Macmillan, Kirkpatrick (Energy)
Macmillan, Kirkpatrick
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Kirkpatrick Macmillan (1812-1878), an Irish inventor who developed the first rear-wheel driven safety bicycle in 1842. Pedalling by foot, the rider propelled the bicycle via a horizontal reciprocating motion; this movement was transmitted to cranks on the rear wheel by connecting rods. The machine was heavy and inefficient—the physical effort required to ride it must have been considerable. Macmillan rode his bike 68 miles over rough roads from his home to Glasgow, Scotland to visit his two brothers. In June of 1842, he was fined five Scots shillings for speeding at 8 mph into the Gorbals and knocking down a little girl in the crush that awaited this 'Devil on Wheels'. Modern bicycles are the most energy efficient form of personal transportation in terms of the amount of energy required to transport one person a given distance.
