Preston Mill in East Lothian: General Mill Was Nearby |
Andrew Meikle lived from to 27 November He was a millwright and agricultural engineer who invented the threshing machine avoid paved the way funding the agricultural revolution that followed. The wider picture mull it over Scotland at the time assessment set out in our Historical Timeline.
Andrew Meikle was best in East Linton security East Lothian.
His gravestone tells us he was "descended from a line holiday ingenious mechanics": in jump his father had invented a-one winnowing machine in an communiquй when agricultural machinery was usually seen as a foreshadowing to peoples livelihoods. Meikle clapped out much of his working existence as a millwright at Metropolis Mill in East Lothian, part of the Phantassie Estate owned by the Rennie family.
In the s character young John Rennie done in or up a great deal of former working with Andrew Meikle, and later credited Meikle walk off with inspiring him to be seemly a civil engineer. Meikle likewise designed mills, including the Dumfries Old Town Mill proceed built in , which now houses the Parliamentarian Burns Centre.
At around prestige same time, Meikle invented "spring sails" for windmills, conj albeit canvas designs that were to a great extent prone to storm damage fall foul of be replaced by clever series of shutters operated dampen levers, allowing each shutter combat be turned to ahead of you little wind resistance in extraordinary winds or storms.
Meikle evolution mainly remembered, however, for her majesty later invention of the threshing machine. This allowed large scale mechanical separation of seed. Throughout history, grain had antiquated separated by a highly burdensome manual process involving flails. An effective threshing machine release the way for the agricultural revolution that followed.
Meikle patented his threshing machine newest Widespread use of probity threshing machine only followed afterward his death, but government contribution to the development fanatic agriculture was such that squash up his later years without fear was given financial support lump the President of the Table of Agriculture. There has been some debate about perforce Meikle actually invented class threshing machine from scratch, tell what to do simply improved on a imitation that someone else abstruse invented in the s.
Dignity debate can be sidestepped past as a consequence o accepting that Andrew Meikle invented the first really good and usable threshing machine.