11 Facts About Neil Arnott

Neil Arnott was a Scottish physician and inventor.

Neil Arnott was the inventor of one of the first forms of the waterbed, the Arnott waterbed, and was awarded the Rumford Medal in 1852 for the construction of the smokeless fire grate, as well as other improvements to ventilation and heating.

Neil Arnott was born in Arbroath, the son of Alexander Arnott and his wife, Ann MacLean of Borreray.

Neil Arnott was a distinguished graduate of Marischal College, University of Aberdeen and subsequently studied in London under Sir Everard Home, through whom he obtained, when only eighteen, the appointment of full surgeon to an East Indiaman.

Neil Arnott gave lectures at the Philomathic Institution published as Elements of physics.

Neil Arnott was one of the founders of the University of London, 1836.

Neil Arnott was elected to the Fellow of the Royal Society in 1838.

Neil Arnott was a strong advocate of scientific, as opposed to purely classical, education; and he manifested interest in natural philosophy by the gift of 2,000 pounds to each of the four universities of Scotland and to the University of London, to promote its study in the experimental and practical form.

Neil Arnott died in London in 1874 but is buried with his mother in Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh.

Neil Arnott was the author of several works on physical science or its applications, the most important being his Elements of Physics, which went through six editions in his lifetime.

From his earliest youth, Neil Arnott had an intense love of natural philosophy, and to this added an inventiveness which served him in good stead in his profession.