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Robert Wilson (10 September 1803 – 28 July 1882) was a Scottish fisherman's son who left school at the age of nine. He became an engineer and invented the screw propeller, demonstrating it in 1827, although the first patent was awarded to another inventor in 1836. Wilson also designed a self-acting motion for steam hammers that was key to making them practical for industrial use, among many other inventions. ==Early years== Robert Wilson was born in Dunbar on 10 September 1803, son of a fisherman. His father was drowned in 1810, and the family moved inland. Wilson left school at the age of nine. He became a joiner's apprentice. From an early age he began experimenting with model boats driven by "rotating sculls", with different numbers of blades on a shaft, and blades of different shapes and sizes set at different angles. The minutes of the Dunbar Mechanic's Institute of 18 October 1827 record, James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale became interested in Wilson's experiments, and in 1827 notified the Admiralty of the invention, but did not gain their attention. Wilson conducted successful sea trials in April 1828 on the Firth of Forth near to Leith, observed by witnesses who included Vice-Admiral David Milne. However, Wilson was forced to stop when he ran into debt. He resumed the trials in June 1832 using a loaned boat, and won the silver medal of the Highland Society of Scotland. Once again the Admiralty ignored his results. On 17 September 1833 the captain superintendent of the Woolwich dockyard wrote "We have carefully examined the papers ... the plan proposed ... is objectionable, as it involves a greater loss of power than the common mode of applying the ()wheels to the side." 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「Robert Wilson (engineer)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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