Isaiah Lukens

Isaiah Quinby Lukens (24 August 1779 – 12 November 1846) was an American clockmaker, gunsmith, machinist, and inventor from southeastern Pennsylvania. He was a founding member and first Vice President of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. He was elected to membership in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia in June 1812, where he served as curator for multiple decades beginning in 1813. In 1820, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.
Lukens was blinded in one eye by "a chip of steel when dressing a grindstone" (c.1816), after which he took Joseph Saxton as his assistant. According to George Escol Sellers, whose father was close friends with Lukens, "he called [Saxton] his pupil, and he did honor to his preceptor".
Early Life and Family.
Lukens was the son of Seneca Lukens and Sarah (Quinby) Lukens, who were married on June 10, 1777. The family was descended from Jan Lucken, who immigrated to the Pennsylvania colony in October 1683, with Daniel Pastorius, and was one of the original settlers of Germantown. Lukens grew up on his family's farm in Horsham, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and learned from his father to construct clocks and watches. He moved to Philadelphia around 1811.
Personality.
George Escol Sellers wrote that he was "naturally of a social disposition, although an impediment in his speech made him appear shy and diffident in ladies' society. He called his shop his wife, and he really loved it."
Scientific Activities.
Lukens used a telescope with a plössl (symmetrical) eyepiece to observe the solar eclipse on September 18, 1838. His data were compiled with the independent observations of 14 other scientists from Philadelphia, and published in "The American Journal of Science and Arts" in 1840.