Address on the scientific life and labors of William C. Redfield, A.M., first president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science : delivered before the Association at their Annual Meeting in Montreal, August 14, 1857 / by Denison Olmsted.

  • Olmsted, Denison, 1791-1859.
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Address on the scientific life and labors of William C. Redfield, A.M., first president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science : delivered before the Association at their Annual Meeting in Montreal, August 14, 1857 / by Denison Olmsted. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    steamboat boilers, as they successively occurred—the number of lives lost—the number of deaths by steam compared with those by lightning—and the number compared with those lost by other modes of travel. Moreover, while Mr. Kedfield was diligently v pursuing his daily business and conducting with success the af- fairs of the Steam Navigation Company, he was also collecting facts for the improvement of the art itself, or for securing the safety of passengers. He devised simpler, cheaper, and safer forms of apparatus than those in general use. He investigated the influence of legal enactments for regulating steam navigation, and pointed out to legislatures and governments the inefficacy or inexpediency of such enactments, and suggested the true measures to be taken to promote the convenience and secure the safety of the public. He addressed a series of letters through the public prints to one of our prominent naval commanders, setting forth the adaptedness of steam as an agent of national defense. He responded to the call of the Secretary of the United States Treasury to point out the causes of steamboat explosions, and to suggest the means of safety. Happy would it be, if in all the great operations of the mechanical arts, the true spirit of the philosopher were so fully conjoined with the practical knowl- edge and skill of the engineer. How rapid would be the im- provement of the arts ! How science and art would walk hand in hand, and mutually aid and illustrate each other! We turn now to another subject which engaged the attention of Mr. Redfield, and brought into exercise his remarkable sa- gacity and forecast. He was the first to place before the Ameri- can people the plan of a system of railroads connecting the waters of the Hudson with those of the Mississippi. His pam- phlet containing this project, issued in 1829, is a proud monu- ment of his enlarged views, of his accurate knowledge of the topography of the vast country lying between these great rivers, of his extraordinary forecast, anticipating as he did the rapid settlement of the western states, the magic development of their agricultural and mineral wealth, and the consequent rapid growth of our great commercial metropolis. The route proposed is sub- stantially that of the New York and Erie railroad as far as this goes; but his views extended still further, and he marked out,