Edward Nairne

Edward Nairne (1726 – 1 September 1806) was an English optician and scientific instrument maker.

Biography

Nairne was born in Sandwich, Kent in 1726. He was apprenticed to the optician Matthew Loft in 1741 and established his own business at 20 Cornhill in London after Loft's death in 1748. In 1774 he took his apprentice Thomas Blunt into partnership, a relationship that lasted until 1793 when Blunt opened his own shop at 22 Cornhill.

Nairne patented several electrical machines, including an electrostatic generator consisting of a glass cylinder mounted on glass insulators; the device can supply either positive or negative electricity, and was intended for medicinal use. In the eighth edition of the instruction manual for this device he claimed that "electricity is almost a specific in some disorders, and deserves to be held in the highest estimation for its efficacy in many others". He recommended its use for nervous disorders, bruises, burns, scales, bloodshot eyes, toothache, sciatica, epilepsy, hysteria, agues and so on. He also made improvements to the Cuff microscope, building it into a portable case and calling it a chest microscope. Also on Franklin's recommendation, he was asked to supply instruments for the fire-damaged collection at Harvard University.

He died 1 September 1806 in London, England.

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