Abraham Pineo Gesner
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/MitchellHa|MitchellHa]] to last version by Gail Wilson (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]])
{{Infobox Scientist
|name = Abraham Pineo Gesner
|box_width = 200px
|image =
|image_width = 150px
|caption = Abraham Pineo Gesner
|birth_date = [[May 2]], [[1797]]
|birth_place = [[Cornwallis, Nova Scotia|Cornwallis Township]], [[Nova Scotia]], [[Canada]]
|death_date = [[April 29]], [[1864]]
|death_place = [[City of Halifax|Halifax]], [[Nova Scotia]]
|residence = [[Saint John, New Brunswick]] and [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]]
|citizenship =
|nationality = [[Canada|Canadian]]
|ethnicity =
|field = [[Geology]], [[Medicine]]
|work_institutions = [[Government of New Brunswick]] and the [[North American Kerosene Gas Light Company]]
|alma_mater = [[St Bartholomew's Hospital]] and [[Dalhousie University]]
|doctoral_advisor =
|doctoral_students =
|known_for = Inventor of [[kerosene]]
|author_abbrev_bot =
|author_abbrev_zoo =
|influences =
|influenced =
|prizes =
|religion =
|footnotes =
|signature =
}}
'''Abraham Pineo Gesner''', born [[May 2]], [[1797]] in [[Cornwallis, Nova Scotia|Cornwallis Township]], [[Nova Scotia]], [[Canada]] ({{coord|45.0775|-64.495833}}) – died [[April 29]], [[1864]] in [[City of Halifax|Halifax]], [[Nova Scotia]], was a [[physician]] and [[geologist]] who invented [[kerosene]] and became the primary founder of the modern petroleum industry.
==Education==
Born to a well-established farming family in the [[Annapolis Valley]], Pineo Gesner pursued a career at sea from a young age. Twice shipwrecked by his early twenties, Gesner returned to the family farm near [[Chipman Corner]], northeast of [[Kentville]]. He married Harriet Webster, the daughter of Kentville's Dr. [[Isaac Webster]] in [[1824]], then went to [[London, England|London]] to study medicine at [[St Bartholomew's Hospital]] under [[Sir Astley Paston Cooper]], then surgery at [[Guy's Hospital]] under [[John Abernathy (surgeon)|John Abernathy]].<ref>[http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=38570 Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online'']</ref> While in London, he became interested in geology, making the acquaintance of [[Charles Lyell]]<ref>[http://www.bovagems.com/eclectic/HTML/19970501_0597ABEGEN.html Abraham Gesner, Part One: A Father of Petroleum by Hans Durstling ]</ref>
Returning to [[Parrsboro, Nova Scotia|Parrsboro]] as a practising physician, Gesner also pursued his passion for geology. In [[1836]], he published a study on the mineralogy of Nova Scotia, which included a detailed geological map providing information on the key deposits of [[iron ore]] and [[coal]] in Nova Scotia. In [[1838]], he was appointed Provincial Geologist for [[New Brunswick]] charged with the mission to undertake a similar geological survey. In the course of this survey, in [[1839]] Gesner discovered the [[bituminous]] [[asphalt]] substance [[albertite]], which he named after [[Albert County, New Brunswick]] where it was found.
In [[1842]], looking for coal, Gesner travelled to [[Quebec]], where he discovered the first of the great fossil deposits of the future [[Miguasha National Park]]. However, little notice was taken of his report until the fossils were rediscovered in 1879.
Gesner started the Gesner Museum, in [[Saint John, New Brunswick|Saint John]], [[New Brunswick]], the first public museum in Canada. This later became the prestigious [[New Brunswick Museum]].<ref>[http://www.gnb.ca/0130/english/info_main.html Abraham Gesner by the New Brunswick Museum ]</ref>
==Kerosene==
Gesner's research in minerals resulted in his [[1846]] development of a process to refine a liquid fuel from coal. His new discovery, which he named [[kerosene]] but which was frequently referred to as [[coal oil]], burned cleaner and was less expensive than competing products such as [[whale oil]]. In 1850, Gesner created the Kerosene Gaslight Company and began installing lighting in the streets in Halifax and other cities. By 1854 he had expanded to the [[United States]] where he created the North American Kerosene Gas Light Company at [[Long Island, New York]]. Demand grew to where his company’s capacity to produce became a problem but the discovery of [[petroleum]], from which [[kerosene]] could be more easily produced, solved the supply problem.
Abraham Gesner continued his research on fuels and wrote a number of scientific studies concerning the industry including an 1861 publication titled, "A Practical Treatise on Coal, Petroleum and Other Distilled Oils" that became a standard reference in the field. Eventually Gesner's company was absorbed into the petroleum monopoly, [[Standard Oil]] and he returned to Halifax, where he was appointed a Professor of Natural History at [[Dalhousie University]].<ref>{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:8423576
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8423576
|last=Murray
|first=T J
|publication-date=1993 Jan
|year=[[1993]]
|title=Dr Abraham Gesner: the father of the petroleum industry.
|volume=86
|issue=1
|periodical=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
|pages=43-4
}}</ref><ref>{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:793702
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/793702
|last=Swinton
|first=W E
|publication-date=1976 Dec 4
|year=[[1976]]
|title=Physician contributions to nonmedical science: Abraham Gesner, inventor of kerosene.
|volume=115
|issue=11
|periodical=Canadian Medical Association journal
|pages=1126-33
}}</ref>
In 1933, [[Imperial Oil]] Ltd., a Standard Oil subsidiary, erected a memorial in [[Camp Hill Cemetery]] in Halifax to pay tribute to Abraham Gesner's contribution to the petroleum industry. In 2000, he was honored by the placement of his image on a [[List of people on stamps of Canada|postage stamp]] by [[Canada Post]].
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
*[http://ns1763.ca/kingsco/gesnermem.html Abraham Gesner monument at Chipman Corner (in former Cornwallis Township), Nova Scotia]
*[http://museum.gov.ns.ca/fossils/finders/gesner.htm Abraham Gesner, by Nova Scotia Museum]
*[http://alts.net/ns1625/gesner.html Abraham Gesner saved more whales than Green Peace ever will, by James S. Robbins]
*[http://www.littletechshoppe.com/ns1625/gesner.html Abraham Gesner saved more whales than Green Peace ever will by James S. Robbins ]
*[http://www.libertyhaven.com/politicsandcurrentevents/environmentalismorconservation/capitalism.shtml How Capitalism Saved the Whales by James S. Robbins ]
*[http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/301/ic/cdc/heirloom_series/volume4/136-139.htm Abraham Gesner by Industry Canada ]
*[http://museum.gov.ns.ca/fossils/finders/gesner.htm Abraham Gesner by the Nova Scotia Museum ]
*[http://www.bovagems.com/eclectic/HTML/19970601_0697DURST.html Abraham Gesner, Part Two: Gunplay in the Albert County Woods by Hans Durstling ]
*[http://www.petroleumhistory.ca/history/cdnbeginnings.html Abraham Gesner Petroleum History Society ]
*[http://www.saintjohn.nbcc.nb.ca/~Heritage/AlbertMines/AGesner.htm Abraham Gesner by New Brunswick Community College, Saint John ]
*[http://www.cheminst.ca/ncw/articles/1999_gesner1_e.htm Abraham Gesner by National Chemistry Week ]
*[http://www.k12.nf.ca/stmarks/grassroots/1999-2000/inventors/gesner.htm Abraham Gesner St. Mark's School ]
*[http://www.saintjohn.nbcc.nb.ca/~Heritage/AlbertMines/FGConflict.htm Foulis - Gesner Conflict ]
*[http://www.unbf.ca/arts/anthropology/Experiences/black/WashademoakLake/gesner.htm Abraham Gesner University of New Brunswick ]
[[Category:1797 births|Gesner, Abraham Pineo]]
[[Category:1864 deaths|Gesner, Abraham Pineo]]
[[Category:Businesspeople of the 19th century|Gesner, Abraham Pineo]]
[[Category:Canadian geologists|Gesner, Abraham Pineo]]
[[Category:Canadian inventors|Gesner, Abraham Pineo]]
[[Category:Canadian physicians|Gesner, Abraham Pineo]]
[[Category:Dalhousie University faculty|Gesner, Abraham Pineo ]]
[[Category:Founders of the petroleum industry|Gesner, Abraham Pineo]]
[[Category:Canadians of German descent|Gesner, Abraham Pineo]]
[[Category:People from Kings County, Nova Scotia|Gesner, Abraham Pineo]]
[[Category:Pre-Confederation Nova Scotia people|Ges]]
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