Andrew Ure

Andrew Ure (pronounced to rhyme with "Pure") (18 May 1778 – 2 January 1857) was a Scottish doctor. Born in Glasgow, he studied chemistry and natural philosophy. In 1818 Ure revealed experiments he had been carrying out on a murderer named Clydsdale, after the man's execution. He claimed that, by stimulating the phrenic nerve, life could be restored in cases of suffocation, drowning or hanging. This supposedly influenced Mary Shelley when writing her novel, 'Frankenstein'.

Ure gained fame by his speeches and writings that advocated the great benefits of industrial capitalism. His The Philosophy of Manufactures, published in 1835 played an important role in molding a public opinion on the factory system amid critical debates on factory reform and new poor laws. This set out the basis of the factory system of production. It also defended the working conditions of factories during the Industrial Revolution in Britain.

His A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines was well received. An 1875 review provides some indication of this:


 * Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines. By Robert Hunt, F.R.S., Keeper of Mining Records, &c., &c., assisted by F. W. Rudler, F.G.S., and by numerous contributors eminent in science and familiar with manufactures. Seventh edition, in three volumes.  (London: Longmans, 1875.)


 * This well-known work, of which the seventh edition is now before us, first made its appearance in the past generation. During the life-time of its original projector and editor, Dr. Andrew Ure, it undoubtedly contributed largely to advance the education and progress of our manufacturing and industrial classes, and well-thumbed copies of it are to be found on the library shelves of all the "Mechanics' Institutions" which the educational revival of thirty years ago scattered over the land.


 * We find from the preface that since 1858, when the present editor took charge of the work, three editions, including the present, have appeared, so that its reputation as a standard work of reference appears to be still maintained.

Ure fundamentally rejected the darker side of capitalism, arguing that workers were "willing menials," who were provided with "abundant food and accommodations without perspiring from a single pore."

He died in 1857 while living in London.

Works

 * The Philosophy of Manufactures, or an Exposition of the Scientific, Moral and Commercial Economy of the Factory System of Great Britain, (1835)
 * Full text 1870 edition A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines, vol. 1 of 2.