louis Silverman) - automatic fire mechanism
  • GB189607468 (1897) - gas action for machine guns
  • GB189607045 (1897) - breech mechanism of machine gun

Hiram Percy Maxim (son):

References

  1. ^ Sir Hiram Maxim. Encyclopædia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/370419/Sir-Hiram-Maxim. 
  2. ^ Who's who in World War One. Psychology Press. http://books.google.com/books?id=06TdWzZyH3sC&pg=PA201&dq=Hiram+Stevens+Maxim+nationality&hl=en&ei=4JiYTrmDF8qftgfyk8j1Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CFsQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
  3. ^ Great Inventors and Inventions. Courier Dover Publications. http://books.google.com/books?id=V1h_0wb_AM4C&pg=PA24&dq=Hiram+Maxim+and+inventor+of+Maxim+gun&hl=en&ei=9GKcTtfJK4WFtgfX-4n3Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
  4. ^ Encyclopedia of military technology and innovation. Greenwood Publishing Group. http://books.google.com/books?id=HN3AUx_3Mn4C&pg=PA167&dq=Hiram+Maxim+and+mousetrap&hl=en&ei=8mOcTsy4DYi3twf10rH3Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDkQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=mousetrap&f=false. 
  5. ^ They All Laughed...: From Light Bulbs to Lasers: The Fascinating Stories. HarperCollins. http://books.google.com/books?id=LSx9lby2bFwC&pg=PA11&dq=Hiram+Maxim+and+light+bulb&hl=en&ei=RmWcTrWbCcy4tweE9ZH3Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CFkQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
  6. ^ The American aviation experience: a history. SIU Press. http://books.google.com/books?id=7ccymjJZxLcC&pg=PA31&dq=Hiram+Maxim+and+powered+flight&hl=en&ei=7WWcTsXlF8e1tgfs-rz3Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
  7. ^ The playful crowd: pleasure places in the twentieth century. Columbia University Press. http://books.google.com/books?id=TgShue05DKkC&pg=PA45&dq=Hiram+Maxim+and+Captive+Flying+Machine&hl=en&ei=PGecTpjnGsy9tgfN8az3Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q=Captive%20Flying%20Machine&f=false. 
  8. ^ Hawkey, Arthur (2001). The Amazing Hiram Maxim. Staplehurst: Spellmount. 
  9. ^ "Hiram Percy Maxim, Wireless Amateur No. 1, Defended Rights of Youth". New York Times. February 23, 1936, Sunday. "Radio amateurs, numbering more than 45,000 in the United States, are mourning the loss of a friend and faithful ally in the passing of Hiram Percy Maxim of Hartford, Connecticut. As an ardent wireless amateur Mr. Maxim is remembered by veteran experimenters of pre-war days by the musical tone of his quench spark gap which spelled out the call letters of his pioneer station." 
  10. ^ "Noise's Bogeyman". Time (magazine). January 4, 1932. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,742801,00.html. Retrieved 2007-08-21. "While mental hygienists, efficiency experts and city officials have been bewailing the maddening effects of city noise, Hiram Percy Maxim has been manufacturing noise mufflers at Hartford, Conn. Last week he announced that his Maxim Silencer Co., of which he is president and his only son Hiram Hamilton is chief engineer and whose factory is in Asylum Street, Hartford, will—besides continuing to make silencers for guns, motor exhausts, safety valves, air releases, in fact every kind of pipe which emits a gas—offer a consulting service in noise abatement." 
  11. ^ Maxim, Hiram Percy (1936). A Genius in the Family. London: Michael Joseph Ltd.. 
  12. ^ Hawkey, Arthur (2001). The Amazing Hiram Maxim. Staplehurst: Spellmount. ISBN 1-86227-141-0. 
  13. ^ "Who Made America". PBS. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/maxim_hi.html. 
  14. ^ "The Town of Two Knights". Sangerville Public Library. http://www.sangerville.lib.me.us/hiram.html. 
  15. ^ Hawkey, Arthur (2001). The Amazing Hiram Maxim. Staplehurst: Spellmount. 
  16. ^ a b c Hiram Stevens Maxim (1913). Li Hung Chang's Scrapbook. Watts & Co. 
  17. ^ a b c Malcolm Brown 100 years of 'Maxim's Killing Machine' New York Times, 26 November 1985
  18. ^ Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert, The London Encyclopedia, ISBN 0-333-57688-8 Serbia House
  19. ^ Action By Sir Hiram Maxim, The Times, 16 January 1915
  20. ^ The Times, Sir Hiram Maxim's great Invention, 19 July 1910
  21. ^ Hiram's inventions
  22. ^ "Death Of Sir Hiram Maxim. A Famous Inventor, Automatic Guns And Aeronautics". The Times. 25 November 1916. 
  23. ^ Beril, Becker (1967). Dreams and Realities of the Conquest of the Skies. New York: Atheneum. pp. 124–125. 
  24. ^ "Maxim Leads Air Company. Grahame-White, Bleriot and Maxim Company with $1,000,000 Capital.". New York Times. "Sir Hiram Maxim, who has just resigned from the ordnance firm with which his name has been for so long connected, will be the Chairman of a new company to be known as the Grahame-White, Bleriot, and Maxim Company, limited, with a total authorized capital of 200,000 ($1,000,000.)" 
  25. ^ Sir Hiram Maxim's Resignation. The Inventor And Aviation, The Times 23 March 1911
  26. ^ Hiram Stevens Maxim (1908). Artificial and Natural Flight. Whittaker. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZVFRqYun1EoC&dq=artificial+and+natural+flight&printsec=frontcover. 
  27. ^ Hiram Stevens Maxim (2009). A New System of Preventing Collisions at Sea. Schwarz Press. ISBN 1444605534. http://isbndb.com/d/book/a_new_system_of_preventing_collisions_at_sea.html. 
  28. ^ Hiram Stevens Maxim (1915). My Life. Methuen & Co., Ltd.. http://books.google.com/books?id=HH8XGwmvyFIC&dq=%22My+Life%22+Maxim. 
  29. ^ Hiram Stevens Maxim (1904). Monte Carlo facts and fallacies. Grant Richards. http://books.google.com/books?id=v3tbAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22My%20Life%22%20Maxim. 

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hiram Stevens Maxim — Retrato de Hiram Stevens Maxim. Nacimiento …   Wikipedia Español

  • Hiram Stevens Maxim — Hiram Maxim Hiram Stevens Maxim (1912) Hiram Stevens Maxim (5 février 1840 24 novembre 1916) est un inventeur britannique d origine américaine. Il a notamment inventé la mitrailleuse Maxi …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Hiram Stevens Maxim — Hiram S. Maxim Maxim Maschinengewehr ca. 1910 Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (* 5. Februar 1840 in Sangerville …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hiram Percy Maxim — (September 2, 1869 ndash; February 17, 1936) was co founder of the American Radio Relay League and originally had the amateur call sign 1AW, and later W1AW, which is now the ARRL Headquarters club station call sign. His rotary spark gap… …   Wikipedia

  • Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim — noun English inventor (born in the United States) who invented the Maxim gun that was used in World War I (1840 1916) • Syn: ↑Maxim • Instance Hypernyms: ↑inventor, ↑discoverer, ↑artificer …   Useful english dictionary

  • Maxim,Sir Hiram Stevens — Max·im (măkʹsĭm), Sir Hiram Stevens. 1840 1916. American born British inventor of an automatic, recoil operated machine gun (1884), which was widely used during World War I. His brother Hudson (1853 1927) invented smokeless gun powder, and his… …   Universalium

  • Maxim, Sir Hiram (Stevens) — born Feb. 5, 1840, Sangerville, Maine, U.S. died Nov. 24, 1916, London, Eng. U.S. British inventor. Son of a Maine farmer, he was apprenticed to a carriage maker. He became chief engineer of the U.S. Electric Lighting Co. (1878–81), for which he… …   Universalium

  • Maxim, Sir Hiram (Stevens) — (5 feb. 1840, Sangerville, Maine, EE.UU.–24 nov. 1916, Londres, Inglaterra). Inventor británico nacido en EE.UU. Hijo de un granjero de Maine, fue colocado como aprendiz de un fabricante de carruajes. Llegó a ser ingeniero jefe de U.S. Electric… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Hiram Maxim — Hiram Stevens Maxim (1912) Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (5 février 1840 24 novembre 1916) est un inventeur britannique d origine américaine. Il a notamment inventé la mitrailleuse Maxim et le piège à souris …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Hiram Maxim — Hiram S. Maxim Maxim Maschinengewehr ca. 1910 Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (* 5. Februar 1840 in Sangerville …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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