Cornelius Drebbel

1572-1633

Dutch Alchemist, Inventor, and Engineer

Cornelius Drebbel is best known as one of the possible inventors of the thermometer. A celebrated wonder-worker in his day, Drebbel's experimental investigations in chemistry and physics may have been of real significance, but his penchant for secrecy and mysticism meant that many of his ideas died with him and had to be rediscovered.

Drebbel was born in 1572 at Alkmaar in West Friesland of the Netherlands. His father, Jacob Jansz, was a burgher of Alkmaar. Drebbel received only an elementary education and was apprenticed to the famous Haarlem engraver Hendrik Goltzius. In 1595 he married Sophia Jansdocther, a younger sister of Goltzius, and settled in Alkmaar, where he established himself as an engraver and mapmaker. Shortly thereafter he devoted himself to developing his mechanical inventions: receiving patents for a pump and a perpetual-motion clock in 1598; building a fountain for the town of Middelburg in Zeeland in 1601; and designing a new chimney for which he received a patent in 1602.

Drebbel's perpetual-motion clock has been interpreted by many as the first thermometer. The device was in fact an astronomical clock whose motive power was the expansion and contraction of the air contained within. Though Drebbel well understood the principles involved, this was not an air thermometer. However, a distinctive type of air thermometer, which came into use in the low countries no later than 1625, was widely attributed to Drebbel. The evidence regarding the inventor's identity remains inconclusive, but Drebbel had sufficient knowledge to construct such a device if it had so occurred to him.

Around 1605 Drebbel moved to England. His inventions so impressed the monarch James I that he was given an annuity and lodgings at Eltham Palace. He was there occupied primarily with constructing machinery for stage performances. In 1610 he moved to Prague at the behest of Emperor Rudolph II. During this period he devoted himself to alchemical studies and developing a perpetual motion machine and mining pumps. Unfortunately, Rudolph was deposed by his brother Matthias in 1611 and Drebbel imprisoned. Through the intervention of Henry, Prince of Whales, he was released in 1613 and allowed to return to England with his family.

Upon returning to London, Drebbel began manufacturing microscopes, producing compound devices as early as 1619. In 1620 he built what has been called a submarine but is more accurately described as a diving bell. The apparatus consisted of two chambers. The upper was above water and occupied by rowers. The lower chamber was completely sealed from the upper and was below water. According to eyewitnesses, the "submarine" carried a number of passengers from Westminster to Greenwich; and Robert Boyle (1627-1691) claimed Drebbel had developed a method for purifying the air within.

Around this time Drebbel made the acquaintance of the four Kuffler brothers who became his disciples and promoters (and two became sons-in-law). Their activities revolved around the distribution and sale of his microscopes and other instruments and the exploitation of his discovery of a tin mordant for dyeing scarlet with cochineal. Through their activities his dyeing method spread throughout Europe.

After the death of his benefactor James I in 1625 Drebbel was engaged by the British navy to produce explosives and construct fire-ships to be used in the failed expedition to raise the French siege of the Huguenot stronghold of La Rochelle. After leaving the employ of the navy Drebbel's spendthrift ways left him broke; and despite involvement in efforts to drain the fenlands of eastern England, he was forced to earn a living by running an alehouse. He died in London in 1633.

STEPHEN D. NORTON