John Scott Russell

naval architect, shipbuilder

Engineering Achievements

On commencing his career, ship design was largely an art form supported by empirical data, but from the contributions of John Scott Russell - amongst others - it became an exact engineering science ensuring that the performance and safety characteristics of ships could be designed with a high degree of certainty. His work on solitons has helped to advance fluid dynamics and subsequently fibre optic data transmission. But he excelled in other fields of engineering too.  

Steam Carriages: While in Edinburgh John Scott Russell experimented with steam engines, using a square boiler and developing a method of staying the boiler which became universal. The Scottish Steam Carriage Company was formed producing steam carriages of 12 horsepower each. Six were constructed in 1834, fitted out to a high standard and they ran between Glasgow and Paisley at hourly intervals at 15 mph. Two of the coaches were sent to London where they ran between London and Greenwich.

Naval Architecture: He was a major contributor to the design of several ground breaking ships, including the Great Eastern. He argued with the Navy in favour of the construction of iron ships, leading ultimately to the construction of HMS Warrior. He researched the hydrodynamics of waveforms impacting ship resistance and developed the Wave Line system which revolutionised ship design from the bluff bow forms to the concave bow lines of clipper ships and later steam ships. He conducted experiments to determine the most efficient design for canal boats and discovered a phenomenon that he described as the ‘wave of translation’. He researched this in wave tanks built in his own home. In fluid dynamics this is now called ‘Russell’s solitary wave’ - or a ‘soliton’. In the 1960’s with the advent of modern computers the significance of his discovery became better understood and used in the fields of physics, electronics, biology and especially fibre optics, leading to the modern general theory of solitons. In 1864 he published a 3-volume treatise on The Modern System of Naval Architecture which included the profiles of many modern ships being built at that time. 

Shipbuilding: He was employed as general manager at the small Greenock engine works of Caird & Co. from around 1838. Here he introduced his Wave Line system and other innovations to the ships, including a series of Royal Mail ships. In 1848 he moved to London and purchased the Millwall Iron Works Shipbuilding Company. Here he built ships for several owners. This included Brunel with ships built for the Australia route. Brunel then made him a partner in his project to build the Great Eastern, which incorporated many of Russell’s design features and construction techniques. They fell out and the feud with the Brunel family endured beyond Brunel's death.

Civil Engineering: He designed the Rotunde for the 1873 Vienna Exposition. At 108 metres in diameter it was for nearly a century the largest cupola in the world, having no ties to obstruct the view. 

Professional Associations: Much of Russell’s work had been conducted under the auspices of the British Association and throughout his life he contributed to the scientific and professional associations that were becoming more important in that era. He became the secretary of a committee set up by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce to organise a national exhibition in 1847. This and two subsequent exhibitions were such a success that an international version was held, with Russell as the appointed secretary for the Great Exhibition of 1851. He was awarded a Gold Medal for this work.

His Life

1. 1808 Born on 8 May 1808 in Parkhead, Glasgow the son of Reverend David Russell and Agnes Clark Scott
2. 1825 Age: 17 MA from University of Glasgow
3. 1826 Age: 18 Founded the South Academy, a preparatory school for the University of Edinburgh
4. 1832 Age: 24 Professor of Natural Philosophy (temporary), University of Edinburgh
5. 1834 Age: 26 Founded Scottish Steam Carriage Company which ran 6 carriages he had designed, each carrying 26 passengers, for a service between Glasgow and Paisley
6. 1835 Age: 27 First paper to the British Association on the "wave of translation"
7. 1836 Age: 28 Married Harriette Osborne on 27 December
8. 1838 Age: 30 General Manager at Caird & Co's engine works, Greenock
9. 1841 Age: 33 Author of "steam engine and steam navigation" for the 7th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica
10. 1844 Age: 36 Moved to London as Editor of the Railway Chronicle
11. 1845 Age: 37 Secretary of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce
12. 1847 Age: 39 with partners, took over Fairbairn's shipbuilding yard at Millwall, London becomng sole owner in 1851
13. 1849 Age: 41 Fellow of the Royal Society
14. 1850 Age: 42 Joint secretary for the Great Exhibition of 1851
15. 1851 Age: 43 Built two mail steamers "Adelaide" and "Victoria" for Australian Royal Mail Co. (I.K. Brunel chief engineer)
16. 1852 Age: 44 Began discussing plans for "The Great Eastern" with I.K. Brunel
17. 1856 Age: 48 Shipyard failed in February, separate contract made for "Great Eastern" to continue
18. 1859 Age: 51 Hosted a dinner party, from which emerged the Royal Institution of Naval Architects in January 1860
19. 1864-5 Age: 56-7 Published a 3-volume tome "The Modern System of Naval Architecture for Commerce and War"
20. 1872 Age: 64 Designed the Rotunde for the 1873 Vienna Exposition
21. 1882 Age: 74 Died on 8 June 1882 in Ventnor, Isle of Wight, England

His Legacy

John Scott Russell’s great legacy is his contribution to Naval Architecture and fluid dynamics. His work on solitons has helped to advance fluid dynamics and subsequently fibre optic data transmission. The Royal Institution of Naval Architects that he founded is still flourishing and advancing the science of Naval Architecture.

He will be best remembered for bringing science to naval architecture through the investigation and development of theories. 

More Information

John Scott Russell (1838) Report of the Committee on Waves : appointed by the British Association at Bristol in 1836 [and consisting of Sir John Robison and John Scott Russell] From the seventh report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science

John S. Russell (1865) The Modern System of Naval Architecture for Commerce and War Three Volumes, Day & Son, London

David K Brown. John Scott Russell biography in ODNB (full text available to subscribers and UK library members)

George S Emmerson (1977) John Scott Russell, a Great Victorian Engineer and Naval Architect. John Murray

Andrew Lambert (2011) John Scott Russell - Ships, Science and Scandal in the Age of Transition The international journal for the history of engineering & technology, 2011-01, Vol.81 (1), p.60-78

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