Burgess, Hugh

Burgess, Hugh

▪ American inventor
born c. 1825, , Reading, Berkshire, Eng.
died Feb. 23, 1892, Atlantic City, N.J., U.S.

      British-born American inventor who, with Charles Watt, developed the soda process used to turn wood pulp into paper.

      Little is known of his early life. In 1851 he and Watt developed a process in which pulpwood was cut into small chips, boiled in a solution of caustic alkali at high temperature and pressure in a closed container, and then washed with water and, if desired, bleached. From the resulting pulp, the inventors produced white paper at a mill in Boxmoor, Hertfordshire, and proved the practical usefulness of the paper by having part of an edition of the weekly London Journal printed on it.

      When their invention aroused little interest in England, Burgess and Watt emigrated to the United States, established a mill on the Schuylkill River near Philadelphia, and received a U.S. patent on the soda process in 1854. Subsequent experiments with straw, cornstalks, bamboo, and cane demonstrated that wood was still the best basic ingredient for papermaking. After a struggle to gain acceptance for his process, Burgess, with Morris L.Keen, founded the American Wood Paper Company at Royersford, Pa., in 1863, serving as manager until his death. Although this firm eventually went bankrupt, it established the soda process in the paper industry.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hugh V. Clarke — Hugh Vincent Clarke was an Australian author specializing in military history.He was born in Brisbane, Australia, on 27 November 1919 and was a cadet surveyor with the Queensland Main Roads Commission. He left the Commission to enlist in the… …   Wikipedia

  • Ian Burgess — Ian John Burgess est un ancien pilote automobile britannique né le 6 juillet 1930 à Londres. Il a participé à 43 GP de Formule 1 dont 15 comptant pour le championnat du monde de 1957 à 1963. Ian Burgess n’a jamais inscrit de points en championnat …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Colin Burgess (author) — For other uses, see Colin Burgess (disambiguation). Colin Burgess (born 1947) is an Australian author and historian, specializing in space flight and military history. He is a former customer service manager for Qantas Airways, and a regular… …   Wikipedia

  • Neale Burgess — Neale Ronald Burgess (born 17 August 1956) is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2006, representing the electorate of Hastings. Burgess was born in Melbourne to a… …   Wikipedia

  • Margaret Burgess — (born 7 December 1949) is a Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament, representing the Cunninghame South constituency.[1] References ^ The Scottish Parliament Current Members Margaret Burgess …   Wikipedia

  • Daniel Burgess (minister) — Daniel Burgess (1645–1713), English Presbyterian divine, was born at Staines, in Middlesex, where his father was minister. He was educated under Richard Busby at Westminster School, and in 1660 was sent to Magdalen Hall, Oxford, but not being… …   Wikipedia

  • Liste de zoologistes — Attention, il n est pas d usage en zoologie d utiliser d abréviation pour les noms des auteurs (contrairement aux usages de la botanique, voir ici). Cette liste ne constitue pas une liste officielle. Nous attirons l attention du lecteur sur son… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • 2000 New Year Honours — The insignia of the Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George: Andrew Wood was awarded the Grand Cross in this Honours list. The New Year Honours 2000 for the United Kingdom were announced on 31 December 1999, to celebrate the year… …   Wikipedia

  • List of botanists by author abbreviation — This is an incomplete list of botanists by their author abbreviation, which is designed for citation with the botanical names or works that they have published. This list follows that established by Brummitt Powell (1992).[1] Use of that list is… …   Wikipedia

  • Tom Driberg — Thomas Edward Neil Driberg, Baron Bradwell Tom Driberg in the early 1930s Chairman of the Labour Party In office 1957–1958 Leader …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”