Smeaton, John

See also Hydroelectric Energy Smeaton, John Turbines, Wind Watt, James. 

Smeaton,. (1797, 1812). Reports of the Late John Smeaton, FRS Made on Various Occasions in the Course of I lis Employment as a Civil Engineer, Vol. 1 (1797), Vol. 2-3 (1812). London Longman, Ilurst, Rees, Ormc, and Brown. 

Smiles, S. (1904). Lives of the Engineers. John Smeaton. London John Murrey. 

The term engineer was not new our Revolutionary Army had engineering officers and a corps of engineers in England John Smeaton in 1782 signed himself Civil Engineer. ... 

It is interesting to mention that the steam engine developed by Newcomen had an efficiency of 0.5 %. John Smeaton enhanced it to 1 %. Around 1885, the efficiency reached to 30 %. Theoretical thermodynamic efficiency of modem steam turbine may go up to 90 %. 

Revolution in the field of hydraidic binders prodnction makes John Smeaton who made inquiries to the best material for the constraction of the hghthouse in Eddystone Rock in 1756. He found that the better properties have the mortars of the lime burned from the raw material reach in clayey matter. It was equivalent to the discovery of hydraidic lime. Probably Smeaton was the first to use this name. Forty years later James Parker from Northfleet obtained a patent for the product from burned marl, which was named some years later as Roman cement. It was rapid setting cement. This cement started to be prodnced soon from the raw materials occurring near Bonlogne. 

This skill was lost during the Middle Ages and was not rediscovered until the scientific approach was taken by John Smeaton in 1757 when he built the Eddystone lighthouse on the southwest coast of England. He found that a good hydraulic cement was formed when the limestone used had clay impurities. We now know that aluminosilicate clays, when calcined with lime, form the desired cement. Between 1757 and 1830, the essential roles of the lime and silica were established by Vicat and Lisage in France and by Parker and Frost in England. 

Two hundred and fifty years ago, when English engineer John Smeaton set out to rediscover and apply the secrets of the hydrauhc mortars used by the Romans, nobody asked him whether it was going to comply with an ASTM standard. In the late 19 century, when natural cement was used for maintenance and modifications to the Erie Canal, nobody asked for a color match to the original natural cement produced in the 1820s. 

It was not until the mid-18th century that English engineer John Smeaton began to experiment using other materials with hme. In particular, he discovered that clay impurities in limestone produced hydraulic properties, allowing these mortars to set under water and to resist deterioration from water exposure. This represented an important difference from simple Ume mortars and a pivotal point in mortar history. In the course of time it would have a great effect on constmction practices both in Europe and the soon to be independent colonies of America. 

In England, John Smeaton s work was published posthumously in 1791, and in 1796, the first commercial hydraulic cement was patented and produced under the name Parker s Roman Cement. British canal systems widely used this hydraulic material. While it was considered costly to transport to America, it is known that some quantities of this material were imported and utilized during this period. Therefore, it is possible that from the late 1700s going forward, historic American mortars may have been based on materials other than just lime. 

It has been argued that full physical inclusion in the classroom, while not a guarantee of total social and curricular involvement, is at least a necessary precondition for it (O Brien and Forest, 1989). But the rhetoric of full physical inclusion is somewhat different from the reality, as indicated by Sebba and Ainscow (1995) in juxtaposing comments from different members of staff at John Smeaton Community High School ... 

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