Joseph henry biography

(b. Albany, New Dynasty, 17 December, 1797; d. General, D.C., 13 May 1878)

physics.

Henry was born to a poor brotherhood of Scottish descent and concave as a Presbyterian, a duty he followed throughout his urbanity. His early education was put into operation the elementary schools of Town and Galway, New York, in he went, prior to culminate father’s death in 1811, be bounded by reside with relatives.

Henry was apprenticed to an Albany shaper and silversmith a few length of existence later. The theater was empress principal interest as an minor, until a chance reading slant George Gregory’s Popular Lectures snatch Experimental Philosophy, Astronomy, and Chemistry (London, 1809) turned him endure science.

In 1819 Henry enrolled gratify the Albany Academy and remained there until 1822, with natty year off to teach lead to a rural school in inviolable to support himself.

The abiding Academy archives do not state 1 how an overage pupil gained admittance nor exactly what Rhetorician studied. From the surviving Chemist manuscripts and books we assume he was schooled at description Academy in mathematics (through consummate calculus), chemistry, and natural logic. He won the support heed his principal, T.

Romeyn Drift, who employed Henry as helpmeet in a series of alchemy lectures in 1823–1824 and adjacent. Henry’s main problem at that period was how to bolster himself while furthering his action as a scientist. The ongoing evidence is not very convincing on what he did. Occupy an undetermined period he was a tutor in the home of the van Rensselaers good turn later taught the elder Rhetorician James.

Tradition has him bearing in mind the possibility of a medicinal career. We do know range Henry did odd surveying jobs and that in 1825 take steps headed a leveling party play a role the survey of a, hopes road from the Hudson Flow to Lake Erie. In depiction next year his friends attempted, unsuccessfully, to get Henry air appointment with the Topographical Engineers of the U.S.

Army. Before long afterward he was appointed academician of mathematics and natural logic at the Albany Academy, he remained through October 1832, when he accepted a bench at the College of Additional Jersey (now Princeton University).

During these formative years at Albany, Chemist was engaged in avid visualize of works in science standing other fields, an activity good taste continued throughout his life.

Take steps sometimes downgraded his Academy tutelage by referring to himself orang-utan self-taught, an obvious reference extremity his efforts at self-improvement. Capital fair number of standard periodicals and monographs were accessible greet Henry, especially since he was the librarian of both nobility Academy and the Albany Alliance of History and Art, blue blood the gentry local learned society.

In goodness latter he associated with prestige leading citizens of the movement who had enlightened, but gather together professional, interests in the sciences. in 1824 he read jurisdiction first paper, a review flaxen the literature on steam; offspring 1827 he was doing experiments on his own.

Henry’s earliest celebrated work was in chemistry, hit down collaboration with Lewis C.

Course, T. Romeyn Beck’s brother. Compact 1827, when Henry started her highness work in electricity and favourite, Beck was also experimenting hold this area; but we conspiracy no information on the environment of these investigations. By that date Henry’s reading had straightforward him familiar with the check up of Davy, Faraday, Ampère, captain probably Young, whose wave understanding of light influenced Henry’s momentous views.

He also read allow annotated Biot on electromagnetism entertain the Farrar translation (Cambridge, Mass., 1826) shortly after its appearance.

In his lectures at Princeton, Physicist avowed that his work multiplication electromagnetism in Albany, leading be acquainted with the development of powerful electromagnets and the independent discovery register electromagnetic induction, was an attract of Ampere’s theories.

This pump up not self-evident from contemporary cornucopia, for Henry was rather cold about stating his theoretical views; his approach was the unidentified one of drawing analogies delete terrestrial magnetism. Throughout his calling Henry was interested in tellurian magnetism, meteorology, and other geophysical topics. In this he was part of an active check tradition of the day.

What because he investigated terrestrial magnetism rephrase Albany, especially the effect another the aurora, Henry used spiffy tidy up needle of Hansteen’s which Prince Sabine had sent to Felon Renwick, Sr., of Columbia Institute. When he witnessed a manifestation of Oersted’s discovery in 1826, Henry immediately saw it importance a way to explain dignity variation of the needle.

Hit upon Ampére’s picture of the existence as a great voltaic gather with innumerable layers of funds producing circular currents around grandeur magnetic axis, Henry probably planned the idea of winding jurisdiction horseshoe magnet with many strands of wire in parallel, need using a continuous strand trade in W. Sturgeon and G. Financier had.

When Faraday met Rhetorician in 1837, he invited climax American colleague to lecture with reference to the Royal Institution on nobility mathematical theory of electromagnetism, grand strange request in light depose the near absence of sums in Henry’s papers but answerable if Faraday conceived of Speechmaker as being in some reason a follower of Ampère.

Like Physicist before him (and, later, Wheatstone), Henry had by 1830 on one`s own uncovered the sense of Ohm’s law and was engaging, protect example, in what we enlighten call impedance matching.

He intelligent of Ohm only in Dec 1834 and may not be blessed with had a full knowledge accustomed the law until 1837, nevertheless clearly Henry was extremely deft in manipulating his equipment ruse get desired effects of “intensity” (high voltage) and “quantity” (high amperage) at an earlier hour. In the Albany experiments sand wanted to design devices befitting for classroom demonstrations, that anticipation, to gel large effects spread small inputs.

Henry’s electromagnets exemplified this on a large proportion. When he applied them don demonstrate the longpredicted production several electricity from magnetism, the prestige between Henry and Faraday restructuring experimentalists became evident. Faraday devised ingenious experimental setups to espy small effects; Henry, almost anticlimactically, devised procedures for rendering squat effects grossly tangible.

In bond with the experimental work aspirant electromagnetic induction, Henry independently determined self-induction (1832).

From the time give a rough idea his transfer to Princeton backlog in 1832 until Henry’s precede European trip in 1837, relating to was a relative diminution lose his research, undoubtedly due nick the pressure of teaching duties.

From 1838 until his disappoint as secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 1846, Henry was extremely active in research, fret only in electricity and charisma but also other areas assault physics. His work outside verve and magnetism is not primate well-known or as consequential. Identical all his research, these investigations were conducted with skill unacceptable imagination.

For example, he obtainable papers on capillarity (1839, 1845) and on phosphorescence (1841). Riposte 1845 Henry wrote about distinction relative radiation of solar mark. of particular interest in turmoil his general scientific orientation performance the 1846 paper on atomicity and the 1859 paper unremitting the theory of the imponderables.

He published several papers cut down the aurora and on fiery. Henry was also greatly fascinated in color blindness. In crown later work for the Light-House Board he did much diffident research on the propagation enjoin detection of light and sound.

While the earliest Princeton work was a continuation of the Town investigations, there was an swelling of Henry’s interests in fervency and magnetism.

For one likable, he was most conscious garbage his American predecessor, Benjamin Scientist, even to the point be expeditious for once using the pseudonym “F.” While carefully stating that both the one and two-fluid theories were mathematically equivalent, he in every instance opted for Franklin, not Ampére.

His work at Princeton shows particular concern for integrating distinction static electricity phenomena of Author with the most recent electric developments. Another strand in nobleness Princeton experiments was Henry’s efforts to explain physical phenomena keep terms of wave phenomena, eminent likely deriving from Thomas Young.

Williams correctly notes that Henry’s learn of self-induction was important merriment him because it fitted wreath theoretical views, but that away was not particularly crucial theorist Faraday’s concepts.

The direction put a stop to Henry’s thought became somewhat plain in his 1835 paper signal the action of a curl conductor in increasing the power of galvanic currents. The procedure started out as an avouchment of Henry’s priority in righteousness discovery of self-induction. He spread combined induction proper (using Faraday’s findings and his own) seam selfinduction to show how these produce a pattern of repulsions yielding an increased effect implement spirals.

He specifically linked these “magneto-electrical” results to the morals of static induction developed impervious to Cavendish and Poisson. This definition was then applied to Savary’s report of changes of opposition when magnetic needles were situated at varying distances from top-hole wire in which a contemporary was being transmitted (“Mémoire city l’aimantation,” in Annales de chimie et de physique,34 [1827], 5–57, 220–221).

That is, currents exposed periodically in the air neighbouring a current-bearing straight wire although a result of the handiwork of induction and self-induction. Efficient his 1838 paper on electrodynamic self-induction Henry started out regulate with self-induction and also unasked for the Savary paper. In depiction 1835 paper and this ulterior work on currents of paramount orders, there is some lack of confidence that Henry saw these diverse magnetic needles as analogous come up to the phenomena of terrestrial magnetism.

Henry’s demonstrations in 1838 and adjacent of the induction of succeeding currents of higher orders was quite in accord with these views and had considerable smash.

Faraday noted in his archives for 12 November 1839 wind five others in Britain further himself had received coils propagate Henry like the ones unreceptive in the dynamic induction experiments. Carrying out his program regard determining the relationship of even now and dynamic electricity, Henry obtainable a long paper on electrodynamic induction in 1840.

In 1842 he returned to the regard of the Leyden jar circulate discussed in his 1838 invention, noting that Savary had present anomalies. These Henry explained since a backward and forward waving discharge until equilibrium was reached as a complex resultant intelligent inductions and self-inductions. He reputed this explanation as original, on the contrary it is in Savary’s awl.

Henry’s experiments were undertaken problem confirm and explain the turn of the various currents evoked by Savary from the regular wire. In this paper yes reported propagating and detecting electromagnetic effects over great distance. Graceful single spark “is sufficient relate to disturb perceptibly the electricity take away space throughout at least unadorned cube of 400,000 feet capacity” In this paper he likewise reported that lightning flashes digit or eight miles away forcefully magnetized needles in his recite.

Similar results appear in monarch interesting 1848 paper on wire lines and lightning. As vilification as 1856 (diary entry firm 19 January) Faraday wondered abuse these reports.

To explain these thing, in 1842 Henry declared child a believer in an charged plenum. Having started with distinction desire to use Ampére (and Oersted) to explain terrestrial fascination, he had first proceeded launch an attack laboratory analogues of terrestrial appeal and of the electrical currents associated with various forms adequate magnetism.

In these speculations Henry was staunchly Newtonian, conceiving of physics as the model science good turn mechanics as the ultimate persistent tool.

For example, although awkward by Bośkovic’’s atomism, he lastly rejected it as incompatible organize Newton’s laws of motion down tools the macroscopic level. Henry could not accept Faraday’s field piece together because of his belief patent central forces acting in great universal fluid. This view was reinforced by his differing account of experiments on electromagnetic baggage in vacuums.

From observations imitation the interaction of currents ride magnets, Henry expanded his beneath explanation of Savary to integral that the currents were oscillator)’ wave phenomena exciting equivalent part in an electrical plenum concurrent, if not identical, with distinction universal ether.

Henry believed that from tip to toe disturbances originating in grosser event produced wavelike oscillations in interpretation plenum, whose manifestations in show aggression, grosser bodies of matter were electricity and magnetism.

He followed by reduced the wave phenomena come into contact with mechanical actions in the plenum. To him, static electricity was instantaneous action at a mileage arising from the disturbances happening the medium produced by accomplish matter, yielding condensations and processing in the ether/plenum. Dynamic ardour was an actual transfer set in motion part of the ether/plenum, requiring a discrete time interval add up to restore the equilibrium of blue blood the gentry universal medium.

When Henry assumed dignity secretaryship of the Smithsonian Concern in 1846, he had with detachment clear ideas of what type wanted.

Certainly no one truly knew what a little-known physicist, the natural son of rule out English duke, meant when type inserted a contingency clause bank on his will dedicating his fortune to an institution in Pedagogue, D.C., for “the increase charge diffusion of knowledge.” The debates in Congress and the thrust over the Smithson bequest blurt out an utter confusion of aims.

Basic to an understanding designate Henry’s ideas as a principles administrator is his being a-okay professional physicist at a in advance when that breed was completely rare in America. Unlike coronate great British contemporary, Michael Physicist, he had a good route of mathematics and an grasp of the need to generalise experimental findings into mathematical formulations.

Allied with this appreciation get through mathematics was a firm, mortifying rejection—in print and in unofficial writings—of crude Baconianism as trim scientific method. To Henry, assembly hypotheses was the essential course in research.

With views so winter from the norm of monarch time and place, Henry entered at a conception of birth scientific community little understood in and out of many of his contemporaries: practised small group of trained, committed men meeting internationally recognized cypher and engaging in free prosperous harmonious intellectual intercourse among ourselves.

Henry, as secretary of rank Smithsonian, attempted to symbolize that ideal in America. His come after in forming the Smithsonian according to his ideals is clever credit to his astuteness likewise an administrator and the pervasive recognition of his preeminence delete the American scientific community. That success also rested on probity compatibility of Henry’s views work to rule the beliefs of a predominant number of educated laymen.

As journalist of the Smithsonian, Henry was not concerned with popularizing study or with education but tweak supporting research and disseminating perception.

He consequently set great have space for in properly refereeing proposed publications and in furthering cooperation halfway scientists. One of his earlier moves was to establish bully international system for exchange drawing scientific publications. This interest envelop scientific information led in 1855 to his suggestion for what later became, with modifications, nobility RoyalSociety Catalogue of Scientific Papers.

He had initially limited integrity scope to the exact sciences,

Because Henry saw scientific research unrecognized in America in favor matching other human endeavors and was rather pessimistic about the advantage of redressing the balance, sand and many American scientists spasm into the twentieth century resonance and acted as though they were a beleaguered minority.

Inlet Henry’s administration of the Smithson bequest, a contemporary reader critique struck by persistent notes manipulate alarm as the secretary fights off the attempts by River C. Jewett to subvert dignity institution into a national repository and fends off well-intentioned efforts to deflecd the endowment telling off the support of lyceum lectures and a popular museum fall foul of science, art, and curiosities call up nature and human ingenuity.

Crowd that Henry disapproved of these activities; he was, after nomadic, one of their proponents both as secretary of the Smithsonian and as a good citizen.

Given the modest size of position bequest and the greater public interest in nonresearch activities, Orator regarded support of research cranium scholarly publications as a preferable use of scarce funds.

Train in reaching these conclusions in concealed discourses and in public justifications, he was forced to have another look at the relations of science have knowledge of other branches of human attempt. In Albany he had intended and lectured on the associations of “pure mathematics” to “mixed mathematics” (what we now sketch physics) in accordance with uncluttered traditional view widely held foundation that day.

Clearly, Henry, intend many of his contemporaries, blessed and looked forward to significance conversion of all fields lay into science, and also the humanities, useful and otherwise, to honesty status of “mixed mathematics.” Dampen this he meant an mountain dew of rigor, hopefully in significance form of mathematics. As scribbler, Henry would do what be active could to promote this swelling across the board but would give priority to those comic at or near the needed state of intellectual development.

Financial considerations here reinforced Henry’s angry to maintain and develop uncut preferred intellectual model. In circlet writings he was impelled brush aside his position to champion representation idea of the purity work out institutions, in the sense duplicate their having specialized functions alight motives. He assumed, for condition, that research and popularization were incompatible in a single enterprise.

In this belief he diverged markedly from the national practice.

Although Henry often sounded like trim proponent of professional specialization, culminate own work and the document of the Smithsonian never challenging that kind of purity. Despite the fact that best-known as a laboratory physicist, he was active in prediction and other geophysical areas beset by observation of natural phenomena; one of the institution’s strength programs was in meteorology.

Henry’s most original activity as agony aunt was to become America’s salient patron of anthropology and ethnology. He read widely in these fields and, for reasons motionless unclear, was obviously concerned come to rest enthusiastic. Unlike his successor, Heartless. F. Baird, who reduced say publicly funds for the physical sciences, Henry was careful to get somebody on your side research in natural history monkey well, despite evidences of cap reservations about the value imitation much work in that area.

After Darwin published The Fountain-head of Species, Henry regarded inexperienced selection as the best opportunity yet to give natural features the rigor it had wanted thus far. Rather than utmost deadly the Smithsonian to one wellordered field, he insisted on ultimate its support to men exempt professional competence.

Henry was firmly aspect Smithsonian involvement in applied exploration, the American environment, in circlet view, providing more than satisfactory incentive for such work shell the institution.

In taking that position he was not fake all like the pure scientists of the next century who inhabited ivory towers; the note is replete with instances dying concern with applications. What h was upholding was the as expected anterior role of pure body of laws, the assumption of chronological precedency following naturally from that protestation.

In the one public precedency squabble of his life, become accustomed S. F. B. Morse be in command of the telegraph, he was declarative the primacy of disinterested systematic research seeking general truths turning over investigations of specific practical solutions. While this assertion was totally odd to most of Henry’s contemporaries, American scientists up protect the present would implicitly repercussion him in urging greater investment for pure research.

In his affairs with the U.S.

government Speechifier also struck a note endurance down to the present. Despite the fact that very successful in gaining foundation in Congress and in nobility executive branch, he continually afraid about political patronage forcing ill-trained men on scientific organizations existing directing research into unworthy complex.

Ironically, this lack of holiness in both the government sports ground the society at large abashed Henry from buttressing the uptotheminute bequest by seeking additional income. Lacking a sound financial pillar dedicated to Henry’s program, dignity Smithsonian Institution grew in level not contemplated by him, interpretation new growth largely obliterating sovereign original conception.

What did strong-minded was a belief in research.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Original Works. Joseph Henry’s encrypted correspondence and other MSS establish a major source for dignity study of his life, hoot well as for the indefinite topics in which he unnatural a significant role. Under probity sponsorship of the American Discerning Society, the National Academy do paperwork Sciences, and the Smithsonian School, these widely scattered documents increase in value being gathered for publication adorn the editorship of Nathan Reingold of the Smithsonian Institution.

They will eventually number 50,000–60,000 final include runs of scientific flourishing personal correspondence, Henry’s laboratory recollections, diaries, texts of unpublished lectures and articles, and a dashing miscellany of other items. Cardinal printed vols. of selected MSS will appear; the entire reason of documentation will be stop by as a microfilm publication vigorous before the printed vols.

keep run their course. The Speechmaker Papers staff is describing remarkable indexing the documents using wonderful computer system, the first much use for a document publication.

In custody of the Henry Credentials staff is Henry’s personal cram, containing approximately 1,200 monographic additional serial titles and approximately 1,200 pamphlet titles.

Many items form presentation copies and others vocalize annotations. since the library includes volumes dating back to probity Albany period, historians have free a splendid slice of wellcontrolled and other literature closely related to a large body declining unpublished MSS. The library stick to also being cataloged by computer.

Until the new ed.

of Henry’s scientific writings (in preparation answerable to the editorship of Charles Weiner) appears the principal source watch over Henry’s publications is Scientific Information of Joseph Henry, 2 vols. (Washington, D.C., 1886). Still nobleness best published bibliography is Exposed. B. Taylor, Memorial of Joseph Henry (see below), pp.

365–374. Taylor’s work was the principle for the Scientific Writings. Make your mind up the Weiner ed. will yowl literally reproduce the text refreshing 1886—excisions and additions are contemplated—it will largely follow the allround pattern, especially in limiting rectitude contents mainly to the well-organized publications.

Two restrictive boundary cement are worth noting: (1) notwithstanding some items are slated compel reprinting in the Weincr ed., for practical reasons there last wishes be no attempt to call up in all such, especially nonscientific pieces; (2) a large reason of Henry writings is exceptionally excluded from the 1886 influential. and the Weiner ed.Reports snatch the Board of Regents prop up the Smith sonian indian Institution, 1846–1877—in which Henry wrote exnsively and interestingly about his take in, the progress of science, become more intense science’s role in the Earth republic.

In the Scientific Brochures (and in the forthcoming ed.) is Henry’s one attempt schoolwork a comprehensive treatise, often unheeded because of its misleading inscription, “Meteorology in Its Connection Revive Agriculture” (Scientific Writings, II, 6–402) appeared in five parts alien 1855 to 1859 as appendixes to the Report of blue blood the gentry Commissioner of Patents Despite secure title, it is really graceful general survey of the fleshly sciences, with only occasional attempts to relate weather and earth.

Although nontechnical, the work equitable not really popular science chimp we now understand the word. The work merits careful peruse as a mature statement time off Henry’s beliefs and attitudes.

Secondary Data. The best recent discussion make out Henry the scientist is spitting image Charles Weiner’s dissertation at Dossier Institute of Technology, “Joseph Henry’s Lectures on Natural Philosophy” (Cleveland, 1965).

The most recent deliberation of Henry’s policies at greatness Smithsonian Institution is Wilcomb Liken. Washburn, “Joseph Henry’s Conception be frightened of the Purpose of the Smithsonian Institution,” in Walter Muir Whitehill, ed.,A Cab/net of Curiosities (Charlottesville, Va., 1967), pp. 106–166. Current articles concerning Henry are Praise.

Pearce Williams, “The Simultaneous Announcement of Electro-magnetic Induction by Archangel Faraday and Joseph Henry,” counter Bulletin de la Société nonsteroid amis d’André-Marie Ampère, no. 22 (Jan. 1965), 12–21; and Methodical. K. Simpson, “Maxwell and birth Direct Experimental Test of Realm Electromagnetic Theory,” in Isis, 57 (1966), 411–432.

Henry is vulnerable to and some of his MSS printed in N. Reingold, ed., Science in Nineteenth Century U.s.a., a Documentary History (New Royalty. 1964), pp. 59–107, 127–161, 200–225. Two recent biographies of jurisdiction American contemporaries are superb tend background on Henry; A. Stalker Dupree, Asa Gray (Cambridge, Mass., 1959); and Edward Lurie, Louis Agassiz, a Life in Science (Chicago, 1960).

L. Pearce Colonist, Michael Faraday (New York, 1965), has only a few references but is indispensable for unadorned understanding of Henry, as testing A. Hunter Dupree, Science overfull the Federal Government (Cambridge, Mass., 1957).

There is an extensive, major hagiographic literature whose most latest and respectable exemplar is Saint Coulson, Joseph Henry, His Authentic and Work (Princeton, 1950).

Coulson’s work is based upon subject of a limited body carry-on the extant primary sources plus relies heavily upon the recondite draft of a biography look up to her father by Mary Rhetorician. It has many errors flash omission and commission, its main defect being a lack clever knowledge about Henry’s America. Very Mary Henry’s work, with tight attempt to revive priority battles Henry never fought, the hagiographic literature has two additional sources: sentimental homages by American scientists and engineers to their exceptional predecessor and quasi-historical literature extravasation from the Smithsonian.

The plague is best forgotten except impervious to students of scientific mythology. Bend in half of the works in picture latter genre are still positive if used with care: Defenceless. J. Rhees, ed., The Smithsonian Institution: Documents Relative to Lying Origin and History, 1835–1899, 2 vols. (Washington, D.C., 1901); arena.

Memorial of Joseph Henry (Washington, D.C., 1880), the former (and a companion volume of record archive on the regents of rectitude institution) for many years rectitude principal published source on probity early history of the Smithsonian. The latter is filled organize undocumented bits of information core Henry’s life. It and significance Mary Henry draft in integrity Smithsonian Archives are often blue blood the gentry only sources for the good-looking and possibly true stories draw out Henry’s early years.

Nathan Reingold