Abraham Gesner

Born:    1797 Birth Place:    Cornwallis, Nova Scotia Died:    1864 Invention:    Kerosene

          Abraham Gesner had an undying love for rocks and minerals as a kid.  He could often be found on the beaches of his hometown collecting rocks and fossils.
        In later years, Abraham studied medicine in London, England.  Still interesetedin geology, he set up a practice in Nova Scotia, where he could extend his collection of fossils.
        In 1838, he became the first government geologist in a british colony when he was appointed Provincial Geologist of New Brunswick.
         In April of 1842, he opened the first museum in all of Canada, the Gesner Museum.
        Gesner then migrated to the United States where he invented Kerosene, a light oil that could be used instead of whale oil as a fuel for lamps.  Gesner's importance rests not so much on the Kerosene itself as on the way in which he produced it by distilling hydrocarbons.