Papers on the Wave Engine

Comprises:

Two notebooks, bound together to form a single volume, containing a draft of a paper on Galton's wave machine, and diagrams illustrating the action of the whole and the various parts.

Letter from Sir George H Darwin regarding Galton's wave machine [referred to only as his "patented invention"], and several queries about the practicability of a new kind of ship.

Two letters from Charles Watkins Merrifield. The first informs Galton of his reservations about the wave machine, based on his theoretical conclusions about its likely inefficiency relative to the cost; the second corrects a calculation, and advises that the machine as currently proposed would not be suited to measuring sea disturbance either. Dated April 1872.

Five letters from Henry William Watson. The letters contain Watson's proposal for a pneumatic engine, in connection with Galton's wave machine, and harnessing wave energy for useful work. Dated October 1871 - February 1872.

1871-1872

1 notebook plus 20 folios

The papers are available at UCL Special Collections and Archives subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking.

A digitised copy is held by the Wellcome Library as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.

The original material is held at UCL Special Collections. This catalogue is held by the Wellcome Library as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.