Abstract
THE letter of W. Hampson, which appears in your issue of May 26, can only mean by implication to charge me with having utilised without acknowledgment an idea of his, conveyed through a third party, in my paper on the liquid hydrogen jet, published in 1895. Such a suggestion is absolutely without any foundation in fact. My results would have been attained had Dr. Hampson never existed, just as they have been developed. He certainly in no way contributed directly or indirectly to the success of those hydrogen experiments. Had Mr. Hampson attempted to consult me as to his plans, I should have declined to entertain them, just as I had treated, under similar circumstances, distinguished colleagues engaged in low temperature research; for no other reason than to avoid the possibility of controversy. Further, I never would have allowed my assistant either to consider or advise on the projected scheme of some other person about to engage in the same field of investigation, simply because such a position would be quite unprecedented, and certain to result in misunderstandings. W. Hampson is the only inventor or investigator who has not in a straightforward way approached me directly in such matters, and it is no excuse for his dubious course of action to say he had an “introduction.” My assistant has explained his position in the matter in letters addressed to “Engineering” within the last few weeks. The paper of 1895, on gas jets containing liquid, has been a fruitful source of recrimination. No less than three patentees of low temperature apparatus—viz. Solvay, Linde and Hampson—have each recognised in its contents part of the essential subject-matter of their respective patents. It will be for these gentlemen to fight the matter out. Suffice it to say, that the statements made in my paper of 1895 remain a correct record of facts. Further remarks on the subject can be found in the Society of Arts Journal for March 1898; made during the course of a discussion on the Linde process.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
DEWAR, J. Liquid Hydrogen. Nature 58, 125 (1898). https://doi.org/10.1038/058125a0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/058125a0
This article is cited by
-
An efficient hydrogen liquefaction process integrated with a solar power tower and absorption precooling system
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy (2023)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.