Mårten Triewald
Who was Mårten Triewald?
Merchant and technician, one of the founders of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Mårten Triewald (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Mårten Triewald (18 November 1691 – 8 August 1747), sometimes called Mårten Triewald the Younger, was a Swedish merchant, engineer, and amateur physicist from Stockholm. His father, Mårten Triewald the Elder, was a German-born farrier and anchorsmith. Mårten Triewald grew up during a time when Sweden was eagerly learning from scientific and industrial developments in Britain and Europe. He became one of the most technically skilled Swedes of his time, combining business, engineering, and science.
Triewald's career changed when his business took him to London, where he attended lectures by John Theophilus Desaguliers, a prominent promoter of Newtonian science. Triewald stayed in touch with Desaguliers, connecting with engineers and scientists across the Atlantic. In 1716, he became an inspector at a coal mine in Newcastle upon Tyne, studying and improving steam engines. This experience gave him unique expertise in Sweden.
Upon returning to Sweden in 1726, Triewald used his knowledge at the Dannemora iron mine, designing a steam engine called eld- och luftmachin, or fire and air machine. This was Sweden's first practical steam engine. In 1728 and 1729, he gave public lectures on mechanics at the Swedish House of Nobility, showcasing scientific instruments he had bought in England. These instruments were later acquired by Lund University in 1732. His assistant, Daniel Menlös, was appointed a professor of mathematics at Lund following these events.
Triewald explored many other fields. In 1729, he formed a diving company and wrote a book called Konsten att lefa under watn, or The Art of Living Under Water, about diving bells and equipment. He also wrote a book on beekeeping in 1728, Tractat om bij. Triewald was awarded the title director mechanicus, and in 1735, he became kapten-mekanikus at the Fortification Administration. Parliament noted he was the only suitable person for the role and granted him an annual pension. He was elected to the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala in 1729, was one of six founders of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1739, and was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in London. He passed away in Stockholm on 8 August 1747.
Before Fame
Mårten Triewald was born in 1691 in Stockholm, the son of a farrier and anchorsmith from Germany, indicating that his family already had a background in metalwork and practical skills. He grew up during Sweden's last years as a major power, when the country invested heavily in mining, metallurgy, and military engineering. This made people with technical skills valuable, and Triewald's career in business gave him the opportunity and motivation to travel to England, which was then the leading hub for applied mechanics and experimental science.
His time in London was life-changing. He attended lectures by John Theophilus Desaguliers, learning about Newtonian physics at a time when such teaching was training a new generation of engineers across Europe. From 1716, he worked at a coal mine in Newcastle, where he directly engaged with steam engines and worked alongside the miners and mechanics who operated them. By the time he returned to Sweden in 1726, he had gained a level of practical and theoretical knowledge that few others in Scandinavia had at the time.
Key Achievements
- Designed and built the first steam engine in Sweden to be used for practical industrial purposes, at the Dannemora mine, circa 1726–1728.
- Was one of six co-founders of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm in 1739.
- Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in London and a member of the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala.
- Appointed kapten-mekanikus at the Swedish Fortification Administration in 1735, with Parliament declaring him uniquely qualified for the role.
- Authored early Swedish works on underwater diving technology and beekeeping, extending technical knowledge into new practical domains.
Did You Know?
- 01.The steam engine Triewald built at Dannemora mine was described in archaic Swedish as an eld- och luftmachin, meaning fire and air machine, reflecting the period's incomplete understanding of steam as a working medium.
- 02.Triewald wrote a book titled Konsten att lefa under watn, or The Art of Living Under Water, and actually formed a commercial diving company in 1729, making him an early entrepreneur in underwater operations.
- 03.The collection of scientific instruments Triewald brought back from England and used in his 1728–1729 public lectures was eventually absorbed by Lund University, helping to seed that institution's physics and mathematics teaching.
- 04.Triewald published a treatise on beekeeping, Tractat om bij, in 1728, the same year he began his mechanics lectures, illustrating the breadth of his practical curiosity.
- 05.He was one of only six founders of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1739, an institution that would go on to award the Nobel Prize in several scientific categories.