The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson for Boys and Girls

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It was in meteorological researches and illumination of lighthouses,
however, that Thomas Stevenson did his greatest work. It was he who
brought to perfection the revolving light now so generally used.

In spite of this and other valuable inventions his name has remained
little known, owing to the fact that none of his inventions were ever
patented. The Stevensons believed that, holding government appointments,
any original work they did belonged to the nation. "A patent not only
brings in money but spreads reputation," writes his son, "and my
father's instruments enter anonymously into a hundred light rooms and
are passed anonymously over in a hundred reports, where the least
considerable patent would stand out and tell its author's story."

He was beloved among a wide circle of friends and the esteem of those in
his profession was shown when in 1884 they chose him for president of
the Royal Society of Edinburgh. To the general public, however, he
remained unknown in spite of the fact that "His lights were in all parts