View source for John Smeaton

{{Short description|British engineer (1724–1792)}}
{{about|the civil engineer|the baggage handler|John Smeaton (born 1976)|the Australian cricket umpire|John Smeaton (umpire)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = John Smeaton
| image              = John_Smeaton.jpg
| caption            = Smeaton, with the [[Eddystone Lighthouse]] in the background
| birth_name         = 
| birth_date         = {{birth date|df=yes|1724|06|8}}
| birth_place        = [[Austhorpe]], [[West Riding of Yorkshire]], England
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1792|10|28|1724|06|8}}
| death_place        = Austhorpe, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
| death_cause        = 
| resting_place      = [[St Mary's Church, Whitkirk|St Mary's Church]], [[Whitkirk]]
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| known_for          = 
| education          = 
| employer           = 
| occupation         = Civil engineer
| title              = 
| height             = 
| awards             = [[Copley Medal]] (1759)
| spouse             = 
| partner            = 
| children           = 
| parents            = 
| relatives          = 
| signature          = 
| website            = 
| footnotes          = 
}}
'''John Smeaton''' {{Post-nominals|FRS|country=GBR|size=100%}} (8 June 1724&nbsp;– 28 October 1792) was an English [[civil engineer]] responsible for the design of bridges, [[canal]]s, [[harbour]]s and [[lighthouse]]s.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Knowles|first1=Eleanor|title=Engineer Biography: John Smeaton|url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/who/Smeaton_J/smeatonJohn.asp|website=Engineering Timelines|access-date=31 January 2017}}</ref> He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent [[scholar]], who introduced various [[scientific method|scientific methodologies]] into engineering.<ref name="Morris">Morris, Andrew M.A. (2021). "English engineer John Smeaton's experimental method(s)". Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 89, 283-294|url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2021.07.004</ref> Smeaton was the first self-proclaimed "civil engineer", and is often regarded as the "father of [[civil engineering]]".<ref name="Denny">Denny, Mark (2007). "Ingenium: Five Machines That Changed the World". p. 34. JHU Press.</ref> He pioneered the use of [[hydraulic lime]] in [[concrete]], using pebbles and powdered brick as aggregate.<ref name=InterNACHI>{{cite web|title=the History of Concrete|url=http://www.nachi.org/history-of-concrete.htm|publisher=The International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI)|first=Nick |last=Gromicko|first2=Kenton |last2=Shepard|name-list-style=amp|access-date=8 January 2013}}</ref> Smeaton was associated with the [[Lunar Society]].

==Law and physics==
Smeaton was born in [[Austhorpe]], [[Leeds]], England. After studying at [[Leeds Grammar School]] he joined his father's law firm, but left to become a mathematical instrument maker (working with [[Henry Hindley]]), developing, among other instruments, a [[pyrometer]] to study material expansion.  In 1750, his premises were in the [[Great Turnstile]] in Holborn.<ref>{{citation |title=Great Men of Great Britain |editor-first=Elihu |editor-last=Rich |publisher=D. Appleton |year=1866 |page=276}}</ref>
[[File:John Smeaton by George Romney, 1779, National Portrait Gallery, London.JPG|thumb|left|John Smeaton by [[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]], 1779 (detail), [[National Portrait Gallery, London]]|alt=]]
He was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in 1753 and in 1759 won the [[Copley Medal]] for his research into the mechanics of [[waterwheel]]s and [[windmill]]s.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Knowles|first1=Eleanor|title=Engineer Biography: John Smeaton, water wheels and mill works|url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/who/Smeaton_J/smeatonJohn6.asp|website=Engineering Timelines|access-date=31 January 2017}}</ref> His 1759 paper "An Experimental Enquiry Concerning the Natural Powers of Water and Wind to Turn Mills and Other Machines Depending on Circular Motion"<ref name="Phil. Trans. 1759 51:100-174; doi:10.1098/rstl.1759.0019">{{cite journal|last=Smeaton|first=Mr J.|title=An Experimental Enquiry concerning the Natural Powers of Water and Wind to Turn Mills, and Other Machines, Depending on a Circular Motion.|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society|volume=51|year=1759|pages=100–174|doi=10.1098/rstl.1759.0019|doi-access=free}}</ref> addressed the relationship between pressure and velocity for objects moving in air (Smeaton noted that the table doing so was actually contributed by "my friend Mr Rouse" "an ingenious gentleman of Harborough, Leicestershire" and calculated on the basis of Rouse's experiments), and his concepts were subsequently developed to devise the 'Smeaton Coefficient'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centennialofflight.net/essay/Dictionary/Smeaton/DI75.htm |title=Centennial of flight: Smeaton's Coefficient |publisher=centennialofflight.net |access-date=31 May 2010}}</ref> Smeaton's [[water wheel]] experiments were conducted on a small scale model with which he tested various configurations over a period of seven years.<ref>
{{cite book
|title=The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry and Invention
|last1=Rosen
|first1=William
|year= 2012 |publisher = University of Chicago Press
|isbn= 978-0226726342 |page=127
}}
</ref> The resultant increase in efficiency in water power contributed to the [[Industrial Revolution]].{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Over the period 1759–1782 he performed a series of further experiments and measurements on water wheels that led him to support and champion the ''[[vis viva]]'' theory of German [[Gottfried Leibniz]], an early formulation of [[conservation of energy]]. This led him into conflict with members of the academic establishment who rejected Leibniz's theory, believing it inconsistent with Sir [[Isaac Newton]]'s [[conservation of momentum]].{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

==Smeaton coefficient==
In his 1759 paper "An Experimental Enquiry Concerning the Natural Powers of Water and Wind to Turn Mills and Other Machines Depending on Circular Motion" Smeaton developed the concepts and data which became the basis for the ''Smeaton coefficient'',<ref name=cof>{{cite web|url=https://www.centennialofflight.net/essay/Dictionary/Smeaton/DI75.htm|title=Smeaton's Coefficient|website=www.centennialofflight.net}}</ref> the lift equation used by the [[Wright brothers]]. It has the form:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wright.nasa.gov/airplane/liftold.html |title=Lift equation of the early 1900s |publisher=Wright.nasa.gov |date=25 March 2010 |access-date=31 May 2010 |archive-date=27 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527205655/http://wright.nasa.gov/airplane/liftold.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

:<math>L = k V^2 A C_l \,</math>

where:
:<math>L</math> is the lift
:<math>k</math> is the Smeaton coefficient (see note below)
:<math>V</math> is the velocity
:<math>A</math> is the area in square feet
:<math>C_l</math> is the [[lift coefficient]] (the lift relative to the drag of a plate of the same area)

The Wright brothers determined with [[wind tunnel]]s that the Smeaton coefficient value of 0.005<ref name=cof/> was incorrect and should have been 0.0033.<ref name=Dodson>{{cite journal |last=Dodson |first=M.&nbsp;G. |title=An Historical and Applied Aerodynamic Study of the Wright Brothers' Wind Tunnel Test Program and Application to Successful Manned Flight |journal=US Naval Academy Technical Report |volume=USNA-334 |year=2005 |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/3585 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090514071842/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/3585 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=14 May 2009 |access-date=17 March 2009}}</ref> In modern analysis, the lift coefficient is normalised by the [[dynamic pressure]] instead of the Smeaton coefficient.

==Civil engineering==
[[File:Smeaton's Lighthouse00.jpg|thumb|right|{{center|[[Smeaton's Lighthouse]]}}]]
Smeaton is important in the history, rediscovery of, and development of modern [[cement]], identifying the compositional requirements needed to obtain "hydraulicity" in lime; work which led ultimately to the invention of [[Portland cement]]. Portland cement led to the re-emergence of concrete as a modern building material, largely due to Smeaton's influence.

Recommended by the Royal Society, Smeaton designed the third [[Eddystone Lighthouse]] (1755–59).<ref>{{cite web|title=Eddystone Lighthouse, Smeaton Tower substructure|url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=924|website=Engineering Timelines|access-date=31 January 2017}}</ref> He pioneered the use of '[[hydraulic lime]]' (a form of [[mortar (masonry)|mortar]] that will set under water) and developed a technique involving [[Dovetail joint|dovetailed]] blocks of granite in the building of the lighthouse. In designing the lighthouse, Smeaton combined different types of knowledge from separate fields, including geology, electrical research, meteorology, and classical learning.<ref>Morris, A. M. A. (2021). “ The joint labours of ingenious men”: John Smeaton's Royal Society network and the Eddystone Lighthouse. Centaurus, 63(3), 513–531. https://doi.org/10.1111/1600-0498.12398</ref>


[[File:Granite bust by Philip Chatfield in Smeaton's Tower Plymouth.jpg|thumb|left|Granite bust by Philip Chatfield in Smeaton's Tower Plymouth]]
His lighthouse remained in use until 1877 when the rock underlying the structure's foundations had begun to erode; it was dismantled and partially rebuilt at [[Plymouth Hoe]] where it is known as [[Smeaton's Tower]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Eddystone Lighthouse, Smeaton Tower (relocated)|url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=67|website=Engineering Timelines|access-date=31 January 2017}}</ref> In 2020 a Cornish granite bust of Smeaton by Philip Chatfield, commissioned by [[The Box, Plymouth]], and funded by [[Trinity House]], was installed in the tower's lantern chamber before its reopening. The bust is based on a plaster one donated by the [[Institution of Civil Engineers]] in about 1980, but later removed for safety reasons.<ref name="PH">{{cite web |last1=Oldfield |first1=Edward |title=There's a giant new granite face staring out of Smeaton's Tower |url=https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/theres-giant-new-granite-face-5306553 |access-date=16 May 2024}}</ref>
[[File:Smeaton dovetailing.jpg|thumb|right|Cross section of the [[Eddystone Lighthouse]] showing the method of dovetailing]]
[[File:Perth Bridge, Perth.jpg|thumb|right|[[Perth Bridge]], over the Tay]]
Deciding that he wanted to focus on the lucrative field of civil engineering, he commenced an extensive series of commissions, including:
* the [[Calder and Hebble Navigation]] (1758–70)
* [[Coldstream Bridge]] over the [[River Tweed]] (1763–66)
* Improvements to the [[River Lee Navigation]] (1765–70)
* [[St Ives, Cornwall#Fishing|Smeaton's Pier]] in St Ives, Cornwall (1767–70)
* [[Smeaton's Bridge|Perth Bridge]] over the [[River Tay]] in [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]] (1766–71)
* [[Ripon Canal]] (1766–1773)
* Smeaton's [[Viaduct]], which carries the [[A616 road]] (part of the original Great North Road) over the [[River Trent]] between [[Newark, England|Newark]] and [[South Muskham]] in Nottinghamshire (1768–70)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biffvernon.freeserve.co.uk/smeaton's_viaduct.htm |title=Biff Vernon: "Smeaton's viaduct" |publisher=Biffvernon.freeserve.co.uk |access-date=31 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100121034952/http://www.biffvernon.freeserve.co.uk/smeaton's_viaduct.htm |archive-date=21 January 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/134856 |title=Geograph Photo |publisher=Geograph.org.uk |date=10 March 2006 |access-date=31 May 2010}}</ref>
* the [[Forth and Clyde Canal]] from [[Grangemouth]] to [[Glasgow]] (1768–77)
* [[Langley on Tyne]] smelt mill, with Nicholas Walton, acting as receivers to the [[Greenwich Hospital, London]] (1768)<ref>"The Greenwich Hospital Smelt Mill at Langley, Northumberland 1768–1780" by F. J. Monkhouse, Transactions of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy vol. 49, 1940. It is a [http://www.keystothepast.info/Pages/pgDetail.aspx?PRN=N7649 Scheduled Ancient Monument] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205021846/http://www.keystothepast.info/Pages/pgDetail.aspx?PRN=N7649 |date=5 December 2014 }}.</ref>
* [[Banff, Scotland|Banff]] harbour (1770–75)
* [[Lower North Water Bridge]] (1770–75)
* [[Aberdeen]] bridge (1775–80)
* [[Peterhead]] harbour (1775–1881)
* [[Alston, Cumbria#Nent Force level|Nent Force Level]] (1776–77)
* [[Cardington, Bedfordshire|Cardington]] Bridge (1778)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/CommunityHistories/Cardington/CardingtonBridge.aspx|title=Bedfordshire Archives|date=20 June 2019 }}</ref>
* Harbour works at [[Ramsgate]] ([[retention basin]] 1776–83; jetty 1788–1792)
* [[Hexham Bridge]] (1777–90); completed by [[Robert Mylne (architect)|Robert Mylne]] in 1793
* the [[Birmingham and Fazeley Canal]] (1782–89)
*[[St Austell]]'s [[Charlestown, Cornwall|Charlestown]] harbour in [[Cornwall]] (1792)
[[File:charlestown harbour.jpg|thumb|right|The [[impounded dock|impounded harbour]] at [[Charlestown, Cornwall]]]]

Smeaton is considered to be the first [[expert witness]] to appear in an English court. Because of his expertise in engineering, he was called to testify in court for a case related to the silting-up of the harbour at [[Wells-next-the-Sea]] in Norfolk in 1782.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ryemuseum.co.uk/smeatons-harbour/|title=Smeaton's Harbour - Rye Castle Museum|website=www.ryemuseum.co.uk|access-date=8 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702204709/https://www.ryemuseum.co.uk/smeatons-harbour/|archive-date=2 July 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> He also acted as a consultant on the disastrous 63-year-long New Harbour at [[Rye, East Sussex|Rye]], designed to combat the silting of the port of [[Winchelsea]]. The project is now known informally as "Smeaton's Harbour", but despite the name his involvement was limited and occurred more than 30 years after work on the harbour commenced.<ref name="ryemuseum">[http://www.ryemuseum.co.uk/index.php/2009/02/smeatons-harbour/ Rye Museum website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726111459/http://www.ryemuseum.co.uk/index.php/2009/02/smeatons-harbour/ |date=26 July 2011 }}</ref> It closed in 1839.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ryesown.co.uk/smeatons-harbour/|title=Smeaton's Harbour – Rye's Own Magazine|website=ryesown.co.uk|access-date=8 September 2018}}</ref>

==Mechanical engineer==
Employing his skills as a mechanical engineer, he devised a [[water engine]] for the [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|Royal Botanic Gardens]] at [[Kew]] in 1761 and a watermill at [[Alston, Cumbria|Alston]], Cumbria in 1767 (he is credited by some with inventing the cast-iron axle shaft for [[water wheel]]s). In 1782 he built the Chimney Mill at [[Spital Tongues]] in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], the first 5-sailed [[smock mill]] in Britain. He also improved [[Thomas Newcomen]]'s [[Newcomen engine|atmospheric engine]], erecting one at Chacewater mine, [[Wheal Busy]], in Cornwall in 1775 which was both highly efficient and the most powerful at the time.<ref name = "ODNBSmeaton">{{Cite ODNB|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/25746|title=Smeaton, John|last=Skempton|first=A. W.|author-link = A. W. Skempton}}</ref>

In 1789 Smeaton applied an idea by [[Denis Papin]], by using a force pump to maintain the pressure and fresh air inside a [[diving bell]].<ref name=davis1955>{{cite book |last=Davis |first=R.&nbsp;H. |title=Deep Diving and Submarine Operations |year=1955 |edition=6th |publisher=[[Siebe Gorman|Siebe Gorman & Company Ltd]] |location=Tolworth, Surbiton, Surrey |page=693 |author-link=Robert Davis (inventor) }}</ref><ref name=dive_hx>{{cite journal |last=Acott |first=C. |title=A brief history of diving and decompression illness. |journal=South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society Journal |volume=29 |issue=2 |year=1999 |issn=0813-1988 |oclc=16986801 |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/6004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080627230124/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/6004 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=27 June 2008 |access-date=17 March 2009 }}</ref> This bell, built for the [[Hexham Bridge]] project, was not intended for underwater work, but in 1790 the design was updated to enable it to be used underwater on the breakwater at Ramsgate Harbour.<ref name=dive_hx/> Smeaton is also credited with explaining the fundamental differences and benefits of overshot versus undershot water wheels. Smeaton experimented with the [[Thomas Newcomen|Newcomen]] steam engine and made marked improvements around the time [[James Watt]] was building his first engines ({{circa|late 1770s}}).<ref>[http://www.engineering-timelines.com/who/Smeaton_J/smeatonJohn10.asp John Smeaton- Engineering Timeline] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307232238/http://www.engineering-timelines.com/who/Smeaton_J/smeatonJohn10.asp |date= 7 March 2012 }}</ref>

==Legacy==
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2023}}
Smeaton died after suffering a stroke while walking in the garden of his family home at Austhorpe, and was buried in the [[St Mary's Church, Whitkirk|parish church at Whitkirk]], West Yorkshire. His surviving daughters erected a memorial to him and his wife which is on the [[chancel]] wall of the church.<ref>{{cite web |title=Smeaton Memorial |url=https://memorials.whitkirkchurch.org.uk/memorials/nmkx |access-date=2 July 2020 |archive-date=30 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030044916/https://memorials.whitkirkchurch.org.uk/memorials/nmkx |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Whitkirk>{{cite web |title=John Smeaton - St Mary's Church |url=https://whitkirkchurch.org.uk/history/john-smeaton/ |access-date=2 July 2020}}</ref>

Due to the decay of the rock beneath the Eddystone Lighthouse the structure needed to be replaced. When the upper section of Smeaton's lighthouse (which included the lantern, store and living and watch room) was about to be removed, it was suggested that some of it be brought to Whitkirk and set up as a memorial to him. Unfortunately, the project was deemed too expensive as it was estimated that it would cost around £1800.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kirk |first=George E. |title=A History of the Parish Church of St Mary, Whitkirk, Leeds |publisher=John Whitehead & Son |year=1935 |pages=126}}</ref>

He is highly regarded by other engineers, having contributed to the [[Lunar Society]] and founded the [[Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers|Society of Civil Engineers]] in 1771. He coined the term ''[[civil engineers]]'' to distinguish them from military engineers graduating from the [[Royal Military Academy at Woolwich]].<ref name="Denny"/> The Society was a forerunner of the [[Institution of Civil Engineers]], established in 1818, and was renamed the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers in 1830. His pupils included canal engineer [[William Jessop]] and architect and engineer [[Benjamin Latrobe]].

The pioneering [[constant of proportionality]] describing pressure varying inversely as the square of the velocity when applied to objects moving in air was named ''Smeaton's coefficient'' in his honour.<ref name=cof/> Based on his concepts and data, it was used by the [[Wright brothers]] in their pursuit of the first successful [[heavier-than-air aircraft]].

Between 1860 and 1894 the design of the reverse side of the [[History of the British penny (1714–1901)|old penny coin]] showed (behind [[Britannia]]) a depiction of Smeaton’s Eddystone lighthouse.<ref name=Whitkirk/>

Smeaton is one of six civil engineers depicted in the [[Robert Stephenson|Stephenson]] stained glass window, designed by [[William Wailes]] and unveiled in [[Westminster Abbey]] in 1862.<ref>{{cite web|title=Westminster Abbey – Robert Stephenson|url=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/robert-stephenson|access-date=26 June 2015}}</ref> A memorial stone commemorating Smeaton himself was unveiled in the Abbey on 7 November 1994, by Noel Ordman, President of the [[Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Westminster Abbey – John Smeaton|url=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/john-smeaton|access-date=26 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Civil Honour|newspaper=The Times|date=7 November 1994|page=16|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> 
[[File:Johm Smeaton Viaduct 2013.JPG|thumb|right|Signs on the John Smeaton [[Viaduct]]]]
[[John Smeaton Academy]], a secondary school in the suburbs of Leeds adjacent to the [[Pendas Fields]] estate near Austhorpe, is named after Smeaton. He is also commemorated at the [[University of Plymouth]], where the Mathematics and Technology Department is housed in a building named after him. A viaduct in the final stage of the [[Leeds Inner Ring Road]], opened in 2008, was named after him.

Smeaton is mentioned in the song "[[I Predict a Riot]]" (as a symbol of a more dignified and peaceful epoch in Leeds history; and in reference to a Junior School House at Leeds Grammar School, which lead singer Ricky Wilson attended) by the indie rock band [[Kaiser Chiefs]], who are natives of Leeds.

==Works==
* {{Cite book|title=Experimental enquiry concerning the natural powers of wind and water to turn mills and other machines depending on a circular motion |volume=|publisher=Louis Courcier|location=Paris|year=1810|language=en|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12127159}}
* ''A Narrative Of The Building And A Description Of The Construction Of The Edystone Lighthouse With Stone''. London: H. Hughs. 1791.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Narrative Of The Building And A Description Of The Construction Of The Edystone Lighthouse With Stone: {{!}} Books {{!}} RA Collection {{!}} Royal Academy of Arts |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/book/a-narrative-of-the-building-and-a-description-of-the-construction-of-the |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=www.royalacademy.org.uk}}</ref>
* An Account of Some Improvements of the Mariners Compass, in Order to Render the Card and Needle, Proposed by Doctor Knight, of General Use, by John Smeaton, Philosophical Instrument-Maker, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 46 (1749), p.&nbsp;513-517
* A Letter from Mr. J. Smeaton to Mr. John Ellicott, F. R. S. concerning Some Improvements Made by Himself in the Air-Pump, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 47 (1751), p.&nbsp;415-428
* An Engine for Raising Water by Fire; Being an Improvement of Savery's Construction, to Render It Capable of Working Itself, Invented by Mr. De Moura of Portugal, F. R. S. Described by Mr. J. Smeaton, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series, vol 47 (1751), p.&nbsp;436-438
* A Description of a New Tackle or Combination of Pullies, by Mr. J. Smeaton, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 47 (1751), p.&nbsp;494-497
* An Account of Some Experiments upon a Machine for Measuring the Way of a Ship at Sea. By Mr. J. Smeaton, F. R. S., Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 48 (1753), p.&nbsp;532-546
* Description of a New Pyrometer, with a Table of Experiments Made Therewith. By Mr. J. Smeaton, F. R. S., Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 48 (1753), p.&nbsp;598-613
* An Account of the Effects of Lightning upon the Steeple and Church of Lestwithiel, Cornwall; In a Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of Macclesfield, President of the R.S. By Mr. John Smeaton, F.R.S., Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 50 (1757), p.&nbsp;198-204
* Remarks on the Different Temperature of the Air at Edystone, from That Observed at Plymouth, between the 7th and 14 July 1757. By Mr. John Smeaton, F. R. S., Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 50 (1757), p.&nbsp;488-490
* An Experimental Enquiry concerning the Natural Powers of Water and Wind to Turn Mills, and Other Machines, Depending on a Circular Motion. By Mr. J. Smeaton, F. R. S., Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 51 (1759), p.&nbsp;100-174
* A Discourse concerning the Menstrual Parallax, Arising from the Mutual Gravitation of the Earth and Moon; Its Influence on the Observations of the Sun and Planets; With a Method of Observing It: By J. Smeaton, F. R. S., Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 58 (1768), p.&nbsp;156-169
* Description of a New Method of Observing the Heavenly Bodies out of the Meridian: By J. Smeaton, F. R. S., Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 58 (1768), p.&nbsp;170-173
* Observation of a Solar Eclipse the 4th of June, 1769, at the Observatory at Austhorpe, Near Leeds, in the County of York. By J. Smeaton, F. R. S., Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 59 (1769), p.&nbsp;286-288
* Description of a New Hygrometer: By Mr. John Smeaton, F. R. S., Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 61 (1771), p.&nbsp;198-211
* An Experimental Examination of the Quantity and Proportion of Mechanic Power Necessary to be Employed in Giving Different Degrees of Velocity to Heavy Bodies from a State of Rest. By Mr. John Smeaton, F. R. S., Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 66 (1776), p.&nbsp;450-475
* New Fundamental Experiments upon the Collision of Bodies. By Mr. John Smeaton, F. R. S. in a Letter to Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. P. R. S., Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 72 (1782), p.&nbsp;337-354
* Observations on the Graduation of Astronomical Instruments; With an Explanation of the Method Invented by the Late Mr. Henry Hindley, of York, Clock-Maker, to Divide Circles into any Given Number of Parts. By Mr. John Smeaton, F. R. S.; Communicated by Henry Cavendish, Esq. F. R. S. and S. A., Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 76 (1786), p.&nbsp;1-47
* Account of an Observation of the Right Ascension and Declination of Mercury out of the Meridian, Near His Greatest Elongation, Sept. 1786, Made by Mr. John Smeaton, F. R. S. with an Equatorial Micrometer, of His Own Invention and Workmanship; Accompanied with an Investigation of a Method of Allowing for Refraction in Such Kind of Observations; Communicated to the Rev. Nevil Maskelyne, D. D. F. R. S. and Astronomer Royal, and by Him to the Royal Society, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 77 (1787), p.&nbsp;318-343
* Description of an Improvement in the Application of the Quadrant of Altitude to a Celestial Globe, for the Resolution of Problems Dependant on Azimuth and Altitude. By Mr. John Smeaton, F. R. S.; Communicated by Mr. William Wales, F. R. S., Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series I, vol 79 (1789), p.&nbsp;1-6

==See also==
{{Portal|United Kingdom|Transport}}

*[[Canals of the United Kingdom]]
*[[History of the British canal system]]

==Further reading==
* [[Alec Skempton|Skempton, A.&nbsp;W.]] [Ed.], ''John Smeaton FRS'', ICE Publishing (1991) London {{ISBN|978-0727700889}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Structurae person|id=d000108|name=John Smeaton}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061013162628/http://sine.ncl.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=1287 Structure Details: Chimney Mill]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A918371 Smeaton's profile at the BBC]
* [http://www.aviation-history.com/early/smeaton.htm John Smeaton: The Aviation History Online Museum]
* [http://secretlivesofobjects.blogspot.com/2010/04/john-smeatons-model-for-foundation-of.html John Smeaton's model for the foundation of the Eddystone lighthouse (Leeds Museums and Galleries "Secret Life of Objects" blog)]
*John Smeaton [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/search/searchterm/smeaton!edystone/field/creato!title/mode/all!all/conn/and!and/order/nosort ''A narrative of the building and a description of the construction of the Edystone Lighthouse''] (1791 and 1793 editions) – [[Linda Hall Library]]
*{{cite web|last1=Haran|first1=Brady|author-link1=Brady Haran|title=The Lighthouse Designer|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q9rE_6EWac |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/0Q9rE_6EWac| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|website=YouTube|publisher=Brady Haran|access-date=20 February 2018|format=video}}{{cbignore}}

{{Copley Medallists 1751-1800}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smeaton, John}}
[[Category:1724 births]]
[[Category:1792 deaths]]
[[Category:Engineers from Yorkshire]]
[[Category:British bridge engineers]]
[[Category:English canal engineers]]
[[Category:Concrete pioneers]]
[[Category:Lighthouse builders]]
[[Category:People of the Industrial Revolution]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Copley Medal]]
[[Category:People educated at Leeds Grammar School]]
[[Category:Members of the Lunar Society of Birmingham]]
[[Category:English mechanical engineers]]
[[Category:Harbour engineers]]
[[Category:18th-century English engineers]]