IES are launching an appeal to fund the re-instatement of the headstone to honour the memory of this great man and all he achieved.
William John MacQuorn Rankine Appeal to re-instate his headstone
William Rankine was one of Scotland’s great engineers and scientists. His books on shipbuilding, civil engineering, machinery & millwork, the steam engine and applied mechanics became standard texts; and he did much for the new science of thermodynamics and the theories of elasticity and waves. The thermodynamic cycle of a heat-engine or heat pump using condensable vapour as working fluid is still called the Rankine Cycle. The Rankine Theory on earth pressure continues to be featured in geotechnical text books and his manuals of engineering science and practice continue to influence engineering education. They were republished for many decades after their launch in the 1850s and 1860s. He published several hundred papers and notes on science and engineering topics, from 1840 onwards. The Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, which he co-founded, continues to thrive.
Rankine’s untimely death at the age of fifty-two was greatly mourned by scientists and engineers around the world. It is sad to report that the headstone of this great man lies broken and forgotten in Sighthill Cemetery, Glasgow.
IES are launching an appeal to fund the re-instatement of the stone to honour the memory of this great man and all he achieved. We would be most grateful if you could contribute a few pounds, it is hoped to carry out this work in 2020, the 200th anniversary of Rankine’s birth.
Donations can be paid to IES, identified as Rankine’s Headstone Appeal please, or via the PayPal donate button on this page