Ahead of his time

I went for a walk in Woking Park this morning and came across this statue of Sir William Grove (1811 - 1896). It was erected in 2004 and honours Sir William as the inventor, back in 1839, of fuel cell technology. Fittingly, the statue is situated next to a fuel cell plant which feeds hydrogen and oxygen into the cell to produce electricity to power the adjoining municipal swimming pool. Sir William also invented one of the first incandescent electric lights which Thomas Edison later perfected. Interestingly, Sir William was also a lawyer and focused on his legal career later in life, becoming a High Court judge.