Scientist, Soldier, Statesman, Spy: Count Rumford, the Extrordinary Life of a Scientific Genius

The true story of Count Rumford, a man who brought more benefit to mankind than most men of his time. After a boyhood in Massachusetts, Romford became a teacher and married a rich society wife, but was forced to flee to England in 1776 after spying for the British during the American War of Independance. Throughout his adventurous life, Rumford's passion was for science - he was known as "The spy who conquered the cold" after he discovered how heat was made - and his revolutionary inventions improved heating, lighting and cooking facilities. He was also a philanthropist setting up workhouses, originating the idea of soup kitchens and, most famously, establishing the Royal Institution. Yet, despite becoming Under- Secretary of State in the British Government, being knighted by George III and founding a Rumford Professorship at Harvard, Rumford was vilified by Cobbett, Gillray aand Cruickshank, and he died almost alone in France.