{{Short description|English-American scientist and engineer (1790–1863)}} {{About||other people|James Renwick (disambiguation){{!}}James Renwick}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = James Renwick | image = English-American physicist James Renwick.png | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1790|05|30|df=yes}} | birth_place = Liverpool, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1863|01|12|1790|05|30|df=yes}} | death_place = New York City, United States | resting_place = | occupation = Scientist, engineer | spouse = Margaret Anne Brevoort | children = 4 | relatives = | awards = | education = Columbia College | party = | signature = Signature of James Renwick (1790–1863).png }}
'''James Renwick''' (30 May 1790 – 12 January 1863), was an English-American scientist and engineer.
==Early life== Renwick was born in Liverpool, England, on 30 May 1790. He was the son of Jane Jeffrey Renwick (1773–1850) and William Renwick (1769–1808). His paternal grandfather was James Renwick (1743–1803).<ref name="Columbia"/>
He graduated from Columbia College in 1807.<ref name="Columbia"/>
==Career== In 1820, Columbia appointed Renwick professor of natural philosophy, a position he held until 1854. In 1838, the U.S. government appointed him one of the commissioners to explore the line of the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick, which was settled in 1842 by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty.
In addition to his collegiate duties he wrote biographies of Robert Fulton, David Rittenhouse, and Count Rumford for Sparks's ''American Biography''; a memoir of DeWitt Clinton (1834); and ''Treatise on the Steam-engine'' (1830). His textbooks, ''Outlines of Natural Philosophy'' (1822), ''Elements of Mechanics'' (1832), and ''First Principles of Chemistry'' (1840) were among the first works of their kind published in the United States. The first and third of these, along with other educational works of his, passed through multiple editions.
In 1828, Renwick was elected to the American Philosophical Society.<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=1828&year-max=1828&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-04-07|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> In 1863, he was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, Chapter R|url=https://www.amacad.org/sites/default/files/academy/multimedia/pdfs/publications/bookofmembers/ChapterR.pdf |publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|accessdate=April 18, 2019}}</ref>
===Morris Canal=== Renwick was responsible for the idea and initial design of the inclined planes on the Morris Canal.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kirby|first=Richard Shelton|title=Engineering in History|year=1990|publisher=Courier Dover Publications|isbn=0486264122|pages=[https://archive.org/details/engineeringinhis0000unse/page/214 214–215]|url=https://archive.org/details/engineeringinhis0000unse/page/214}}</ref> The design of these planes were later copied for the Elbląg Canal in Poland.<ref name="catskill">{{cite web|url= http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/abnjmc.Html|title=Railroad Extra, the Morris Canal and its Inclined Planes|accessdate=2014-02-06}}</ref>
==Personal life== Renwick married in 1816 Margaret Anne Brevoort (1791–1868), from a wealthy and socially prominent New York family. Together, they were the parents of:<ref name="Columbia">{{cite web |title=Renwick Family papers, 1794-1916 |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/archival/collections/ldpd_4079262/ |website=www.columbia.edu |publisher=Columbia University |accessdate=14 June 2019}}</ref>
* Henry Brevoort Renwick (1817–1895), who was a mechanical engineer and inspector of steamboat engines. * James Renwick Jr. (1818–1895), was a noted Gothic Revival architect, designer of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York and the Smithsonian Castle in Washington, D.C., among many other buildings. * Edward S. Renwick (1823–1912), who was a mechanical engineer, inventor and patent expert. * Laura Renwick (1826–1879).
Renwick died in New York City on 12 January 1863.<ref name="Columbia"/><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56812330/death-of-professor-renwick/ |title=Death of Professor Renwick |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |page=2 |date=1863-01-19 |access-date=2020-08-06 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Find a Grave|49899682}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Renwick, James}} Category:1790 births Category:1863 deaths Category:American canal engineers Category:English emigrants to the United States Category:Columbia College, Columbia University alumni Category:Columbia University faculty Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Category:Natural philosophers Category:Scientists from Liverpool Category:19th-century American physicists Category:Columbia University librarians Category:19th-century librarians