William Pole. U7 



WILLIAM POLE. 1814-1900. 



WILLIAM POLE was born in Birmingham on the 22nd April, 1814. 

 After receiving a good ordinary education in a private school, he was 

 articled to an Engineer connected with large mechanical works in the 

 neighbourhood, and so obtained a thorough foundation of practical 

 knowledge. After the expiry of his articles he removed to London, 

 served for some years as assistant to eminent men in the profession, 

 and ultimately established himself in Westminster as a Consulting 

 Engineer on his own account. 



He- had a natural inclination for science, and he soon found out that 

 at that time scientific considerations were but little attended to by 

 professional engineers. The best works constructed were due to the 

 acuteness of men of superior natural ability, while more ordinary prac- 

 titioners were content with either imitating them, or, in new wants, 

 relying on published rules and tables, with very little regard to their 

 authority or their applicability. And, indeed, the few persons who 

 professed to meddle with science were often sneered at as " theorists, " 

 under the impression that " theory" and " practice" were irreconcilable. 

 And this notion was partly confirmed by some mistaken endeavours on 

 the part of educational bodies to establish theoretical "schools" (or 

 "classes") of Engineering, where the "practical" qualifications were 

 as much neglected as the "theoretical" ones had been among the 

 working profession. It was imagined that high mathematics, com- 

 bined with occasional amusement in a toy workshop, would suffice to 

 form a professional engineer, an idea that resulted in ludicrous failures. 



Mr. Pole, during his early years in London, strove to supply, by 

 study, the scientific knowledge, chiefly mathematical and physical, 

 which he believed necessary for his profession, and he was fortunate 

 enough to gain the friendship of Professor Henry Moseley, F.R.S., who 

 was just then preparing his admirable treatise on "The Mechanical 

 Principles of Engineering and Architecture. " This work inaugurated 

 the true scientific education of the profession (since become so much 

 extended), as it aimed at giving students sound and sufficient theo- 

 retical knowledge before they undertook their necessary practical 

 training. 



Professor Moseley was then acting as the representative of a Com- 

 mittee of the British Association for carrying out "Experiments on 

 Steam Engines" with apparatus of great novelty and merit, designed 



