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228:, who would go on to become a philanthropist and benefactor of the Royal Polytechnic Institution. Pepper also lectured in New York and Australia. Pepper became a highly regarded science performer and often went by the name "Professor Pepper". He regularly demonstrated a range of scientific and technological innovations with the intention of entertaining and educating the audience about how they worked. He used many of these to expose the trickery behind deceptive magic, and became famous for a new technique now known as "Pepper's ghost".
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457:, a land mine, and a large quantity of gunpowder. The plan would be to create a bonfire that would billow smoke into the air, then an explosion in the clouds would contribute to a change in their electrical condition. He theorised that this would trigger the rainfall. Several helpers tried to launch a 20-foot steel kite into the air but had little success, finding it to be unwieldy. He reduced its size in time for the main show.
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139:(17 June 1821 – 25 March 1900) was a British scientist and inventor who toured the English-speaking world with his scientific demonstrations. He entertained the public, royalty, and fellow scientists with a wide range of technological innovations. He is primarily remembered for developing the projection technique known as
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The Eagle Farm event was attended by nearly 700 people. Pepper's smaller kite only managed to fly a short distance into the sky and had to be abandoned. The swivel guns were then fired, attempting to create an explosion in the sky. However, due to an overfilling of powder in one of the guns, the only
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in 1847 and went on to take the role of analytical chemist and lecturer the year after. By the early 1850s he was its director. He introduced a series of evening classes covering educational and trade topics, and lectured by invitation at some of the most prestigious schools across
England, including
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in 1862 and Dircks signed over all financial rights to Pepper. Through this the effect became known as "Pepper's ghost", much to the frustration of Dircks, and though Pepper insisted that Dircks should have a share of the credit, the technique is still named after the man who popularised it. Some
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1831), Pepper had a son (born circa 1856). Between 1874 and 1879 the family toured the United States and Canada before being invited to
Australia. They arrived in Melbourne on 8 July 1879 and Pepper gave his first lecture just four days later. Interest in his demonstrations began to wane after a
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sparked a legend that is still recounted today. Pepper incorporated the ghost into his shows, amazing his audiences for a while but, once again, the public desire for his shows tailed off after a month. For a time he tried his hand as playwright, producer, and actor, putting on a romantic drama
246:". The actor would then have an ethereal, ghost-like appearance while seemingly able to perform alongside other actors. Pepper saw the concept and replicated it on a larger scale, taking out a joint patent with Dircks. Pepper debuted his creation with a Christmas Eve production of the
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Pepper's demonstrations of "the ghost effect" were received with amazement by the general public while intriguing his fellow scientists. People returned to the theatre repeatedly in an attempt to work out the method being used; famed physicist
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The crowd were not impressed by the efforts of Pepper and his team, laughing and jeering at their failed attempts. Some members of the audience even joined in by trying to launch the kite themselves. The newspapers were also unkind with the
479:"My experiment in Queensland was received with such derision and insults that in the face of those hard steely railings I shall leave to others the honour and expense of trying to do good by gently persuading the clouds to drop fatness."
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explosion of significance was the gun itself which was sent crashing into the empty grandstand. Another potentially dangerous incident was the launching of the rockets, one of which flew horizontally, narrowly missing the crowd.
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who was in
Washington at the time. The message took just under 10 minutes to arrive in the United States with a reply coming in after around 20 minutes. This transmission was hailed as a significant achievement for science.
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The summer of 1882 brought a drought to the south-east of
Queensland with little rain and intense temperatures. Pepper believed that a scientific solution to the problem might be possible and decided to attempt a
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in April 1884, Pepper referred to one of them, saying that he hoped the scientist would "not be unappreciated or treated with the ribald and narrowminded jokes and judgments that were showered on my head."
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The playbook of metals: including personal narratives of visits to coal, lead, copper, and tin mines; with a large number of interesting experiments relating to alchemy and the chemistry of fifty metallic
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Liverpudlian engineer Henry Dircks is believed to have devised a method of projecting an actor onto a stage using a sheet of glass and a clever use of lighting, calling the technique "Dircksian
447:. Further advertisements mentioned that there would be "several interesting Illustrations of Atmospheric Phenomena" and gave some details about the method that he planned to employ.
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297:, that they could be found in secondary schools throughout the United Kingdom, and some American reprints became prescribed school texts in Pennsylvania and Brooklyn.
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describing the event as being a "pseudo-scientific fiasco". Pepper felt very badly treated by fellow scientists and the general public and in a letter written to
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Pepper started his experiments in the weeks leading up to the public event. He gathered a range of materials including ten swivel guns, powerful rockets from
151:(University of Westminster) and wrote several important science education books, one of which is regarded as a significant step towards the understanding of
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Over the next two years he took his show around
Australia, visiting New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. After the tour he settled in
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To prevent overcrowding in the vicinity of the
Professor's Apparatus, a small nominal charge of SIXPENCE admission to the Course will be made.
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reports have suggested that, at the time, Pepper claimed to have developed the technique after reading the 1831 book
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A drawing by G.F. Sargeant, published in 1847, showing the interior of the Royal
Polytechnic Institution
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Pepper wrote eleven popular science books, starting with his first publications in the 1850s. 1861's
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In the coming years, other scientists attempted what Pepper called "cloud compelling" (see
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experiment. He took out a front page advertisement in the 30 January 1882 issue of
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Pepper was fascinated with electricity and light. In 1863 he illuminated
645:"Fixists vs. Mobilists in the Geology Contest of the Century, 1844-1969"
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Pepper returned to
England in 1889 to enjoy his retirement. He died in
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650:. Department of Geology, NTNU, Norway. pp. 36–37. Archived from
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who had mysteriously disappeared in 1826. A supposed sighting of
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at the age of 19. In around 1843 he was elected a Fellow of the
179:. While there he became interested in chemistry, as taught by
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to publicise the event, scheduled for 4 February 1882 at the
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and is regarded as an important step in the understanding of
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THE GREAT SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT OF TAPPING THE CLOUDS !
371:. The show was poorly received and lasted only a few weeks.
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Pepper heard tales of Fred Fisher, a farmer in nearby
916:"Friends of West Norwood Cemetery, Newsletter No. 51"
738:. Cambridge Library Collection Blog. 6 February 2012
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504:on 25 March 1900. There is a memorial to Pepper at
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163:using electrical conduction and large explosions.
273:eventually gave up and requested an explanation.
1021:People educated at King's College School, London
681:"The History of the Discovery of Cinematography"
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293:. The books became so successful, particularly
996:Science History Institute Digital Collections
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838:"Professor Pepper's Rain Making Experiments"
321:. He achieved this using a variation of the
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207:Pepper delivered his first lecture at the
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591:"John H. Pepper - Analyst and Rainmaker"
331:Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington
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355:month, so he took his show to Sydney.
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683:. precinemahistory.net. Archived from
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532:"Quick and Magical Shaper of Science"
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596:. Queensland Institute of Technology
980:Works by or about John Henry Pepper
616:"Showcase for advancing technology"
224:. Amongst the students at Eton was
97:and other scientific demonstrations
530:Secord, J. A. (6 September 2002).
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1041:Burials at West Norwood Cemetery
960:. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
956:Dictionary of National Biography
736:"Professor Pepper and His Ghost"
414:ON SATURDAY NEXT, 4TH FEBRUARY,
589:Cane, R. F. (28 August 1975).
339:President of the United States
315:Edward Albert, Prince of Wales
16:British scientist and inventor
1:
789:. Queensland Heritage Council
759:"In Search of Fisher's Ghost"
475:dated 27 May 1882 he stated:
313:to celebrate the marriage of
295:The Boy's Playbook of Science
209:Royal Polytechnic Institution
149:Royal Polytechnic Institution
137:John Henry "Professor" Pepper
125:Royal Polytechnic Institution
786:Queensland Heritage Register
812:"Front page advertisements"
402:ANNOUNCEMENT EXTRAORDINARY.
185:Grainger School of Medicine
159:he tried unsuccessfully to
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971:Works by John Henry Pepper
946:"Pepper, John Henry"
842:Warwick Examiner and Times
781:"Woodlands (entry 601890)"
468:Warwick Examiner and Times
416:BY PROFESSOR J. H. PEPPER.
235:
943:Seccombe, Thomas (1901).
757:Nickell, Joe (May 2001).
620:University of Westminster
350:With wife Mary Ann (born
287:Antonio Snider-Pellegrini
285:, built upon the work of
175:, London and educated at
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99:Educational science books
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487:). In another letter to
410:Will be attempted on the
369:Hermes and the Alchymist
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283:The Playbook of Metals
263:Étienne-Gaspard Robert
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643:Krill, Allan (2011).
506:West Norwood Cemetery
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445:Eagle Farm Racecourse
301:Electricity and light
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177:King's College School
1031:British entertainers
894:The Brisbane Courier
868:The Brisbane Courier
816:The Brisbane Courier
761:. Skeptical Inquirer
489:The Brisbane Courier
485:weather modification
473:The Brisbane Courier
440:The Brisbane Courier
425:The Brisbane Courier
412:BRISBANE RACECOURSE,
319:Alexandra of Denmark
311:St. Paul's Cathedral
423:— Advertisement in
396:Rainmaking attempts
329:to be sent between
171:Pepper was born in
890:"Cloud Compelling"
864:"Cloud Compelling"
710:"Professor Pepper"
657:on 1 November 2013
408:RAIN-MAKING !
259:Recreative Memoirs
205:
181:John Thomas Cooper
975:Project Gutenberg
844:. 8 February 1882
818:. 30 January 1882
427:, 30 January 1882
346:Life in Australia
291:continental drift
261:by famed showman
195:Career in England
153:continental drift
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105:Scientific career
56:, London, England
25:John Henry Pepper
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1026:British chemists
984:Internet Archive
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121:Institutions
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67:(1900-03-25)
50:17 June 1821
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1016:1900 deaths
1011:1821 births
951:Lee, Sidney
714:The Mercury
502:Leytonstone
173:Westminster
155:. While in
81:Nationality
73:Leytonstone
54:Westminster
1005:Categories
994:(1862) at
512:References
435:rainmaking
384:Queensland
222:Haileybury
167:Early life
46:1821-06-17
925:15 August
900:16 August
874:16 August
848:16 August
822:16 August
765:15 August
742:15 August
720:16 August
691:15 August
661:15 August
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600:15 August
547:15 August
454:Cormorant
452:HMS
389:Woodlands
277:Authoring
157:Australia
115:Chemistry
75:, England
991:elements
793:1 August
380:Brisbane
376:Ashgrove
327:telegram
323:arc lamp
982:at the
953:(ed.).
938:Sources
537:Science
367:called
85:British
317:, and
220:, and
218:Harrow
111:Fields
949:. In
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655:(PDF)
648:(PDF)
594:(PDF)
496:Death
352:circa
250:play
927:2012
902:2012
876:2012
850:2012
824:2012
795:2014
767:2012
744:2012
722:2012
693:2012
663:2012
627:2012
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549:2012
333:and
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214:Eton
62:Died
40:Born
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406:OR,
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