— Ch. 1 · From Surveyor To Scientist —
John Tyndall.
~6 min read · Ch. 1 of 8
John Tyndall was born on the 2nd of August 1820 in Leighlinbridge, County Carlow. His father worked as a local police constable and descended from emigrants who settled in southeast Ireland around 1670. Tyndall attended Ballinabranna Primary School until his late teens. He likely served as an assistant teacher near the end of his schooling there. Technical drawing and mathematics formed key subjects at school. These skills led to employment as a draftsman for the Ordnance Survey of Ireland in 1839. He moved to work for the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain in 1842. A railway-building boom occurred during the 1840s. Tyndall's land surveying experience proved valuable to railway companies. Between 1844 and 1847 he earned lucrative wages planning railway construction. In November 1843 all signatories to a wage petition were dismissed from their government jobs. Tyndall secured a new position with a Lancashire railway company in August 1844. This job paid almost four times more than his previous government salary. When railway work slackened he accepted a teaching post at Queenwood College in Hampshire in 1847. The desire to grow intellectually did not forsake him.
Magnetism And The Royal Institution
Tyndall began original research on magnetism and diamagnetic polarity in 1850. His first two influential reports co-authored with Hermann Knoblauch appeared in May 1850. One paper titled The magneto-optic properties of crystals linked magnetism to molecular arrangement. These magnetic investigations made Tyndall known among leading scientists by 1852. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society that same year. Michael Faraday advocated for Tyndall's appointment as Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution in London. A letter dated the 23rd of May 1853 praised Tyndall's lecturing abilities. Faraday stated his manner of expounding nature by discourse and experiment was excellent. Tyndall held this prestigious chair from 1853 until 1887. He later succeeded Faraday after the elder scientist retired. Tyndall studied under Robert Bunsen at the University of Marburg from 1848 to 1850. Thirty-five years later he called Bunsen the nearest approach to his ideal university teacher. He also maintained correspondence with Professor Hermann Knoblauch for many years. Tyndall stayed in Germany for an additional year researching magnetism with Knoblauch. Some months were spent visiting Heinrich Gustav Magnus' Berlin laboratory. When Tyndall returned to England in summer 1851 he possessed experimental science training comparable to anyone in Britain.