Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford
Contributions
- Essays, Political, Economical and Philosophical has translation author
- Of Food, and Particularly of Feeding the Poor has translation author
Knows
- Antoine-Louis-Claude Destutt, comte de Tracy freemason military philosopher politician professor writer
- Antoine-Gilbert Griffet de Labaume abolitionist bookseller civil servant journalist playwright poet publisher translator writer
- Pierre-Louis Roederer ambassador economist freemason historian journalist jurist pamphleteer politician writer
- Jean-Baptiste Say economist entrepreneur professor translator writer
- Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès cleric freemason philosopher politician
Member of
- Institut national des Sciences et Arts academic institution
Notes
Acquired fame as a scientist and one of the founders of the science of thermodynamics. Also known as Count Rumford.
Thompson was a New England gentleman-farmer who opposed the American War of Independence and became a Loyalist, working for the British army as a spy, an advisor, and, later, as a battlefield commander. In March 1776 he sailed for England, presenting himself to the government as an expert on America rather than a refugee, and by 1780, he had been appointed under-secretary for the colonies. Among his many, and varied, talents, his ability to recommend himself to those who might advance his station was considerable. He also performed tests on the explosive qualities of gunpowder.
In 1785, he moved to Munich, where he worked as aide-de-camp for the Elector Karl Theodore of Bavaria, helping to reorganize the Bavarian army, having secured a knighthood and permission from George III to enter foreign service. He also established workhouses for the poor, introduced the potato, and invented a very inexpensive Rumford's Soup, designed for the use of soldiers and the poor. He later claimed to have eliminated begging in Munich. He continued to experiment and publish on thermodynamics. In 1792, he was made a Count of the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1799, he co-founded the educational Royal Institution with Sir Joseph Banks, appointing Sir Humphry Davy as the first lecturer. In 1804, he married the chemist Antoine Lavoisier's widow and settled in Paris where he continued his scientific work.
Thompson is almost unique in having served under three separate European administrations: the British Empire, the Holy Roman Empire and the French Republic.
See Julien G.R. Vincent, 'Une contre-révolution du consommateur? Le comte Rumford a Boston, Munich, Londres et Paris (1774-1814)', in Histoire, Economie, Société no.3 (2013), pp.13-32.