[BITList] To the moon, Tom

[John Feltham]

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Bacon,  Francis Thomas  [Tom]  (1904-1992), engineer and developer of the fuel cell, was born on 21 December 1904 at Ramsden Hall, Ramsden Crays, Billericay, Essex, the second of three sons of Thomas Walter Bacon (1863-1950), electrical engineer, and his wife, Edith Mary, nee Leslie-Melville (1864-1950). On his father's side Bacon traced his ancestry to Sir Nicholas Bacon (1509-1579), lord keeper of the great seal in the time of Elizabeth I, and father (by his second marriage) of Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626), the philosopher and lord chancellor of England. Tom Bacon, as he was universally called, devoted his life to the development of the fuel cell, which he always believed offered the possibility of power without the pollution associated with internal combustion engines. Fuel cells, which convert the chemical energy of a fuel directly into electricity, were discovered by Sir William Grove in 1839 but, despite high theoretical efficiencies, remained a scientific curiosity until Bacon, adopting the approach of a creative engineer, developed a viable power source which provided the electrical power for the Apollo spacecraft for man's first voyage to the moon.

Bacon was educated first at St Peter's Court preparatory school in Broadstairs, Kent, and then at Eton College from 1918 to 1922, gaining the school physics prize in 1922. From Eton he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, taking the mechanical sciences tripos in 1925. After Cambridge he became an apprentice with C. A. Parsons & Co. Ltd, in Newcastle. He was related to and strongly influenced by Sir Charles Parsons, who was described by Bacon as 'a marvellous man with the great quality of always keeping an open mind'  (Williams, 3). After his apprenticeship in various departments he was responsible for the development and production of reflectors for searchlights and lights for the then fast growing film industry. During this period, on 4 August 1934, he married Barbara Winifred Papillon (1905/6-2000), daughter of Godfrey Keppel Papillon, estate agent, of the Manor House, Barrasford, Northumberland. They had two sons and one daughter.

Inspired by two articles in the periodical Engineering in 1932 Bacon began to contemplate the possibility of storing energy in the form of hydrogen and releasing it as electricity. Following Grove he first used platinum as catalyst and sulphuric acid as electrolyte. Hydrogen and oxygen were the two reacting gases. However, in order to reduce costs and improve power output, Bacon subsequently used nickel catalysts and potassium hydroxide as electrolyte. His original experiments were conducted clandestinely at Parsons but when he was discovered he was told either to stop them as not being relevant to the business or to leave; he left. Unlike many inventors he had independent means, his father having settled an appreciable portion of the family estate on him at an early age. This meant that throughout his life he was able to pursue his goal of power without pollution. In this aim the unwavering support of his wife, Barbara, was crucial. Also of great significance was Bacon's personal charm, which enabled him to gain support and finance from many quarters.

The first concrete support for Bacon's work came from Charles Merz, founder of the consulting engineers Merz and McClellan, who agreed to finance experiments at King's College, London, in Professor A. J. Allmand's laboratory. Many problems were encountered, and although initially it was hoped that fuel cells could be used to power submarines, by late 1941 it was clear that this was not likely to be viable in the short term. Bacon was then directed to research on asdic (underwater submarine detection) at Fairlie in Scotland.

After numerous rebuffs from industry, some of which were openly derisive, the Electrical Research Association agreed to sponsor fuel cell research, and in 1946 Bacon and his wife settled in a house in 19 acres in Little Shelford, Cambridgeshire, with their three children, Francis (the eldest, who died when twenty-three), Daphne, and Edward. Work was carried out successively in the departments of colloid science, metallurgy, and chemical engineering at Cambridge University from 1946 to 1956. Although a six-cell 150 watt unit was demonstrated at a London exhibition, no interest was shown by industry; the team disbanded and the apparatus was transferred to an outhouse on Bacon's estate. After an anxious six months of inactivity for Bacon, Lord Halsbury, the managing director of the National Research Development Corporation, agreed to finance further development of the Bacon fuel cell. Arthur Marshall, of Marshalls of Cambridge, provided the necessary facilities, and, with a very happy, competent team of engineers and chemists, under the scientific direction of Bacon, and not without overcoming many difficulties, developed a 6 kW system in 1959.

Although there was no interest in Britain the Leesona-Moos organization in the USA took out a licence which was then exploited by the Pratt and Whitney Division of United Aircraft to provide a highly efficient (75 per cent) power source for the Apollo moon project, the exhaust providing drinking water for the astronauts and humidification of the spacecraft atmosphere. After the success of the space mission Bacon was widely honoured, being invited to 10 Downing Street to meet the astronauts. On a visit Bacon made to the United States, President Nixon put his arm around his shoulders and said 'Without you Tom, we wouldn't have gotten to the Moon'  (Williams, 13).

Bacon received many honours including being made OBE (civil division) in 1967 and a fellow of the Royal Society in 1973; he received the Churchill gold medal of the Society of Engineers in 1972. For the rest of his life he continued to promote the fuel cell with its potential for clean power. He died at his home, Trees, 34 High Street, Little Shelford, Cambridgeshire, of heart failure, on 24 May 1992. He was buried at All Saints' Church, Little Shelford, on 1 June. He was survived by his wife, Barbara, his daughter, Daphne, and his son Edward. His papers were deposited with the Archives Centre of Churchill College, Cambridge.

Keith R. Williams 

Sources  K. R. Williams, Memoirs FRS, 39 (1994), 3-18 + P. Farley, Project X (1970) + The Times (1 June 1992) + The Independent (3 June 1992) + WWW, 1991-5 + b. cert. + m. cert. + d. cert. + private information (2004) [family]
Archives CAC Cam., corresp. and papers
Likenesses  C. Shenstone, conte-pencil drawing, c.1982, NPG · L. Douglas-Menzies, photograph, 1987, NPG [see illus.] · J. H. Hallett, oils, repro. in Memoirs FRS; priv. coll. · photograph, repro. in Memoirs FRS · photograph, repro. in The Times · photograph, repro. in The Independent
Wealth at death  £495,852: probate, 19 Jan 1993, CGPLA Eng. & Wales



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