A Victorian Scientist and Engineer: Fleeming Jenkin and the Birth of Electrical Engineering (review)
Chen‐Pang Yeang · Victorian Studies · 2001
Fleeming Jenkin deserves more attention than he has received. His career both provided a window on engineering science in Victorian Britain and was influential in shaping modern electrical technology. Scholars, however, have not adequately acknowledged Jenkin's historical importance. Unlike the biographies of most prestigious Victorian scientists and engineers which were written by their colleagues or disciples, Jenkin's memoir was written by his novelist friend Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson gave a vivid, dramatic picture of Jenkin's personality and life by narrating an adventure, the novelist's favorite genre. Such an adventure tale failed to address the technical works that made Jenkin historically significant. In this handsome biography, Gillian Cookson and Colin A. Hempstead attempt to compensate for the shortcoming by focusing on his works. [End Page 117]