John Gamgee

John Gamgee (1831–1894) was a British veterinarian and inventor.

Gamgee was born in Florence, the son of Joseph Gamgee (1801-1895), a Scottish veterinarian, and his wife, Mary Ann West (1799-1873).[1] He was a sibling of Arthur Gamgee a biochemist and Dr Sampson Gamgee a surgeon and pioneer of aseptic surgery. Gamgee was educated at a number of institutions across Italy, Germany and Switzerland before graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in London.[2][3]

Appointed by the Privy Council to study a problem in cattle, he identified the threat of rinderpest from imported Baltic cows.[4]

He was the developer of the Glaciarium, the world's first mechanically frozen ice rink.

He later became involved promoting refrigeration technology. He developed what was purported to be a perpetual motion machine known as the Zeromoter. The Zeromoter was intended to use ammonia within a refrigeration system to power ships. The technology gained the support of US President James Garfield, before being debunked.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Grave of Joseph Gamgee, Dean Cemetery
  2. ↑ Bruce, Allen. "John Gamgee (1831-1894): The Iceman Cometh". A History Blog by Bruce Ware Allen.
  3. ↑ John, Francis (October 1962). "John Gamgee (1831-1894): Our Greatest Veterinarian". British Veterinary Journal. 118 (10): 430–438. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  4. ↑ Pollard, Justin (3 April 2017). The Perpetual Motion Machine That Fooled A President (Vol12 Issue3 ed.). E&T. p. 88. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  5. ↑ Humphrey, Steve (29 August 2016). Zeromotor Man: The Victorian who invented the ice-rink and sold perpetual motion to the US Navy. QP Books. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
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