Charles Macintosh | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Macintosh byJohn Graham-Gilbert | |
| Born | 29 December 1766 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Died | 25 July 1843(1843-07-25) (aged 76) Glasgow, Scotland |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Engineering career | |
| Significant advance | Invented the waterproofraincoat in 1824 |
Charles MacintoshFRS (29 December 1766 – 25 July 1843) was a Scottishchemist and theinventor of the modern waterproofraincoat.[1] TheMackintosh raincoat (the variant spelling is now standard) is named after him.
Macintosh was born inGlasgow, Scotland, the son of George Macintosh and Mary Moore, and was first employed as a clerk. Charles devoted his spare time toscience, particularlychemistry, and before he was 20 resigned his clerkship to study underJoseph Black at theUniversity of Edinburgh,[2] and to take up the manufacture of chemicals. In this he was highly successful and invented various new processes. His experiments withnaphtha led to his invention of waterproof rubberized fabric; the essence of his patent was the cementing of two thicknesses of cloth together withnatural rubber. The rubber is made soluble by the action of the naphtha.[3] The naphtha was prepared bydistillation ofcoal tar, with theBonnington Chemical Works being a major supplier.[4]
Macintosh married Mary Fisher in 1790, daughter of Alexander Fisher, a Glasgow merchant. They had one son, George Macintosh (1791–1848). And one daughter, Mary Scott Macintosh. In 1823, he was elected a fellow of theRoyal Society for his chemical discoveries. In 1828, he became a partner withJames Beaumont Neilson in a firm to exploit the latter's patent for thehot blast blowing of blast furnaces, which saved considerably on their fuel consumption.[5]
Charles died in 1843 and was buried in theGlasgow Cathedral graveyard.[6] He is buried with his parents in the ground of his great-grandfather, John Anderson of Douhill,Lord Provost of Glasgow. His name is added to the 17th century monument which stands against the eastern boundary wall. A late 19th century secondary memorial also exists, in polished red granite, slightly to the north, where Charles is again mentioned on the grave of his son, George.
On 29 December 2016, the search engineGoogle marked the 250th anniversary of the birth of the inventor of the waterproof raincoat with aGoogle doodle of Macintosh in the rain.[7][8]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Macintosh, Charles".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 250.Charles Macintosh.
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