Other Books
The Oblivion of Trevithick
Down through the ages many brave men tried to tame the strange power released from boiling water. Long ago they were seen as alchemists who practised the dark arts of their dangerous pastimes. It was not until the early C19th that Richard Trevithick demonstrated his successful cylindrical boiler and tamed the Devil within. It was Trevithick who invented the steam engine we all recognise and love, the engine that powered most of the Industrial and all the Transport Revolutions; the one found today, with little fundamental change in power stations and nuclear submarines.
In these pages, Philip Hosken has turned detective to discover the reasons behind Trevithick’s obscurity. He has examined the lives of other inventors. He has answered whether James Watt was the thorn in Trevithick’s side, what parts did his family and friends play? Trevithick put his trust in the highest in the land, why did they deceive him? What could they hope to gain by carelessly damning this poor, hardworking Cornishman to oblivion?
Engineering genius, Pacific pearl fisherman and family man, there is no story like that of Richard Trevithick. He deserves a better place in history.
Genius ~ Richard Trevithick’s Steam Engines
In this book Philip Hosken explains the skulduggery and deception in high places that deprived Trevithick of recognition until now.
The achievements of Richard Trevithick are seldom taught in schools alongside those of James Watt, George Stephenson and Isambard Brunel.
Yet it was Trevithick’s ingenuity and determination that provided the power to drive the Industrial and Transport Revolutions.
Acknowledged by Watt and adopted by Stephenson, Trevithick’s steam engine and boiler were radically different from Watt’s and the boiler is the basis for nuclear, oil and gas powered electrical generation today.
