thumb|uriah boyden, about 1845 thumb|boyden turbine uriah atherton boyden (february 17, 1804 &ndash; october 17, 1879) was an civil and mechanical engineer and inventor from foxborough, massachusetts best known for the development of the boyden turbine around 1844, while working for the appleton company in lowell, massachusetts. boyden improved upon the water turbine developed by french engineer fourneyron by adding a conical approach passage for the incoming waterâsubmerged diffusers, guide vanes and a diverting exit passage.asme biography uriah a. boyden uriah was also the younger brother of seth boyden, also a notable inventor who perfected a process for making patent leather, among other developments. ==biography== uriah atherton boyden was born in foxborough, massachusetts on february 17, 1804, the son of seth boyden, a farmer and blacksmith who had invented a machine to split leather.uriah a. boyden papers nmah.ac.0982 in 1813, uriah moved to newark, new jersey to work in his elder brother seth's leather shop.lambs biographical dictionary of the united states volume 1 around 1828, uriah returned to massachusetts where he worked on the early surveys for the boston and providence railroad. he also worked under loammi baldwin on thr dry dock at the boston navy yard, as other mills in lowell and the boston and lowell railroad. while at lowell, boyden worked with british-born engineer james b. francis, who in 1848 developed the francis turbine, which superseded boyden's earlier invention. however, boyden-type turbines continued to be manufactured, including those installed at harmony mills in cohoes, new york in the early 1870s, and those used at the first niagara falls hydroelectric plant in 1895.http://files.asme.org/asmeorg/communities/history/landmarks/5507.pdf in 1850, boyden settled in boston, and devoted himself to the study of chemistry and physics. he died in boston on october 17, 1879.universities and their sons: history, influence and characteristics of american universities, with biographical sketches and portraits of alumni and recipients of honorary degrees, volume 2 ==legacy== upon his death in 1879, boyden's will left about a quarter of a million dollars to a suitable astronomical institution that would build an observatory on a mountain for the better atmospheric seeing conditions than those available at lower altitudes. his heirs challenged the will, but it was
1804_births 1879_deaths Harvard_University_people People_associated_with_astronomy