Erasmus Darwin Leavitt, Jr.

Erasmus Darwin Leavitt, Jr.

Erasmus Darwin Leavitt, Jr. (October 27, 1836 - March 11, 1916), also known as E. D. Leavitt, was a noted American mechanical engineer best known for his steam engine designs.

Leavitt was born in Lowell, Massachusetts to Erasmus Darwin, Sr., and Almina (Fay) Leavitt, graduated from local schools at age 16, and performed a 3-year apprenticeship at the Lowell Manufacturing Company. He then worked for one year at the engineering firm of Corliss & Nightingale in Providence, Rhode Island before returning to Boston, where he became assistant foreman for Harrison Loring. In this role he designed the steam engine for the USS Hartford (1858). From 1859-1861 he again worked in Providence, this time as chief draftsman for Thurston, Gardner & Company, builders of steam engines.

During the Civil War, Leavitt first served aboard the USS Sagamore (1861), then in construction roles in Baltimore, Boston, and Brooklyn, and ultimately as an instructor in steam engineering at the United States Naval Academy. In 1867 he resigned his teaching post to become a consulting engineer.

Leavitt first achieved professional prominence in 1873 for his design of a novel pumping engine. From 1874-1904 he served as consulting engineer for the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company, where he designed more than 40 types of engines for a variety of uses for the company's Michigan mines. Each huge stationary steam engine was named, much like a steam locomotive or ship, with names including the Arcadia, Chippewa, Frontenac, Mackinac, Marquette, and Superior. He also designed steam-powered water pumps for various municipal water systems, including those of Louisville, Kentucky and Boston, and the power source for a hydraulic forge at the Bethlehem Steel Company.

Leavitt was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a founding member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, for which he served as Vice President from 1881-1882, and President in 1883. In 1884 he received the first honorary doctorate of engineering degree granted by the Stevens Institute of Technology.

Leavitt was a resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=siPZKHPQ1rcC&pg=PA219&dq=erasmus+darwin+leavitt&lr=&ei=mCXKSMmeFYPWsgOMx7T4Dg#PPA219,M1 A History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1916, Samuel Atkins Eliot, Cambridge Tribune, Cambridge, 1913] ]

See also

* Leavitt-Riedler Pumping Engine
* [http://files.asme.org/ASMEORG/Communities/History/Landmarks/3129.pdf Leavitt Pumping Engine paper PDF version] at the [http://www.asme.org/Communities/History/Landmarks/LeavittRiedler_Pumping_Engine.cfm American Society of Mechanical Engineers] , [http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:ojw9zf1yVFgJ:files.asme.org/ASMEORG/Communities/History/Landmarks/3129.pdf+Chestnut+Hill+Water+Company&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=20&gl=us Leavitt Pumping Engine paper HTML version] at google, see page 6 for his biography.
* [http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/metroboston/chesHistory.htm Chestnut Hill Reservation History,] which mentions the early pumps.

References

* Carol Poh Miller, "Landmarks in Mechanical Engineering", Purdue University Press, pages 16-17. ISBN 1557530939.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Leavitt (surname) — Leavitt is a surname, and may refer to:*Reverend Ashley Day Leavitt (1877 ), Yale graduate, Congregational minister, Harvard Congregational Church, Brookline, Massachusetts *B. H. Leavitt, pioneer rancher born in Clinton, Maine, settler of… …   Wikipedia

  • Leavitt-Riedler Pumping Engine — The Leavitt Riedler Pumping Engine (1894) is a historic steam engine located in the Chestnut Hill Pumping Station, 2436 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts. It has been declared a national landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers …   Wikipedia

  • Henrietta Swan Leavitt — Infobox Scientist name = Henrietta Swan Leavitt box width = image width =163px caption = Henrietta Swan Leavitt birth date = July 4 1868 birth place = death date = December 12 1921 death place = residence = citizenship = nationality = United… …   Wikipedia

  • List of people from New Hampshire — The following are people who were either born, raised, or who gained significant prominence for living in New Hampshire: Contents 1 Athletes 2 Arts and literature 3 Aviation/aeronautics 4 Educators …   Wikipedia

  • literature — /lit euhr euh cheuhr, choor , li treuh /, n. 1. writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays. 2.… …   Universalium

  • Liste der Mitglieder des US-Repräsentantenhauses aus Ohio — Steve Chabot, derzeitiger Vertreter des ersten Kongresswahlbezirks von Ohio …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • 12 de diciembre — << Diciembre >> Do Lu Ma Mi Ju Vi Sa 1 …   Wikipedia Español

  • University of Cambridge — Latin: Academia Cantabrigiensis Motto Hinc lucem et pocula sacra (Latin) Motto in English …   Wikipedia

  • Scientific phenomena named after people — This is a list of scientific phenomena and concepts named after people (eponymous phenomena). For other lists of eponyms, see eponym. NOTOC A* Abderhalden ninhydrin reaction Emil Abderhalden * Abney effect, Abney s law of additivity William de… …   Wikipedia

  • Cambridge Apostles — The Cambridge Apostles, also known as the Cambridge Conversazione Society, is an elite intellectual secret society at the University of Cambridge founded in 1820 by George Tomlinson,fact|date=October 2008 a Cambridge student who went on to become …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”