Robert Stevenson (civil engineer)

Robert Stevenson, FRSE, FGS, FRAS, FSA Scot, MWS (8 June 1772 – 12 July 1850) was a Scottish civil engineer, and designer and builder of lighthouses.Since this left Alan's widow, Jean Lillie Stevenson, in much-reduced financial circumstances, Robert was educated, as a young child, at a charity school.Robert's mother intended him to join the ministry, so when he was a bit older she enrolled him in the school of a locally famous Glasgow linguist, a Mr Macintyre.Robert's new stepfather was Thomas Smith, a tinsmith, lamp maker, ingenious mechanic, and civil engineer, who had been appointed to the newly formed Northern Lighthouse Board in 1786.While working on these projects, he continued his civil engineering studies: He diligently practised surveying and architectural drawing, and attended maths and physics lectures at the Andersonian Institute in Glasgow.Stevenson's work on the Bell Rock and elsewhere provided a fund of anecdotes about the dangers he tended to place himself in and his lucky narrow escapes.Luckily, before the tide rose, the Bell Rock pilot boat happened to arrive on an errand to deliver some mail to Stevenson, and thus saved the situation.His many innovations included his choice of light sources and mountings, his reflector design, his use of Fresnel lenses, and his use of rotation and shuttering systems that provided lighthouses with individual signatures (characteristics) — allowing them to be identified by seafarers.Engineering skills were in high demand after the Battle of Waterloo, which marked the end of the continental wars, as the focus turned toward improving the country's infrastructure.[9] In 1824, he published a paper about the condition of the eastern coastline of the United Kingdom, entitled Account of the Bell Rock Lighthouse.He hypothesized that freshwater and saltwater areas at river mouths exist as separate and distinct streams, and carried out tests of this hypothesis.
1 Baxters Place, Edinburgh
Robert Stevenson is remembered on his grandfather's grave in the churchyard of Glasgow Cathedral , though he was buried in Edinburgh
Stevenson's gravestone, New Calton Burial Ground , Edinburgh
Robert StephensonRobert Stevenson (disambiguation)Samuel JosephGlasgowEdinburghNew Calton CemeteryAndersonian InstituteUniversity of EdinburghCivil engineerThomasRoyal Society of EdinburghGeological SocietyRoyal Astronomical SocietySociety of Antiquaries of ScotlandWernerian SocietyInstitution of Civil EngineersNorthern Lighthouse BoardBell Rock LighthouseLighthousesFSA Scottrading houseepidemicSt. ChristopherWest Indiescharity schoolministrylinguistRoyal MileThomas SmithtinsmithmechanicLeith WalkBell RockTowardCorsewallSumburgh HeadRinns of IslayCape WrathMull of GallowayTarbat NessBarra HeadGirdle NessLismoreLittle CumbraeRiver ClydeOrkneysurveyingarchitectural drawingphysicsEddystone LighthouseJohn SmeatonJohn RennieAlan StevensonSir John RennieSamuel SmilesOrkney IslandsKinnaird HeadFresnel lensescharacteristicsWilliam I of the NetherlandsBattle of WaterlooAlexander NimmoThomas TelfordArchibald ElliotWilliam CubittRegent BridgeGeorge StephensonFellow of the Royal Society of EdinburghJohn BarclayJohn PlayfairDavid Brewstercoastline of the United KingdomNorth SeaEncyclopædia BritannicaScottish Engineering Hall of FameKatharine de MattosRobert Louis StevensonMarriott HotelNew Calton Burial GroundGlasgow CathedralStevenson College, EdinburghHarper Collins PublishersToward PointIsle of MayPoint of AyreCalf of ManEilean Glas LighthouseScalpayBuchan NessPentland Skerries LighthouseMull of GallowayDunnet HeadDubh ArtachAnnan BridgeHutcheson BridgeMarykirk BridgeStirlingAllentonThomas Smith (engineer)David Stevenson (engineer)Thomas StevensonCharles Alexander StevensonDavid Alan StevensonD. Alan StevensonRichard Henry BruntonHistoric Environment ScotlandWayback Machinepublic domainGoogle Book SearchDavid StevensonInternet ArchiveProject GutenbergChisholm, Hugh