Faraday to John Barrow   10 October 1832

Royal Institution | 10th Octr 1832.

Sir

I hasten, on my return to town, to acknowledge your Letter and the honor done me by My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty in requesting my opinion in conjunction with others upon Mr. Brunels application of the condensed gases as mechanical agents1. As the discoverer of the condensation of the gases2 I think it would be inexpedient for me to be joined with the gentlemen you name3; for on the one hand I think such a committee should give a report uninfluenced by my views and on the other as I mean with Mr. Brunels kind permission to examine the apparatus very closely I may probably remark some philosophical point which I should feel inclined to pursue alone.

I would beg you however to state to my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that if their Lordships consider my opinion as at all worth having I shall feel honored in giving it after the Committee have reported and after I have carefully examined the apparatus: but in that case I would beg the favour of you to state rather more explicitly than in your last the points to which their Lordships would desire my answers[.]

I am | Sir | Your Humble Servant | M. Faraday

John Barrow Esq | Secretary | &c &c &c | Admiralty


Endorsements: Has he not been told that the meeting was put off.

Yes, Sir, by letter of 2nd Oct. ì

1
The refers to the continuing efforts of Brunel, aided by his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel, to gain useful and practical mechanical effect from the liquefaction of gases. See "Experiments with Carbonic Acid Gas", in Brunel (1870), 42-5. See also Clements (1970), 77-8 and Rolt (1957), 41-2. For Faraday's earlier involvement with the project see letters 208, 218, 248, 250, 282, volume 1.
2
Faraday (1823a, b).
3
On 26 September 1832 the Admiralty asked, amongst others, Charles Hatchett (1765-1847, DSB, chemist), Faraday, John Rennie (1794-1874, DNB, civil engineer) and William Allen (1770-1843, DNB, chemist) to examine Brunel's gaz engine. Admiralty Digest PRO ADM12 / 284, class 59.9.

Bibliography

BRUNEL, Isambard (1870): The Life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Civil Engineer, London.

CLEMENTS, Paul (1970): Marc Isambard Brunel, London.

ROLT, Lionel Thomas Caswall (1957): Isambard Kingdom Brunel, London.

Please cite as “Faraday0617,” in Ɛpsilon: The Michael Faraday Collection accessed on 29 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/faraday/letters/Faraday0617