![]() He used the term affinity to describe the force that held such combinations together. He added the principle of Air when his experiments showed the presence of carbon dioxide, which he called fixed air, thus contributing to pneumatic chemistry.īlack's research was guided by questions relating to how the principles combined with each other in various different forms and mixtures. Like most 18th-century experimentalists, Black's conceptualisation of chemistry was based on five principles of matter: Water, Salt, Earth, Fire and Metal. During his studies he wrote a doctorate thesis on the treatment of kidney stones with the salt magnesium carbonate. In 1746, at the age of 18, he entered the University of Glasgow, studying there for four years before spending another four at the University of Edinburgh, furthering his medical studies. He was educated at home until the age of 12, after which he attended grammar school in Belfast. His mother was from an Aberdeenshire family that had connections with the wine business and his father was from Belfast, Ireland, and worked as a factor in the wine trade. The chemistry buildings at both the University of Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow are named after Black.īlack was born "on the banks of the river Garonne" in Bordeaux, France, the sixth of the 12 children of Margaret Gordon ( d. He was Professor of Anatomy and Chemistry at the University of Glasgow for 10 years from 1756, and then Professor of Medicine and Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh from 1766, teaching and lecturing there for more than 30 years. Joseph Black (16 April 1728 – 6 December 1799) was a Scottish physicist and chemist, known for his discoveries of magnesium, latent heat, specific heat, and carbon dioxide. Want to support reporting like this? Consider making a gift to Michigan Radio today.Joseph Black plaque by James Tassie, Hunterian Museum, Glasgow There were a number of others that we’re still discovering in terms of the breakthroughs and the pioneering efforts that they made." "We can talk about Elijah McCoy, but he was hardly singular in what he was doing. So some of those people are lost in history. There’s always the question of bigotry, and prejudice and racism, discrimination African-Americans had during that time. "However, he’s like a number of pioneers who have to overcome a number of obstacles and barriers to take their place in history. "Before his death I think he was highly respected among people who were in the industry," Boyd said. Just nine years before he died, McCoy took more control over his own inventions and founded Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company, according to Boyd. "Only later in his life was he able to really take advantage of. "Manufacturing companies made careers off of Elijah McCoy's innovations," Boyd said. However, there is a lot of controversy on that," Boyd said, noting that there are several competing theories about the origins of the phrase. "Because it was such an interesting development and innovation, many engineers and conductors began to ask, 'Is this a real McCoy?' And so, many people feel that that's the origin of that particular term. So, he's kind of forced to taking something that is kind of an inferior job."īoyd calls McCoy "absolutely prolific," noting that his work went beyond train lubrication, including one patent for a folding ironing board.īut the self-lubricating device for locomotives would turn out to be the most significant. "The Michigan Central Railroad hired him as an oiler and as a fire person. "After going to Scotland as a teenager to become a mechanical engineer, he came back to this country, and was unable to get a job employed in his particular craft," Boyd said. They went to Canada, where McCoy was born, and eventually settled in Ypsilanti, Michigan, according to Herb Boyd, the author of Black Detroit: A People’s History of Self-Determination.īoyd says racism limited McCoy’s opportunities as a young professional. McCoy’s parents escaped from slavery in Kentucky on the Underground Railroad. McCoy's creation became a necessity on trains, but it never would have happened without an entirely different kind of railroad. “If you were an oiler crawling over steam engines at the time, you would describe his inventions as life-saving, or arm-saving.” “We describe his inventions as assisting in lubrication,” says Damian Porcari, the director of the patent office. He’s best known for inventing an automatic lubricator that was used on trains. McCoy had more than 50 patents to his name. McCoy was born in the mid-1840s, nearly 170 years before the office opened. Patent and Trademark office in Detroit bears the name of Elijah McCoy, a pioneering African-American inventor.
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