Overview: During England‘s early 19th century era of rapid innovation, self-taught polymath Thomas Fowler devised breakthrough technologies spanning primitive computing devices, calculation tables, and heating systems. Despite minimal formal STEM training, Fowler‘s natural mathematical gifts and non-stop tinkering yielded advances laying foundations for modern computing, engineering and building infrastructure. This article explores his remarkable mix of creativity, skill and grit powering innovations still relevant over 200 years later.
Rural Roots and a Boundless Mind
I‘ve always been fascinated by self-taught inventors like Thomas Fowler who created groundbreaking devices largely removed from the scientific establishment of their day. Born in 1777 in Devon’s remote market town of Great Torrington to working-class parents [1], Fowler had minimal access to traditional education. Nonetheless, his boundless curiosity and appetite for reading drove him to master complex mathematics texts in his spare time as a cooper‘s apprentice.
Expanding on the rote arithmetic he learned in village school, Fowler pored over advanced algebraic and computational principles in William Emerson‘s The Mathematical Principles of Geography and similar tomes. This self-guided scholarship seems to have awakened his innate talent for numbers, laying crucial groundwork for his later trailblazing work.
Printer to Publisher to Banker
Fowler first built on his mathematical gifts professionally in the printing industry. After his cooper training, he mastered the highly precise mechanics of running printing presses to mass-produce books and pamphlets [2]. He then took on publishing directly, selling printed works including mathematical texts he likely used himself.
But in the 1820s, Fowler pivoted to finance and accounting, working as treasurer and manager for a Great Torrington bank. Here he confronted tedious, error-prone calculations day in and day out. I can just picture him returning home tired from long days tallying interest payments and currency conversions, but invigorated by the mathematical challenges banking presented. Fowler decided to engineer novel solutions.
Binary/Ternary Table Breakthrough
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By 1838, Fowler published his first major invention: comprehensive binary and ternary number conversion tables. What‘s so special about these intimidating collections of 1‘s, 2‘s and 3‘s? In short, they revolutionized complex calculations using simpler bases.
Fowler knew any number could ultimately be expressed through combining multiples of 2 or 3 (just as normal base-10 numbers combine multiples of 10 digits). By providing lookup tables linking base-10 and base-2/base-3 equivalents, conversion became trivial. And since base-2 and -3 arithmetic requires fewer values, calculation using binary/ternary tables proved far simpler.
| Calculation Type | Base 10 Approach | Fowler Binary Approach |
|---|---|---|
| 8-Digit Multiplication | 64 sequential single-digit x single-digit multiplies | Just 4 binary number additions |
| Long Division | Repeated sequential subtraction | Repeated simple division by 2 or 3 |
Though binary/ternary formats were known, Fowler compiled the first highly functional tables for practical tasks like banking. And by demonstrating their superior computational utility through conversions, his system endured as a core building block of computer science.
Calculating Machine Prototype
Building on his tables in 1840, Fowler constructed one of history’s earliest mechanical calculating machines [3]. I wish I could have examined its ingenious system of rods and gears in person!
The device could automatically perform additions/subtractions by carrying base 2/3 values and displaying output rods. Leveraging his tables‘ simplification power mathematically, the machine executed complex calculations like long division through successive base 2/3 operations. This marked perhaps the first physical “computer” capable of automated arithmetic two full centuries before electronic circuitry!
Fowler’s machine laid conceptual foundations for a tidal wave of 19th/20th century mechanical calculators. And it embodied the transition from manual pencil/paper computing to automated, self-contained calculation that truly birthed the computer age.
Central Heating Precursor
Beyond breakthroughs in abstract math and calculations, Fowler also pioneered thermodynamics invention with his 1829 “thermosiphon.” This revolutionary heating system circulated warm water through buildings via convection without pumps, presaging modern HVAC (heating/ventilation/air conditioning).
Through meticulous experimentation, Fowler determined siphoning warm water from a central boiler through an arrangement of decreasing-height pipes enabled passive flow distributing heat. This thermosiphon marked an early precursor to centralized heating/cooling systems now considered infrastructure basics.
Unfortunately, Britain‘s patent process prevented Fowler from profiting justly from the device, as minor alterations by copycats made enforcement difficult. Nonetheless, I deeply admire his mechanical creativity pairing so naturally with his mathematical talents.
Lasting Legacy
From his modest roots, Fowler climbed to the frontier of technological innovation across areas as diverse as abstract arithmetic, construction equipment and practical computing machines. Largely teaching himself the necessary engineering and physics, he upgraded existing infrastructure through a mix of mathematical insight and relentless hands-on tinkering.
Throughout his tragically short life, Fowler brought arresting originality to every technological challenge he tackled. And whether modifying financial processes via number bases, accelerating difficult calculations through rods-and-gears contraptions, or devising centralized heating systems ahead of their time, he indisputably changed key foundations of how we live today.
So next time you use your calculator app or computer spreadsheet software, control your home or office’s climate remotely, or even just print documents thanks to binary coding advancement, take a moment to appreciate self-starter Thomas Fowler. His pioneering advancements made out-of-the-box impacts despite lacking traditional scientific credentials. If that‘s not an inspirational innovator‘s legacy worth celebrating, I don‘t know what is!
