Charles Sylvester

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Charles Sylvester (1774-1828) is a chemist and inventor born in Sheffield, in the United Kingdom. He works in galvanizing, heating public buildings and sanitation, and rail friction among others. A book, Industrial Man: The Life and Work of Charles Sylvester by Ian Inkster, Ph.D., of the University of Nottingham, and Maureen S. Bryson, BS, published in 1999 is a comprehensive work covering life , large families and genealogies, and published works; including Poetry on Different Subjects , 1797; Epitome of Galvanism , 1804; Appendix to Chemical Basic Review , 1809; Domestic Economic Philosophy , 1819; In the Method of Expressing Chemical Compounds by Algebra Character , 1821; On Motions produced by Body Type Difference , 1822; Report on Railway and Locomotive Engine , 1825; and In the best method of Heating and Ventilation of other Houses and Buildings , 1829.

Video Charles Sylvester

Biography

Sylvester was baptized July 10, 1774 in Sheffield, in West Riding of Yorkshire. He was the son of Joseph Sylvester and Sarah Mills who had married near Rotherham on March 5, 1767. It is thought that Charles Sylvester was part of the Sylvester family of Norton, Derbyshre. His relationship with Sylvesters in Sheffield and Rotherham has been well documented (genealogy). He married Sarah Dixon on August 13, 1798, in Sheffield, three months before the birth of their son, John. Sarah has two sons and three daughters, but John is the only son who survived to adulthood. Additional information about these children can be found here (family). Sylvester experimented with iron and steel plating with zinc. The patented method by Sylvester and two others involved in building the battery (galvanic cell) of the objects to be lined with zinc, and then leaving the construction in the sea water.

In 1807 Sylvester moved to Derby where he worked with William Strutt who was building Dalin's Royal Infirmary. Sylvester was instrumental in documenting a new heating system for a new hospital. He published his ideas in The Philosophy of Domestic Economy; as exemplified in the Heating, Ventilating, Washing, Drying & amp; Cooking,... in Derbyshire General Infirmary in 1819. But the book is dedicated to Strutt, and Sylvester is careful to assign many discoveries to Strutt, and to note that the heater design installed in the new Infirmary has already been tried on Strutt and the house his friends. Sylvester documents new ways to heat hospitals that are included in the design, and healthier features such as toilets that cleanse and refresh air. The toilet has a carefully designed door that will exchange fresh air when every user comes out. The same door action also wash the basin.

Sylvester describes hospital features including new fire-retardant construction, laundry and heating that allow the patient to breathe fresh air while the old air is supplied to the glass and iron dome at the center. Sylvester describes the progress Strutt has made and this works in three ways. Sylvester was able to take on new ideas for heating and apply them in various other building projects. The Derby Infirmary is seen as a leader in European architecture and architects and visiting nobles was brought in to see its features. Finally Strutt was proposed to become a member of the Royal Society by five prominent authors that included Marc Isambard Brunel and James Watt.

Sylvester with Strutt is a member of Erasmus Darwin's Derby Philosophical Society.

Sylvester was commissioned by the Liverpool Chief and Manchester Railway to advise them on railroad issues and he wrote a Report on railroads and locomotive engines. Sylvester included a comparison between canals and trains. He observed that a larger force would give more speed to the railroad, but in the channel the forces needed to increase the speed varied based on the square of the speed.

Sylvester's bust is modeled by Chantry and one copy is at the Derby Museum and Art Gallery.