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The great industrial expansion of the United States during the twentieth century is intimately associated with the inventive genius of a relatively few men. One of the most scientific but least known of these men is Albert Kingsbury. His invention of the thrust bearing which bears his name was an engineering accomplishment of the first magnitude, though by the very nature of the intricate theory that lies behind its conception it has attracted little popular interest. But Kingsbury's thrust bearing has had a vital influence in power generation, ship propulsion and numerous other departments of mechanical engineering which affect our daily lives in a very fundamental way.
Albert Kingsbury was born ay Morris, Illinois, in 1863. He was descended from old New England families on both sides. His elementary education was obtained in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. After serving three years as a machinists' apprentice, he entered Ohio State University as a freshman in mechanical engineering, but dropped the course at the end of his sophomore year to work with one of the university professors on a mechanical problem. This did not prove a very satisfactory arrangement and he found another job; this time as a machinist with the Warner & Swasey Company. In 1887, Kingsbury entered the junior class in mechanical engineering at Cornell University and graduated two years later when he was 26 years old.
During his student period at Cornell, Kingsbury was for the first time brought into contact with lubrication problems. Dr. R.H. Thurston, the head of Sibley College at Cornell, assigned Kingsbury the task of testing some bearing materials. These samples had already been tested and found to vary a great deal in the amount they had worn. From what followed, and because the matter is now much better understood, it must be concluded that the work had been done in a very poor way. Kingsbury started by scraping each bearing carefully to the shaft of the Thurston testing machine. This careful preparation of the bearing specimens produced in the test a condition of fluid film lubrication, and to the surprise of Dr. Thurston and Kingsbury, no wear could be produced. The experience made a deep impression on Albert Kingsbury, but the explanation of his unexpected result was unknown to him...