biography
| name: |
Francis, James (Bicheno)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1815–92)
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| biography:
| Engineer and inventor, born in South Leigh, Devon, SW England, UK. He emigrated to the USA in 1833, working first on railroad construction. By 1837 he had been appointed chief engineer to the Proprietors of the Locks and Canals on the Merrimack River, and when they decided in 1845 to develop the river's power potential he began to work on the design of the turbine that now bears his name. He is also remembered by the Francis formula for the flow of water over weirs. |
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