Benjamin Thompson (later Count Rumford) aimed by his inventions and scientific research to increase the degree of comfort in daily life. His goals were practical and his contributions to our knowledge of the nature of heat proved extremely valuable. Between 1870 and 1875, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Boston published all of Rumford's papers that the Academy committee was able to find. The Academy edition, however, has long been out of print and practically unavailable. Here Sanborn Brown has rearranged the papers according to subject matter.

Volume I contains Rumford's papers on the nature of heat; the second covers its practical applications. This third volume contains his papers on devices and techniques, including “Use of Steam for Transporting Heat”; “Means of Heating the Hall of the (French) Institute”; “New Boiler for Saving Fuel”; “Steam Heat for Making Soap”; “Fires in Closed Fire-Places”; “Kitchen Fire-Places”; “Salubrity of Warm Rooms”; “Salubrity of Warm Bathing”; “The Strength of Silk”; “Quantities of Absorbed Moisture”; “Advantage of Wheels with Broad Felloes”; and “Proposals for Building a Frigate.”