He was a Royalist American, a contemporary of Benjamin Franklin, who founded the Royal Institution in London, England. He was interested in heat, invented ingenious fireplaces and stoves, and from observing the heat evolved from the boring of cannons showed that heat is not a substance but is generated through motion. He married Mme. Lavoisier in 1805 (who had been widowed in 1794), but separated in 1809.

1. Photographs in London, England