Fulton (1765—1815)17 and18 centuries, the North American continent was developed by working people for more than one hundred years. Many industries have made great progress, especially ironmaking and shipbuilding in the north. At that time, the railway transportation industry in the United States had not yet developed. But in Fulton's life, water transportation is quite developed. Not only international traffic, but also domestic traffic depends on water transportation to a great extent. /kloc-In the mid-8th century, before the independence of the United States, the tonnage of shipbuilding had reached half that of Britain. With the rapid development of industry and agriculture, it is urgent to reform the old means of transportation, especially the water means of transportation, which bears a huge amount of traffic. It is such an urgent social need and the conditions provided by the social productivity and production technology level at that time that a new type of ship-steamboat driven by steam engine was invented.
Robert Fulton was the inventor of this steamboat. His father is British, 1730 immigrated to the United States. 1765165438+1October 14 Fulton was born on a farm in his hometown of Little Britain. The situation in their family has been bad. When Fulton was nine years old, his father died. He began to enter school this year. His extracurricular activities are concentrated in the mechanical workshop. At the age of fourteen, he made an air gun under the guidance of a gun master. From the gunsmith, he learned the method of experiment. Fulton went to Philadelphia at the age of seventeen and began to make a living on his own. He designs vehicles and draws mechanical drawings for machinery factories. Later, I got to know Philadelphia scientists Franklin and Watt for painting. Fulton laid a good foundation in painting at this time, which created the necessary conditions for his future research funds. In order to carry out in-depth scientific research, he kept learning culture and theory. He studied French, German and Italian, advanced mathematics, chemistry, physics and perspective painting. He taught himself while working, and squeezed time to learn the necessary basic knowledge. In order to study and manufacture steamboats, as early as after 1793, he made a lot of sketches about machines, paddles and boats, and studied and summarized the experience and lessons of predecessors in manufacturing steamboats. He feels that there are many technical problems to be solved, such as tonnage-power ratio, hull length-width ratio, and paddle size. To solve these problems, we must pass experiments. 1803 65438+1On October 9th, Fulton started the steam-driven ship model test in Paris. For each test, he carefully made a table for comparison. After nine years of experiments, he finally got some necessary technical data from practice. Finally,1August 9, 807, the steamboat "Clemente" was built. /kloc-in August of 0/7, Fulton personally sailed it on the Hudson River in the United States. The steamboat travels four miles an hour. After many voyages, the steamboat runs quite stably and sails normally. (The distance from new york to Orbar 150 miles, the steamboat goes up for 32 hours and down for 30 hours, with an average speed of 5 miles per hour). Later, Fulton took the Clemente to the dock in new york for renovation, adding some equipment, improving the conditions on board and making passengers more comfortable. After many improvements, the speed of Clemente gradually increased to six to eight miles per hour. 1809, Fulton built the first ferry "York and Jessy" which is convenient for passengers and cargo. He built seventeen steamboats in his life. The steamboat successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Since then, steamboats have not only been widely used in inland rivers and coastal routes, but also gradually appeared on ocean routes.
Fulton's most important scientific achievement in his life is the research and creation of steamboats, which has reached a practical level. He also invented equipment to lift ships at different water levels in the canal. Fulton is brave in practice and creation and has made important contributions to the development of science and technology in the world.