Pneumatic Chemistry and Industrial Distillation: Converging Traditions in the Origins of the Manufactured Gas Industry

Time: 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.

Place: 6th Floor Conference Room, Chemical Heritage Foundation

Information: 215-873-8289 or bbl@chemheritage.org

The gaslight industry developed into a large network utility in Britain in the first two decades of the 19th century. There were, however, many instances of people proposing some form of gaslight technology in the late 18th century in France, Germany, and Britain before it was successfully scaled up in Britain. This talk examines why there were so many people experimenting with gases during the period and presents the origins of gaslight as coming from the confluence of two important research traditions: pneumatic chemistry and industrial distillation.

Leslie Tomory recently completed his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto on the origins of the gaslight industry in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is currently working on transforming his thesis into a book, as well as researching the transfer of gaslight from Britain to other countries and the history of pneumatic chemistry in the 18th century.