“I do not know a higher, nobler, and more blessed calling.”
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John Tyndall
John Tyndall (; 2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was an Irish physicist. His scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of infrared radiation and the physical properties of air, proving the connection between atmospheric CO2 and what is now known as the greenhouse effect in 1859.
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science · Irish physicist (1820–1893) · physicist · glaciologist · mountaineer · inventor · philosopher · writer · university teacher · naturalist · surveyor · also John Tyndall, John Tyndal, Tyndall
Born 2 August 1820 · Died 4 December 1893 · Q360808
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2026· 1 entry
2017· 1 entry
Following the merger of the Carlow Vocational School, and the name of the institution was given in recognition of Tyndall's contributions to science and Irish heritage
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1899· 1 entry
In Dictionary of National Biography (volume 57)
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1893· 2 entries
Died 1893-12-04.
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At the age of 73, and was buried at Haslemere
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1888· 1 entry
Decreed as follows: "The fundamental doctrine of rationalism is the supremacy of the human reason, which, refusing due submission to the divine and eternal reason, proclaims its own independence
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1887· 1 entry
(the year Tyndall retired from the Royal Institution)
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1886· 1 entry
Awarded honorary member of the Physics Association (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) (1886).
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1881· 1 entry
Won Royal Society Bakerian Medal (1881).
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1879· 1 entry
“During nine years of labour on the subject of radiation [in the 1860s], heat and light were handled throughout by me, not as ends, but as instruments by the aid of which the mind might perchance lay hold upon the ultimate particles of matter.”
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1874· 1 entry
Gave a long keynote speech at the Association's annual meeting held that year in Belfast
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1872· 3 entries
Under the title Contributions to Molecular Physics in the Domain of Radiant Heat
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Netted him a substantial amount of dollars, all of which he promptly donated to a trustee for fostering science in America
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Large crowds of non-scientists paid fees to hear him lecture about the nature of light
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1871· 1 entry
"the doctrines of the science [of heat] are forcibly impressed on the mind by well-chosen illustrative experiments
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1867· 2 entries
Awarded honorary doctor of the University of Edinburgh (1867).
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And reiterated in 1878: "The phenomena of matter and force come within our intellectual range
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1864· 3 entries
Won Rumford Medal (1864).
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Pope Pius IX in his Syllabus of Errors decreed that it was an error that "reason is the ultimate standard by which man can and ought to arrive at knowledge" and an error that "divine revelation is imperfect" in the Bible
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In Portraits of Men of Eminence in Literature, Science and Art, Volume II, pages 25–32
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1860· 1 entry
Was first to demonstrate and quantify that visually transparent gases are infrared emitters
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1856· 2 entries
For scientific reasons and ended up becoming a pioneering mountain climber
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The American scientist Eunice Newton Foote had announced experiments demonstrating that water vapour and carbon dioxide absorb heat from solar radiation, but she did not differentiate the effects of infrared
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1853· 2 entries
Won Royal Medal (1853).
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Attained the prestigious appointment of Professor of Natural Philosophy (Physics) at the Royal Institution in London, due in no small part to the esteem his work had garnered from Michael Faraday, the leader of magnet
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1847· 1 entry
Tyndall opted to become a mathematics and surveying teacher at Queenwood College, a boarding school in Hampshire
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1842· 1 entry
And there's some suggestive evidence that Tyndall's knowledge of it came ultimately from Colladon and no evidence that Tyndall claimed to have originated it himself
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1839· 1 entry
And moved to work for the Ordnance Survey for Great Britain in 1842
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1820· 1 entry
Born 1820-08-02.
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