View source for Gowin Knight

{{Short description|British physicist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
[[File:Gowin Knight from Science & Society 10198868.jpg|thumb|Gowin Knight]]
'''Gowin Knight''' [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]  (10 September 1713 – 8 June 1772) was a British [[physicist]] who, in 1745, discovered a process for producing strongly magnetised [[steel]]. He also served as the first [[Director of the British Museum#Principal Librarian of the British Museum (1756)|principal librarian]] of the [[British Museum]].<ref name="dnb" />

==Biography==
Born in [[Corringham, Lincolnshire|Corringham]], a small [[Parish (Church of England)|parish]] in [[Lincolnshire]], Knight was educated at [[Leeds Grammar School]] and [[Magdalen Hall, Oxford]]. He was awarded a BA in October 1736, MA in June 1739 and MB in February 1742, after which he lived in London as a practising physician.

In 1745, he discovered a process for forming strongly magnetised steel, which he used to develop a [[compass]] needle able to function with greater precision. He was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] the same year after presenting his findings to the Society. He was honoured in 1747 with the [[Copley Medal]] in recognition of his achievements and, by 1752, his technologically advanced compasses were adopted by the [[Royal Navy]], with renowned London instrument craftsman, [[George Adams (scientist, died 1773)|George Adams]], engaged in their manufacture.

In 1756, Knight received an appointment as the first principal librarian of the British Museum.<ref name="dnb" /> He died in London, at age 58.

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="dnb">{{DNB Cite|wstitle=Knight, Gowin}}</ref>
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*[http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10198868 Capsule biography of Gowin Knight at ''Science & Society Picture Library'' website]
*[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/320345/Gowin-Knight Gowin Knight entry at the ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online'']
{{Copley Medallists 1731–1750}}
{{British Museum directors}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Gowin}}
[[Category:1713 births]]
[[Category:1772 deaths]]
[[Category:People from West Lindsey District]]
[[Category:Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford]]
[[Category:18th-century English people]]
[[Category:English physicists]]
[[Category:English inventors]]
[[Category:English librarians]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Directors of the British Museum]]
[[Category:Employees of the British Museum]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Copley Medal]]