-
John Tyndall Born
John Tyndall was born August 2nd, 1820 in Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, Ireland. -
Period: to
Life of John Tyndall
Attached is a video, uploaded by the Royal Institute (that John Tyndall was a part of), showing some of his works and discoveries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1thc8JDgfXo&ab_channel=TheRoyalInstitution -
Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution.
Tyndall was a Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution, and was among the first to conduct research which laid the ground for our understanding of the natural greenhouse effect and of climate change. He also made significant contributions to our understanding of magnetism, the chemical action of light, the color of the sky, cometary theory, acoustics, spontaneous generation and the germ theory. He was famous in his lifetime for his pioneering work in atmospheric physics, -
Greenhouse Effect.
Working on glaciers brought Tyndall into the heating effect of sunlight, and that heat from the sun penetrates the atmosphere more easily than "obscure heat" (infrared) "terrestrial radiation" from the warmed Earth, causing what we now call the greenhouse effect. In the spring of 1859, he began research into how thermal radiation, both visible and obscure, affects different gases and aerosols. He developed differential absorption spectroscopy using the electro-magnetic thermopile. -
Publications.
Tyndall, J. (1860), The glaciers of the Alps, Being a narrative of excursions and ascents, an account of the origin and phenomena of glaciers and an exposition of the physical principles to which they are related, Ticknor and Fields, Boston
Tyndall, J. (1862), Mountaineering in 1861. A vacation tour, Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, London
Tyndall, J. (1865), On Radiation: One Lecture (40 pages) [81]
Tyndall, J. (1868), Heat : A mode of motion, (1869 edition) D. Appleton, New York -
Publications Contd.
Tyndall, J. (1869), Natural Philosophy in Easy Lessons
Tyndall, J. (1870), Faraday as a discoverer, Longmans, Green, London
Tyndall, J. (1870), Notes of a Course of Nine Lectures on Light
Tyndall, J. (1870), Notes of a Course of Seven Lectures on Electrical Phenomena and Theories
Tyndall, J. (1870), Researches on diamagnetism and magne-crystallic action: including the question of diamagnetic polarity, (a compilation of 1850s research reports), Longmans, Green, London -
Wrote "Heat Considered as a Mode of Motion".
Tyndall wrote an introductory book on the physics of heat, "Heat Considered as a Mode of Motion" in 1863. The apparatus in the picture is a thermopile, which is a sensitive device for measuring temperature changes. -
Mountaineer
Tyndall made significant contributions to our understanding of glacier structure and motion. He combined his glacier researches with mountaineering, at which he became an expert. He was one of the first to reach the summit of the Matterhorn, he was the first to climb the Wiesshorn, and mountaineering gained the status of a recognized sport partly because of his popular narratives and discoveries made during the climbs. -
Respirators.
He invented a better version of the fireman's respirator, a hood that filtered smoke and noxious gas from air. -
Separation of Science and Religion.
Most scientists of his time were conservative Christians who believed that religion and science were consistent with each other. Tyndall, however, vocally supported Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and sought to strengthen the separation, between religion and science. As the elected president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1874, he gave a long speech at the Association's annual meeting held that year, in Belfast for the separation of religion and science. -
Bacteria, and the Germ Box.
Using his "Germ Box" experiments, Tyndall found a way to eradicate bacterial spores that came to be known as "Tyndallization". Tyndallization was the earliest known effective way to destroy bacterial spores. At the time, it affirmed the "germ theory" against a number of critics whose experimental results had been defective from the same cause. -
Married to Louisa Tyndall
He was married to Louisa Charlotte (Hamilton) Tyndall in Westminster Abbey on February 29th, 1876. She was just over 30 years old, and he was in his 50's. Louisa worked closely with him on his research and writings. She was frequently in the laboratory with him, taking notes, and helping write an account of their observations, for the Philosophical Magazine. -
John Tyndall died, December 6th 1893.
John Tyndall often treated himself with small doses of chloral hydrate to offset his insomnia, and ended up accidently overdosing while he was bedridden and died at the age of 73. He was buried at Haslemere, in Surrey, England. (Pictured is a Swiss memorial in front of the Aletsch Glacier which he studied for many years)
