In 1851 he received a US patent for one of the world's first ice-making machines, which harnessed the cooling properties of pressurised gases as they expanded.
The idea is to pressurise the carbon dioxide so that it becomes a liquid. The fluid is then released into the dishwasher where it cleans the dishes all by itself.
Residents could live, work and sleep inside the pressurised tubes with no need for space suits and with plenty of spare real estate for some low-gravity recreation.
Rather than simply situating a Moon base inside a lava tube—domes and shiny buildings and all—they suggested that a section of such a tube could be pressurised with breathable air.
Knowing that the roof will not fall in should give engineers the confidence to work on other aspects of the idea, such as how to use inflatable structures to cap the ends of a pressurised section of the tube.