George Forbes (1849-1936) was a gifted electrical engineer, inventor and astronomer. In 1872, he was appointed to the Chair of Natural Philosophy at Anderson’s University, where he lectured on the advantages of electricity as a means of traction and collaborated with James Young – the future ‘father of the oil industry’ – on research into the velocity of light. In 1874, Forbes headed a British expedition to Hawaii to observe the transit of Venus. The contacts he forged on his return trip home, which took him across Peking, St Petersburg, the Gobi Desert and Siberia, enabled him to become the sole British war correspondent with the Russian army in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. This earned Forbes the honour of the Russian order of St George.
After leaving the University in 1880, Forbes relocated to London where he established himself as a key figure in the field of electrical power engineering. Amongst other achievements, he became the Manager of the British Electric Light Company, which manufactured arc lamps and carbon filaments; was engaged to report on the best means of powering the City and South London Railway (Forbes recommended electricity), and acted as consultant on various hydroelectric schemes at home and abroad, notably at Niagara Falls.
In the early twentieth century, Forbes switched his attention to the development of military equipment, particularly rangefinders. He invented an infantry rangefinder that was used in the Boer War, and worked with the Admiralty from 1903-1906, developing a gunsight that was still in use at the beginning of the Second World War. Forbes also revived both his passion for astronomy and his links to Glasgow, delivering the David Elder lectures on astronomy at the Royal Technical College, the successor body to Anderson’s University, between 1906 and 1930. The University of Strathclyde maintains its link with Forbes through Forbes Hall, a student hall of residence named after him in 1987.
Archive reference: OP 4/67/26 Portrait photograph of George Forbes, c.1880
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