Abraham Pineo Gesner

Abraham Pineo Gesner, ONB
Abraham Pineo Gesner
Born May 2, 1797 (1797-05-02)
Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, Canada
Died April 29, 1864(1864-04-29) (aged 66)
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Residence Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia
Nationality Canadian
Alma mater Guy's Hospital Medical School
St Bartholomew's Hospital
Dalhousie University
Known for Inventing kerosene
Scientific career
Fields Geology, Medicine
Institutions Government of New Brunswick
North American Kerosene Gas Light Company

Abraham Pineo Gesner, ONB (/ˈɡɛsnər/; May 2, 1797 – April 29, 1864) was a Canadian physician and geologist who invented kerosene. Gesner was born in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia (now called Chipmans Corner) and lived much of his life in Saint John, New Brunswick. He died in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was an influential figure in the development of the study of Canadian geology and natural history.

Education

Born to a well-established farming family in the Annapolis Valley, Gesner pursued a career at sea from a young age. Twice shipwrecked by his early twenties, Gesner returned to the family farm near Chipman Corner, northeast of Kentville. He married Harriet Webster, the daughter of Kentville's Dr. Isaac Webster in 1824, then went to London to study medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital under Sir Astley Paston Cooper, then surgery at Guy's Hospital under John Abernethy.[1] While in London, he became interested in geology, making the acquaintance of Charles Lyell.[2]

Early career

Returning to Parrsboro as a practising physician, Gesner also pursued his passion for geology. In 1836, he published a study on the mineralogy of Nova Scotia, which included a detailed geological map providing information on the key deposits of iron ore and coal in Nova Scotia. In 1838, he was appointed Provincial Geologist for New Brunswick, charged with the mission to undertake a similar geological survey. In the course of this survey, in 1839 Gesner discovered the bituminous asphalt substance albertite, which he named after Albert County, New Brunswick where it was found.

In 1842, looking for coal, Gesner travelled to Quebec, where he discovered the first of the great fossil deposits of the future Miguasha National Park. However, little notice was taken of his report until the fossils were rediscovered in 1879.

In 1842, Gesner started "Gesner's Museum of Natural History", in Saint John, New Brunswick, the first public museum in Canada. This later became the New Brunswick Museum.[3]

Kerosene

Gesner's research in minerals resulted in his 1846 development of a process to refine a liquid fuel from coal, bitumen and oil shale. His new discovery, which he named kerosene, burned more cleanly and was less expensive than competing products, such as whale oil. In 1850, Gesner created the Kerosene Gaslight Company and began installing lighting in the streets in Halifax and other cities. By 1854, he had expanded to the United States where he created the North American Kerosene Gas Light Company at Long Island, New York. Demand grew to where his company's capacity to produce became a problem, but the discovery of petroleum, from which kerosene could be more easily produced, solved the supply problem.

Abraham Gesner continued his research on fuels and wrote a number of scientific studies concerning the industry including an 1861 publication titled, A Practical Treatise on Coal, Petroleum and Other Distilled Oils, which became a standard reference in the field. Eventually, Gesner's company was absorbed into the petroleum monopoly, Standard Oil and he returned to Halifax, where he was appointed a Professor of Natural History at Dalhousie University.[4][5]

Gesner himself was humble about his contribution to the development of the petroleum industry. In his Practical Treatise, he said that "the progress of discovery in this case, as in others, has been slow and gradual. It has been carried on by the labours, not of one mind, but of many, so as to render it difficult to discover to whom the greatest credit is due."[6]

Legacy

In 1933, Imperial Oil Ltd., a Standard Oil subsidiary, erected a memorial in Camp Hill Cemetery in Halifax to pay tribute to Gesner's contribution to the petroleum industry.

The City of Halifax renamed a street at the west end of Fairview between Melrose and Adelaide in honor of Gesner. Formerly a part of Dunbrack Street, the construction of the Dunbrack Street/North West Arm Drive connector during the 1980s prompted the renaming of this segment.

There is a street named for Gesner in the west part of Ottawa's Katimavik-Hazeldean neighbourhood, where the residential streets are named for Canadian inventors. Whether by plan or by coincidence, it dead-ends at an Esso (Imperial Oil) gas station.[7]

In 2000, he was honored by the placement of his image on a postage stamp by Canada Post. In 2016, Gesner was posthumously awarded the Order of New Brunswick by the province of his longtime residence.

Starting in 1998, the Fundy Geological Museum in Parrsboro Nova Scotia, a former residence of Gesner, has awarded an "Abraham Gesner Work Scholarship" to a local student who shows keen interest in the sciences.

Written works

  • Abraham Gesner (1836). Remarks on the geology and mineralogy of Nova Scotia. Halifax.
  • Abraham Gesner (1839). First report on the geological survey of the province of New-Brunswick. Saint John.
  • Abraham Gesner (1840). Second report on the geological survey of the province of New-Brunswick. Saint John.
  • Abraham Gesner (1841). Third report on the geological survey of the province of New-Brunswick. Saint John.
  • Abraham Gesner (1842). Fourth report on the geological survey of the province of New-Brunswick. Saint John.
  • Abraham Gesner (1842). Synopsis of the contents of Gesner's Museum of Natural History, at Saint John, N.B., opened on the fifth day of April, 1842. Saint John.
  • Abraham Gesner (1843). Report on the geological survey of the province of New Brunswick : with a topographical account of the public lands and the districts explored in 1842. Saint John.
  • Abraham Gesner; John Ross (1846). Report on the Londonderry iron and coal deposits / by Dr. Gesner. And, A prospectus with a view to forming a company to work the same / by the proprietor, John Ross. Saint John.
  • Abraham Gesner (1847). New Brunswick; with Notes for Emigrants: Comprehending the Early History, an ... London: Simmonds & Ward.
  • Abraham Gesner (1849). The industrial resources of Nova Scotia : comprehending the physical geography, topography, geology, agriculture, fisheries, mines, forests, wild lands, lumbering, manufactories, navigation, commerce, emigration, improvements, industry, contemplated railways, natural history and resources, of the province. Halifax.
  • Abraham Gesner (1850). Prospectus of Dr. Gesner's patent kerosene gas obtained from bitumen, asphaltum, or mineral pitch. New York: Trehern & Williamson.
  • Richard C. Taylor (1851). Abraham Gesner vs. Halifax Gas-Light Company : deposition of Richard C. Taylor, respecting the asphaltum mine at Hillsborough in the county of Albert and province of New Brunswick. Philadelphia: King & Baird.
  • William L. Avery (1852). Report of a case tried at Albert circuit, 1852, before his Honor, Judge Wilmot, and a special jury : Abraham Gesner vs. William Cairns : copied from the judge's notes. Saint John.
  • Abraham Gesner (1861). A practical treatise on coal petroleum and other distilled oils. New York: Balliere Brothers.
  • Abraham Gesner; George Weltden Gesner (1865). A practical treatise on coal petroleum and other distilled oils. New York: Balliere Brothers.

References

  1. ↑ Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
  2. ↑ Abraham Gesner, Part One: A Father of Petroleum by Hans Durstling Archived June 20, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ Abraham Gesner by the New Brunswick Museum
  4. ↑ Murray, T J (1993), "Dr Abraham Gesner: the father of the petroleum industry", Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine (published Jan 1993), 86 (1), pp. 43–4, PMC 1293824, PMID 8423576
  5. ↑ Swinton, W E (1976), "Physician contributions to nonmedical science: Abraham Gesner, inventor of kerosene", Canadian Medical Association Journal (published Dec 4, 1976), 115 (11), pp. 1126–33, PMC 1878918, PMID 793702
  6. ↑ "The Industrial Revolutionaries--The Making of the Modern World 1776-1914" by Gavin Weightman, Grove Press, 2009
  7. ↑ http://goo.gl/maps/17hN9
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