Gesner, Abraham

Abraham Gesner was born in 1797 near Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. Although Gesner became a medical doctor, he was much more interested in fossils. Gesner was fascinated by hydrocarbon substances, such as coal, asphal-tum (asphalt), and bitumen. These substances were formed long ago from fossilized plants, algae, fish, and animals. 

Coal oil for lamps was already being produced when the Drake discovery well was drilled in 1859. In 1846 Abraham Gesner prepared coal oil from coal by thermal decomposition. Sperm oil was becoming expensive and by 1859 there were about 60 coal-distillation plants in the United States. Within a few years of the Drake discovery most of these plants had been converted to petroleum processing. 

Kerosene (Abraham Gesner) Canadian geologist Gesner distills kerosene from petroleum. 

Irish physicist George Stokes coins the term fluorescence. English chemist Edward Eranklin describes the phenomenon later called valence. Canadian geologist Abraham Gesner discovers kerosene. 

Canadian geologist Abraham Gesner distills kerosene from crude oil. Ignacy Lukasiewicz drills oil wells up to 150 feet (50 meters) deep at Bobrka, Poland. 

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