Scientist of the Day - Rufus Porter
Rufus Porter, an American artist, inventor, and journalist, was born on May 1, 1792 (first image). After his family moved from Massachusetts to Bridgton, Maine, he was sent to nearby Fryeburg Academy, a preparatory school for young men planning to attend Dartmouth College. His formal education ended six months later, and at the age of 12, he left Fryeburg to become an itinerant farmer, shoemaker, and musician. He served in the state militia during the War of 1812, briefly ran a dancing school in New Haven, and according to some sources, traveled to Hawaii on a merchant vessel.
Beginning in 1819, Porter started earning money as a portrait painter. He traveled south from New England, gradually becoming more proficient in his craft. Soon after arriving in Alexandria, Virginia, he built his own camera obscura to expedite the painting process. For a dollar, Porter promised that he could capture a person’s likeness in just fifteen minutes (second image).
By embracing technologies like the camera obscura, which allowed for the cheaper and quicker production of portraits, Porter was responding to a growing popular demand for art in antebellum America. He also believed in making artistic tools and processes more accessible to ordinary citizens, not just those who could afford to attend art school. Following his return to New England, he compiled many of his favorite tips and tricks into an instructional manual (third image) entitled A Select Collection of Curious Arts and Interesting Experiments. This book contained formulas for numerous inks, varnishes, and glues, as well as instructions that would enable people to create their own landscape murals (one of Porter’s later artistic specialties), copperplate engravings, and glass jewelry. For those with a more scientific bent, he also outlined several chemical and electrical experiments, including information on how to build a galvanic pile.
Porter’s interest in science and technology was not limited to artistic pursuits. He was also an accomplished amateur inventor with dozens of patents to his name. Among his creations were a cane that could transform into a chair, a floating dry dock, and a new form of “sensitive” fire alarm (fourth image).
Porter’s most ambitious invention was a “Travelling Balloon, or Flying Machine,” which he first described in a November 1834 article in Mechanics’ Magazine (fifth image). He envisioned filling up a 500-foot-long balloon with hydrogen gas, which he calculated would provide enough lift to carry one hundred passengers, along with their baggage and provisions. The entire apparatus would be pushed forward by a steam-driven propeller, allowing the craft to travel at speeds of fifty miles per hour.