Sir Joseph W. Swan – An English chemist and electrician, Sir Joseph helped develop photographic methods of screen printing on textiles and wallpaper in the mid-1800’s in England, as well as the first man-made fabrics.

Swan the son of John and Isabella Cameron Swan, graduated from Durham University with the degree of Doctor of Science. In 1870, he perfected the incandescent lamp, as well as great number of electric devices including a miner’s safety lamp, and electric meter, and electric accumulators. He also invented the dry plate for photographic uses.

Man-Made Fibers

Historically, the only fibers man had on offer were those it could harvest from the natural world: cotton, silk and wool all of which had their limitations. The problem was, although the finest grades of these fibers offered high performance, the majority had to make do with a much lower standard of cloth, which was often uncomfortable, stiff or wore quickly. The supply of these materials was also dependent on hundreds of factors, with such things as disease, weather and war impacting on its supply. And so just as man applied technology to the processing and manufacture of these materials, he also tried to apply his knowledge to the actual raw product itself by bypassing Mother Nature and making the fibers himself.

Early attempts at man-made fibers began with a search for ‘artificial silk’, for which a patent was granted in England in 1855 to a Swiss chemist named Audemars. This fiber alchemist dissolved the fibrous inner bark of a mulberry tree, chemically modifying it to produce cellulose. With this he formed threads by dipping needles into this solution and drawing them out, but it never occurred to him to emulate the silkworm by extruding the cellulose liquid through a small hole.

Then in the early 1880s, Sir Joseph did just this, spurred to action by Thomas Alva Edison’s newfangled incandescent electric lamp.

Sir Joseph experimented by forcing cellulose liquid similar to Audemar’s solution through fine holes into a coagulating bath. His fiber worked like carbon filament and they found early use in Edison’s invention. Luckily for us it also occurred to Sir Joseph that his filament could be used to make textiles and so, in 1885, he exhibited in London some fabrics run up by Mrs Swan.[ref]Andy Kirkpatrick[/ref]

Titles and Decorations

Sir Joseph was a former President of the British Institute of Electrical Engineers, Vice President of the Royal Photography Society, Past President of the Society of Chemical Industry, Past President of the Faraday Society, Vice President of the Senate of University College, London, from 1899 until 1903, and a life Governor of the same college.

Sir Joseph received many decorations, among them the Hughes Medal of the Royal Society, The Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, The Progress Medal of the Royal Photographic Society and the Gold Medal of the Society of Chemical Research.

Sir Joseph passed away on May 27, 1914 in London, England.[ref]The New York Times, May 28, 1914[/ref]