Murdock, William 

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b. Aug. 21, 1754, Old Cumnock, Ayr, Scot.
d. Nov. 15, 1839, Birmingham, Warwickshire, Eng.

 Scottish inventor, the first to make extensive use of coal gas for illumination and 
 a pioneer in the development of steam power. 

 In 1777 Murdock entered the engineering firm of Matthew Boulton and James Watt 
 in their Soho works at Birmingham and about two years later was sent to Cornwall 
 to superintend the fitting of Watt's steam engines. At his home in Redruth, 
 Cornwall, he experimented in distilling coal and in 1792 lighted his cottage and 
 offices with coal gas. After returning to Birmingham about 1799, he perfected 
 further practical methods for making, storing, and purifying gas. 

 Murdock also made important improvements in the steam engine. He was the first 
 to devise an oscillating engine, of which he made a model about 1784; in 1786 he 
 was busy with a steam carriage or road locomotive that was unsuccessful; and in 
 1799 he invented the long D slide valve. He is generally credited with devising the 
 so-called Sun-and-planet motion, a means of making a steam engine give 
 continuous revolving motion to a shaft provided with a flywheel. Watt, however, 
 patented this motion in 1781. Murdock also experimented with compressed air and 
 in 1803 constructed a steam gun. He retired from business in 1830.  

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