Dugald Clerk

Sir Dugald Clerk (1854-1932) was a Scottish engineer, born in Glasgow.

He studied in Glasgow and Leeds, intending to become a chemical engineer. At first he specialised in the properties of petroleum, but in 1877 he switched his attention to gas engines (in the British sense of gas). He invented a two-stroke gas engine, which he patented in 1881. The principles behind this engine are still used in gas engines and in small petrol engines such as those on motorcycles.