Jefferson Hume

Jefferson Hume (1746–1789) was a scholar, inventor and engineer.

Hume is credited with inventing the thimble press and buttercup daisy-wheel which helped increase the efficiency of gearing machinery at the time, and is still used in many modern gearing systems.

According to his diaries, which were recently discovered in the house which was his family home at the time, Hume lived an ascetic life, preferring to renounce material comforts in favour of his study and his passion for mechanical invention. He died in 1789, alone, unmarried and with no children or family, at the age of 43.