George John Singer (1786–1817) was an English early pioneer of electrical research, noted for his publications and for lectures delivered privately and at the Russell Institution.

Biography

Singer was the son of Thomas Singer, and the younger brother of Samuel Weller Singer. In early life he was engaged in his mother's business of artificial-flower making. Every spare moment, however, he devoted to scientific study, more particularly to the investigation of

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

and

electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is the dominant force in the interacti ...

, then little known. He was a friend of and worked with Andrew Crosse, another early electrical pioneer. Singer built, almost unassisted, a large room at the back of his mother's house in Prince's Street,

Cavendish Square Cavendish Square is a public square, public garden square in Marylebone in the West End of London. It has a double-helix underground commercial car park. Its northern road forms ends of four streets: of Wigmore Street that runs to Portman Square ...

, where he gave courses of lectures on electricity and kindred subjects. Among his audience were

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the study of electrochemistry and electromagnetism. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

and Sir Francis Ronalds. Singer published ''Elements of Electricity and Electro-chemistry'', London, 1814, a work of considerable contemporary importance, which was translated into French (Paris, 1817), into Italian (Milan, 1819), and into German (Breslau, 1819). He also contributed several papers to the ''Philosophical Magazine'' from 1813 to 1815, of which a list is given in Ronalds's ''Catalogue of Books on Electricity, Magnetism'', &c. Singer made almost the whole of his apparatus himself, and introduced several enhancements. He invented an improved gold-leaf

electrometer An electrometer is an electrical instrument for measuring electric charge or electrical potential difference. There are many different types, ranging from historical handmade mechanical instruments to high-precision electronic devices. Modern ...

that was used widely for many years. A key feature was a new mode of insulating the wire connected to the leaves through the cap of the bottle, which he announced in 1811 and described in his book. Ronalds later put on record that the idea for the insulation was his. Singer died, unmarried, of pulmonary

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, induced by overwork, on 28 June 1817, at his mother's house. He lived in the Old House now known as Coundon Court Academy.

References

Attribution *

External links

Elements of Electricity and Electro-chemistry
by George Singer, 1814, from the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singer, George John 1786 births 1817 deaths 18th-century English people 19th-century English people British experimental physicists English inventors English physicists People associated with electricity