Christopher Polhem
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Christopher Polhammar (December 18, 1661 - August 30, 1751), better known as [Christopher Polhem] , which he took after his ennoblement, was a Swedish scientist, inventor and industrialist. He made significant contributions to the economic and industrial development of Sweden, particularly mining.
Biography
Polhem was born on the island of Gotland, not being found in any official records such as church records, the exact place of birth is unknown, but assumed to be Visby.
Originally the Polheim family came from Austria to Pomerania, Germany, from where his father, Wolf Christoph Polhammer traded with Visby, where he would eventually settle down to become a skipper. At the age of 8, Polhem's father died and his mother, Christina Eriksdotter Schening from Vadstena, Östergötland re-married. Conflicting with his stepfather, Polhem was sent to live with his uncle in Stockholm, as his private tuition was no longer paid for. In Stockholm he attended a German school until the age of 12 when his uncle died, once again Polhem was left without the possibility of education.
He took a job as a farmhand on Vansta, a property in Södertörn, Stockholm, he quickly rose to the position of supervisor, being responsible for supervision and accounting, something suited for his affinity for mathematics. He worked at the property for ten years, during which he constructed a workshop where he made tools, repaired and constructed simple machinery to make money.
Hungering for knowledge within his fields of interest, mathematics and mechanics, he soon realized that he would get no further without learning Latin, self-studies were attempted, but given up, Polhem realized he needed a tutor. In exchange for constructing a complex clock, he was given Latin lessons by a local vicar.
The word of Polhem's good hand with mechanics quickly spread and a member of the clergy wrote the professor of mathematics at Uppsala university, Anders Spole to recommend Polhem. Spole presented two broken clocks to Polhem and offered to let him study under him if he could repair them, Polhem repaired the clocks with no difficulty and began recovering years of lost education in 1687, at the age of 26.
He married Maria Hoffman in 1691, together they had two children, Gabriel and Emerentia.
In 1716 he was ennobled in gratitude of his services to the nation by the king and changed his name from Polhammar to Polheim, which he later changed to Polhem.
Polhem died of natural causes in 1751 in Stockholm.
Career
Industrial
According to Polhem's autobiography, the event that marked the beginning of his career was the successful repairs of the unfinished medieval (1500s) astronomical clock by Petrus Astronomus at Uppsala Cathedral, which had remained unfinished and broken for more than a century.
In 1690 Polhem was appointed to improve upon the current mining operations of Sweden, his contribution was a construction for lifting and transporting ore from mines, a process that was rather risky and inefficiant at the time. The construction consisted of a track system for lifing the ore, as opposed to wires, the construction was powered entirely by a water wheen and the only human labor needed was for loading the containers. Being new and revolutionary, word of Polhem's work reached the regning king, Karl XI who was so impressed with the work that he assigned him to improve Sweden's main mining operation; the Falun Copper mine.
Funded by the Swedish mining authority, Polhem travelled throughout Europe, studying mechanical development, he returned to Sweden in 1697 to establish laboratorium mechanicum in Stockholm, a facility for training of engineers, as well as a laboratory for testing and exhibiting his designs, it is considered to be the predecessor of The Royal Institute of Technology. The laboratory was later moved from Stockholm to Falun and from there to Stjärnsund. In 1748 the collection of models used in the laboratory was returned to Stockholm.
His greatest achievement was an automated (automation being very unusual at the time) factory powered entirely by water, built in 1699 in Stjärnsund, the factory would produce all kinds of products, deriving from the idea that Sweden should export less raw materials and start processing them within their own borders instead. The factory was a failure; it met large resistance among workers who feared they would be replaced by machinery, eventually most of the factory was destroyed in a fire in 1734, leaving only the part of the factory that produced clocks left. The factory continued producing clocks, known for their high quality and low price. Another product from the factory was the Scandinavian padlock ("Polhem locks"), essentially the first design of the variation of padlocks found today. Economically, the factory was unfeasible, but the king at the time, Charles XII of Sweden was optimistic and gave Polhem freedom from taxes to encourage his efforts.
The factory of Stjärnsund was visited by one of his contemporaries, Carolus Linnaeus, who wrote about the factory in his diaries as Nothing is more optimistic than Stjärnsund ("Intet är spekulativare än Stjärnsund").
Polhem also contributed to the building of Göta Canal, a canal connecting the east and west coasts of Sweden, together with Charles XII of Sweden, he planned the construction of parts of the canal, particularly the canal locks in the 1700s, not until 1832, long after his death was it finished under the supervision of his son, Gabriel Polhem.
Other major contributions made by Polhem were the constructions of dry docks, dams and as mentioned before, canal locks, which he designed together with his assistant and friend, Emanuel Swedenborg.
Other fields
Polhem was not only active within the field of mechanics, he actively wrote essays concerning medecine, social criticism, astronomy, geology and economics.
Other accomplishments
- Can be found on back side the 500 Swedish kronor bank note, the front having a portrait of Charles XI of Sweden
- Has several schools named after him.
- Has an award named after himself, the Polhem prize (Polhemspriset), which is awarded to significant contributors to industry and construction engineering.
- Reinvented the Cardan joint under the name of "Polhem knot" (Polhemknut) independently of Gerolamo Cardano, the original inventor.
- Has a commemorative coin with his portrait on it, as well as a bust, which can be found in Visby.
See also
References
- () ["Kanalbyggare" (Swedish)]
- () [Biography at Tekniska museet (Swedish)]
- () [Biography on the site of the town Stjärnsund]
This article contains content from the Owl Edition of Nordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904-1926 now in Public Domain.
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