Stirling engine [SEP] discoverer or inventor
weight ratio, rendering it more suitable for use in static installations where space and weight are not at a premium.
Robert Stirling invented the first practical example of a closed cycle air engine in 1816, and it was suggested by Fleeming Jenkin as early as 1884 that all such engines should therefore generically be called Stirling engines. This naming proposal found little favour, and the various types on the market continued to be known by the name of their individual designers or manufacturers, e.g., Rider's, Robinson's, or Heinrici
engine in 1816. The principle of the Stirling Air Engine differs from Cayley's, in which the air is forced through the furnace and exhausted, whereas in Stirling's engine the air works in a closed circuit. It was to it that the inventor devoted most of his attention. A two horse-power Stirling hot air engine, built in 1818 for pumping water at an Ayrshire quarry, continued to work for some time, until a careless attendant allowed the heater to become overheated. This experiment proved to the inventor that