|
Thomas Stevenson (1818--87)
The youngest child of Robert Stevenson (and the father of the author, Robert Louis Stevenson), Thomas did not initially show a great deal of interest in lighthouses, dabbling instead in publishing. However, in 1836 he turned to his father for an apprenticeship. He was something of an eccentric and was known to fill notebooks full of information about waves and their characteristics. In 1843, his brother, Alan, put him in charge of completing the works at Skerryvore. Thomas’s study of optics led him to build on Augustin Fresnel’s work and produce the dioptric holophotal light which did away with the need for reflectors. Scottish lights were now the most powerful and versatile in the world. It was Thomas who, in 1854, first visited Dhu Heartach (now known as Dubh Artach), a rock on the extensive and treacherous Torran reef, situated to the south-west of Mull. He became responsible for the tricky construction of a light there; its successful completion was the high point of his career
|
