Isaiah Quinby Lukens (24 August 1779 – 12 November 1846) was an American

clockmaker A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly t ...

gunsmith A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very ...

machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who operates machine tools, and has the ability to set up tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines. A competent machinist will generally have a strong mechan ...

, and inventor from southeastern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He was a founding member and first vice president of the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and a center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and wikt:statesman, statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin ...

in Philadelphia. He was elected to membership in the

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading natur ...

in June 1812, where he served as curator for multiple decades beginning in 1813. In 1820, he was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

. Lukens was blinded in one eye by "a chip of steel when dressing a grindstone" (c.1816), after which he took

Joseph Saxton Joseph Saxton (March 22, 1799 – October 26, 1873) was an American inventor, watchmaker, machinist, and photographer from Pennsylvania. A daguerrotype taken by Saxton in 1839 is one of the oldest surviving photographs taken in the United States. ...

as his assistant. According to

George Escol Sellers George Escol Sellers (November 26, 1808 – January 1, 1899) was an American businessman, mechanical engineer, and inventor. He owned and managed different businesses and patented several inventions. He established a company with his brother Cha ...

, whose father was close friends with Lukens, "he called axtonhis pupil, and he did honor to his preceptor".

Early life and family

Lukens was the son of Seneca Lukens and Sarah (Quinby) Lukens, who were married on June 10, 1777. The family was descended from Jan Lucken, who immigrated to the

Pennsylvania colony The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from ...

in October 1683, with Daniel Pastorius, and was one of the original settlers of Germantown. Lukens grew up on his family's farm in

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and learned from his father to construct clocks and watches. He moved to Philadelphia around 1811.

Personality

wrote that he was "naturally of a social disposition, although an impediment in his speech made him appear shy and diffident in ladies' society. He called his shop his wife, and he really loved it."

Scientific activities

Lukens used a telescope with a plössl (symmetrical) eyepiece to observe the

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

on September 18, 1838. His data were compiled with the independent observations of 14 other scientists from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and published in ''The American Journal of Science and Arts'' in 1840.

Notable clocks

* Lukens built a clock for the tower of the Pennsylvania State House (now

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were debated and adopted by the Founding Fathers of ...

) in 1839, for the price of $5000. It was later removed to Germantown. * Christ Church in Philadelphia placed an order for a Lukens clock in 1827. * There is a Lukens clock (c.1840) at the

Athenaeum of Philadelphia The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, located at 219 S. 6th Street between St. James Place and Locust Street in the Society Hill section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a special collections library and museum founded in 1814. The Athenaeum's purpo ...

Inventions, etc.

* Lukens Hydrostatic Balance * Lukens

Odometer An odometer or odograph is an instrument used for measuring the distance traveled by a vehicle, such as a bicycle or car. The device may be electronic, mechanical, or a combination of the two (electromechanical). The noun derives from ancient Gr ...

* De Luc's "electric columns", as modified by Zamboni * Surgical instrument for "destroying the stone in the bladder" * "Big Medicine", an

air gun An air gun or airgun is a gun that uses energy from compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized and then released to propel and accelerate projectiles, similar to the principle of the primitive blowgun. This is in contr ...

used by Lewis and Clark during the Corps of Discovery expedition * J. D. Graham, surveyor for the U.S. Corps of Topographical Engineers, used a

chronometer Chronometer is a name for certain types of clock. It may refer to: * Chronomètre of Loulié, a precursor to the metronome * Chronometer watch, a highly accurate watch * Marine chronometer, a timekeeper used for marine navigation, as in ** Longit ...

made by Lukens: "A mean solar chronometer (No. 141), by Isaiah Lukens, of Philadelphia; beats half-seconds. This chronometer runs eight days without winding.g. It was made by Mr. Lukens about the year 1830 or 1831, while on a visit to London. It is one of the earliest chronometers, I know of, made by an American. It is now an excellent time-keeper." * Two models of

Charles Redheffer Charles Redheffer was an American inventor who claimed to have invented a perpetual motion machine. First appearing in Philadelphia, Redheffer exhibited his machine to the public, charging high prices for viewing. When he applied to the governme ...

's "perpetual motion" machine, the first being deposited in the collection of the

, and the other in

Charles Willson Peale Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American painter, military officer, scientist, and naturalist. In 1775, inspired by the American Revolution, Peale moved from his native Maryland to Philadelphia, where he set ...

's Philadelphia Museum *

's pump at Belfield Farms, described in a letter (November 14, 1814) from Peale to Thomas Jefferson: "some time past I had a well dug in a situation to give Water to my Cattle &c The Ingenious Isaih icLukens made me a small brass cylender and Boxes to form a pump and also frixion icwheels &c to turn sails to the wind, my wind-mill pumped the Water up in a satisfactory manner, but it was blown down several times, and I make some improvements that prevented the like accidents..."

Contributions to zoology

* Lukens collected the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

of ''Cixidia opaca'' (Say 1828), a member of the family

Achilidae Achilidae is a family of planthoppers, sometimes called "achilids" in the order Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, pla ...

* Lukens was one of three members of the

who nominated

John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin, April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was a French-American Autodidacticism, self-trained artist, natural history, naturalist, and ornithology, ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornitho ...

for membership in 1824.

References

1779 births 1846 deaths American clockmakers 19th-century American inventors Place of birth missing Place of death missing {{US-inventor-stub