One of the preeminent natural philosophers of the Enlightenment, Benjamin Thompson started out as a farm boy with a practical turn of mind. His inventions and scientific explorations include the Rumford fireplace, insulated clothing, the thermos, convection ovens, double boilers, double-paned glass and an improved sloop. Successful in world affairs, he was knighted by King George III and became a Count of the Holy Roman Emperor. Thompson was popular with women--so much so that his personal life eclipsed his achievements. While a spy for the British authorities in the colonies, he had an affair with the wife of Boston printer Isaiah Thompson. In London, he had a fling with the wife of a doctor who would crew the first balloon to cross the English Channel. He fathered a child by the court mistress of the Prince Elector and had affairs with several other German noblewomen. He wrote that his first marriage, to a New England minister's daughter, made his career, and called his second wife, the widow of the French chemist Lavoisier, a "female dragon.
" Drawing on Thompson's correspondence and diaries, this book examines his friendships and romantic relationships.