Marquis of Edward Somerset Worcester

Born in 1601, Edward Somerset became the 2nd Marquess of Worcester in 1646. He was a prominent Royalist during the English Civil War and spent part of the 1650s under political pressure, including imprisonment in the Tower of London after returning from exile.

He is most often remembered today for his interest in mechanics and invention. His 1663 book A Century of the Names and Scantlings of Inventions listed a wide range of devices and ideas, and later readers paid special attention to the machine he described for raising water, which helped shape his reputation in the history of steam power.

Although some details of his inventions are still debated, his name remains closely linked with early modern engineering imagination. He died in 1667, leaving behind a legacy that sits somewhere between practical experiment, bold speculation, and scientific curiosity.