Uriah A. Boyden

Who was Uriah A. Boyden?

Uriah Atherton Boyden was an civil and mechanical engineer and inventor from Foxborough, Massachusetts best known for the development of the Boyden Turbine around 1844, while working for the Appleton Company in Lowell, Massachusetts. Boyden improved upon the water turbine developed by French engineer Fourneyron by adding a conical approach passage for the incoming water—submerged diffusers, guide vanes and a diverting exit passage.

Uriah was also the younger brother of Seth Boyden, also a notable inventor who perfected a process for making patent leather, among other developments.