|
Charles Grafton Page (in Salem, Massachusetts January 25, 1812 – May 5, 1868 in Washington, D.C.) was an American electrical experimenter and inventor, physician, patent examiner, patent advocate, and professor of chemistry. Like his more famous contemporaries Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry, Page began his career as an astute natural philosopher who developed innovative work with natural phenomena through direct observation and experimenting. Toward the later part of their careers, the science of the day had moved on to a more mathematical emphasis in which these scientists did not participate. Through his exploratory experiments and distinctive inventions, Page developed a deep understanding of electromagnetism. He applied this understanding in the service of the US Patent Office, in support of other inventors, and in pursuing his own ill-fated dream of electromagnetic locomotion. His work had a lasting impact on telegraphy and in the practice and politics of patenting scientific innovation, challenging the rising scientific elitism that maintained 'the scientific do not patent'.〔Post, 1976a, p. 139〕 ==Family life== Charles Grafton Page was born to Captain Jere Lee Page and Lucy Lang Page on January 25, 1812 in Salem, Massachusetts. Having eight siblings, four of each gender, he was the only one of five sons to pursue a career into mature adulthood. One of his brothers died in infancy. Brother George died from typhoid at age sixteen, brother Jery perished on a sea expedition to the Caribbean at age twenty-five, and Henry, afflicted by poliomyelitis, was not able to support himself. In writing to Charles Grafton during his final voyage, Jery expressed the family’s hope for his success: "You are the only classical Page in our book."〔Post, (1976a). Quote p. 8.〕 Page's curiosity about electricity was evident from childhood. At age nine, he climbed on top of his parents' house with a fire-shovel in an attempt to catch electricity during a thunderstorm. At age ten, he built an electrostatic machine that he used to shock his friends.〔(Lane), (1869).〕 At sixteen, Page developed the "portable electrophorus," which served as the foundation for his first published article in the ''American Journal of Science''(Page, 1834). Other early interests, including botany, entomology (Page, 1836b), and floriculture, contributed to his scientific training and later avocations.〔Post, (1976a), p. 144-145.〕 After graduating from medical school, Page continued to reside in his parents' Salem home and opened a small medical practice. In a well-stocked lab that he set up there, he experimented with electricity, demonstrated effects that no one had observed before, and improvised original apparatus that amplified these effects.〔(Lane) (1869), p. 3; Cavicchi, (2008), p. 893.〕 When his father retired from a successful career as a sea captain in trade with East India, Page joined his family in relocating to rural Virginia outside Washington DC.〔Post,(1976a), p. 7〕 Page married Priscilla Sewall Webster in 1844. Priscilla was the younger sister of the wife of a Washington physician, Harvey Lindsly, who was among Page's colleagues. One son died in infancy. The couple brought up three sons and two daughters.〔(Lane) (1869), p. 17;Post,(1976a). p. 137,160.〕 Their oldest daughter, Emelyn or Emmie, died less than a year before Page's own death.〔Post,(1976a), p. 63-5; 177〕 Their youngest son, Harvey Lindsly Page (1859–1934), was named for his uncle. He was a famous American architect and inventor, of San Antonio, Texas. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fpa75 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Charles Grafton Page」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|