Sturgeon, William

Sturgeon, William

 

Born May 22, 1783, in Whittington, near Lancaster; died Dec. 4, 1850, in Prestwich, near Manchester. British inventor in the field of electrical engineering.

Sturgeon received no specialized education. He invented the soft-iron electromagnet in 1825. In 1830 he developed a process for producing amalgamated zinc plates for galvanic cells. In 1836 he designed a suspended-coil galvanometer. Sturgeon conducted research on atmospheric electricity and studied problems of lightning protection. In 1836 he founded the first British electrical engineering journal. Annals of Electricity.