Count Rumford

May 19, 2006
Count Rumford, for whom the Rumford fireplace is named, was born Benjamin Thompson in Woburn, Massachusetts in 1753 and, because he was a loyalist, he left (abruptly) with the British in 1776. He spent much of his life as an employee of the Bavarian government where he received his title, "Count of the Holy Roman Empire." Rumford is known primarily for the work he did on the nature of heat.
Back in England, Rumford applied his knowledge of heat to the improvement of fireplaces. He made them smaller and shallower with widely angled covings so they would radiate better. And he streamlined the throat, or in his words "rounded off the breast" so as to "remove those local hindrances which forcibly prevent the smoke from following its natural tendency to go up the chimney..."
Rumford wrote two essays detailing his improvements on fireplaces in 1796 and in 1798. He was well known and widely read* in his lifetime, and almost immediately in the 1790s his "Rumford fireplace" became state of the art worldwide.

*(and sometimes made fun of as James Gilray did)

More About Rumford:
Rumford the Scientist
Allen L. King notes
Statue of Rumford in front of Woburn Library thanks to Rick Micciulla
And a Different Take
Other Rumford Interests and Inventions

Other Websites with Information About Rumford:
Life and Legend of Count Rumford, Woburn Historical Commission
Rumford Birthplace National Landmark
Count Rumford, Sanborn Brown, and the Rumford Mosaic by Allen King*
Quentin Crewe on how Rumford revolutionised the restaurant kitchen*
"Homepage of Count Rumford" Eclectic site written in the first person.
Rumford Kitchen - 1894*
Rumford's bio, part of a nice website by Eric W. Weisstein who links the science. See Eric's book
The Hulman Co. - Rumford Baking Powder