THOMAS TREDGOLD (1788-1829), English engineer, was born at Brandon, near Durham, on the 22nd of August 1788, and at the age of fourteen was apprenticed to a carpenter. In 1808 he went to Scotland, and after working there as a journeyman for five years, obtained employment in London with an architect. He began to practice as a civil engineer on his own account in 1823, but much of his time was devoted to the preparation of his engineering text-books, which gained a wide reputation. They included Elementary Principles of Carpentry (1820), almost the first book of its kind in English; Practical Treatise on the Strength of Cast Iron and other Metals (1824); Principles of Warming and Ventilating Public Buildings (1824); Practical Treatise on Railroads and Carriages (1825); and The Steam Engine (1827). He died in London on the 28th of January 1829.