 John
Tyndall, born in Ireland in poor circumstances, was a remarkable self-made
man of science. "With Darwin and Huxley
his name is inseparably connected with the battle which began in the middle
of the 19th century for making the new standpoint of modern science part
of the accepted philosophy in general life. For many years indeed, he came
to represent to ordinary Englishmen the typical or ideal professor of physics.
His strong, picturesque mode of seizing and expressing things gave him
an immense living influence both in speech and writing, and disseminated
a popular knowledge of physical science such as had not previously existed.
But besides being a true educator, and perhaps the greatest popular teacher
of natural philosophy in his generation, he was an earnest and original
observer and explorer of nature" (11th Ed. EB.) He made an enormously successful
lecture tour of America during 1872-73. That trip earned him many thousands
of dollars, but he would touch none of it. He placed it instead in the
hands of trustees, and directed that it be used to advance American science. |
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From T. Harrington, Prominent Men and Women of the Day, 1888 As an exponent of scientific discoveries, Prof. Tyndall occupies the foremost place among his contemporaries, his only rival being his friend, Prof. Huxley. It would almost be impossible to over-estimate the value of the labors of these two great scientists, or their importance in the modification of the thought of the present generation. The great scientist, John Tyndall, F.R.S., D.C.L., LL.D., was born in the village of Leighlin Bridge, Carlow, Ireland, and was a son of a member of the Irish constabulary. He received a common school education; and his father taught him occasionally, constantly exercising his mind in theology. In 1839 he joined the Irish ordinance survey;
and in 1844, his wishes to come to America being thwarted by his friends,
he became a railway engineer. This position he exchanged in 1847 for that
of master at Queenwood college, where he devoted himself to chemical research.
Professor Tyndall visited the Alps for purposes of recreation in 1849, and began to go there yearly for the purpose of studying the glacier formation.In 1856 he made a memorable expedition to Switzerland, in company with Professor Huxley, which resulted in a joint treatise On the Structure and Motion of Glaciers. The adventures and discoveries of this notable scientist are recorded in the following works published by him: The Glaciers of the Alps, published in 1860; Mountaineering, in 1861; A Vacation Tour, in 1863; Hours of Exercise in the Alps, in 1871; and The Forms of Water in Clouds and Rivers, Ice and Glaciers, in 1872. These works attracted the attention of the whole scientific world, and the popularity of this great author and scientist was remarkable. In the meantime he had also published Heat as a Mode of Motion, which appeared in 1863; On Radiation two years later; then followed a work on Sound, and in 1870 appeared Light. In 1872 Professor Tyndall made a lecturing tour through the United States, which resulted in adding still more to his fame as a man of great learning. Among the other more notable and later works of this eminent man the following attracted considerable attention: Faraday as a Discoverer, Natural Philosophy in Easy Lessons, On the Scientific Use of the Imagination, and Fragments of Science, all of which appeared in rapid succession. In a life of the duration of nearly three score
years and ten, this able man has wielded his pen in the cause of science
with a steadiness of purpose and a persistency of will that is worthy of
praise and emulation.
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