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Tyndall arrives
John Tyndall was born in Leighlinbridge, Ireland. His father was a police constable and he had one older sister.
John was a draftsman, surveyor, physics professor, mathematician, geologist, atmospheric scientist, public lecture, and mountaineer.
1min40sec- description of experiment -
Life as a professor
In 1847 John was appointed to become the professor of mathematics and surveying at Queenwood College, but he following year he moved to Germany where he spent two years studying and taking his PhD, which he reciveced in 1850. He later returned to Queenwood College until his appointment at the Royal Institution of London as a professor of physics from 1853 - 1887 where his fame and discoveries derive. -
Breakthrough Discovery
In 1859 Tyndall constructed first ratio spectrometer to measure absorptive powers of gasses like water vapor and ozone and hydrocarbons. Eventually he discovered that water vapor is the strongest absorber in the radiant heat, so it is the most important gas in the regulation of earth's surface temperature.
On February 7, 1861 his discovery was published, along with many books and articles around this time. He received five honorary doctorate degrees and is the member of 35 scientific societies. -
Mountaineering and Noteable Speaking
Soon after, Tyndall worked on glaciers and began mountaineering; becoming the first person to climb the Weisshorn in 1861.
Tyndall continued to write, his most notable peice being his Presidential Address to the 1874 meeting of the British Association at Belfast; where he supported scientific naturalism. Encouraging scientific research over theological explanations for unexplained phenominon.
He then got married to Louisa Hamilton at the age of 55. -
Death
Later in life John suffered daily from chronic insomnia. Bedridden and ailing, he accidentally overdosed from drugs he used to help himself sleep. He died in 1893 at the age of 73.
John Tyndall will go down in history as one of the best experimental scientists and one of the first people to study earth’s atmosphere, glacial flows, and ozone. Possibly the most important though was the way he popularized science and engaged so many future scientists with his teaching and writing.
