Murdock, William (1754-1839), was a Scottish inventor who made several important improvements in steam engines, discovered how to produce a burnable gas from coal, and pioneered gas lighting in the United Kingdom. He was employed by Matthew Boulton and James Watt to install their pumping engines in Cornish mines (see Boulton, Matthew ; Watt, James ). In 1786, Murdock built a successful model steam carriage. He lit his cottage at Redruth, in Cornwall, with coal gas. In 1803, he installed gas lighting in his employers’ factory and foundry. Murdock discovered that a gas jet burned more brightly when it was broken up into thin jets. The use of gas for street lighting developed independently of Murdock’s work, and many company promoters accused him of stealing their ideas. Murdock is believed to have devised the sun-and-planet gear arrangement to obtain rotary motion from a beam engine, which produced an up-and-down motion. This invention made possible the development of a steam engine that could turn wheels.
William Murdoch was born on Aug. 21, 1754, in Auchinleck, Strathclyde Region, Scotland. He changed the spelling of his last name to “Murdock” after moving to England in 1777. Murdock died on Nov. 15, 1839.
