Papin, Denis (1647–c. 1712)

French physicist and technologist who in 1679 invented a vessel that was the forerunner of the pressure cooker and the autoclave, together with a safety valve. He was also an important pioneer in the development of the steam engine.

Papin was born in Blois, on the Loire, and studied medicine at Angers. His first job was as assistant to Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens in Paris, and in 1675 he went to London as secretary to scientist and inventor Robert Hooke. Papin spent 1681–84 in Venice, returned to London and a job at the Royal Society, then became professor of mathematics at Marburg 1687–96. He returned to London in 1707.

Papin worked with Huygens and Irish physicist Robert Boyle on an air pump and invented the condensing pump. It was in London with Boyle that he invented the ‘steam digester’ – a vessel with a tightly fitting lid that prevented steam from escaping. The high pressure generated caused the boiling point of the water to rise considerably.

In 1690, Papin suggested a cylinder-and-piston steam engine, but his scheme was unworkable, because he proposed to use one vessel as both boiler and cylinder. He proposed the first steam-driven boat in 1690 and in 1707 he built a paddle boat, but the paddles were turned by human power and not by steam.