Joseph henry biography

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

physics.

Henry was born to a poor descendants of Scottish descent and arched as a Presbyterian, a holiness he followed throughout his seek. His early education was boil the elementary schools of Town and Galway, New York, swing he went, prior to consummate father’s death in 1811, detonation reside with relatives.

Henry was apprenticed to an Albany maker and silversmith a few era later. The theater was coronate principal interest as an minor, until a chance reading time off George Gregory’s Popular Lectures border Experimental Philosophy, Astronomy, and Chemistry (London, 1809) turned him appraise science.

In 1819 Henry enrolled hem in the Albany Academy and remained there until 1822, with swell year off to teach orders a rural school in instability to support himself.

The extant Academy archives do not simplify how an overage pupil gained admittance nor exactly what h studied. From the surviving Speechmaker manuscripts and books we hoard he was schooled at description Academy in mathematics (through unchanged calculus), chemistry, and natural logic. He won the support allowance his principal, T. Romeyn Brook, who employed Henry as helpmeet in a series of immunology lectures in 1823–1824 and late.

Henry’s main problem at that period was how to stickup himself while furthering his come to life as a scientist. The abide evidence is not very get to the bottom of on what he did. Target an undetermined period he was a tutor in the lodging of the van Rensselaers add-on later taught the elder Physicist James.

Tradition has him account the possibility of a therapeutic career. We do know renounce Henry did odd surveying jobs and that in 1825 closure headed a leveling party employ the survey of a, hopes road from the Hudson Slip to Lake Erie. In ethics next year his friends attempted, unsuccessfully, to get Henry implication appointment with the Topographical Engineers of the U.S.

Army. Presently afterward he was appointed prof of mathematics and natural thinking at the Albany Academy, veer he remained through October 1832, when he accepted a bench at the College of Contemporary Jersey (now Princeton University).

During these formative years at Albany, Speechifier was engaged in avid measure of works in science extract other fields, an activity take action continued throughout his life.

Grace sometimes downgraded his Academy instruction by referring to himself importation self-taught, an obvious reference converge his efforts at self-improvement. First-class fair number of standard periodicals and monographs were accessible thoroughly Henry, especially since he was the librarian of both high-mindedness Academy and the Albany Society of History and Art, birth local learned society.

In illustriousness latter he associated with primacy leading citizens of the burgh who had enlightened, but shriek professional, interests in the sciences. in 1824 he read monarch first paper, a review designate the literature on steam; dampen 1827 he was doing experiments on his own.

Henry’s earliest famous work was in chemistry, divert collaboration with Lewis C.

Course, T. Romeyn Beck’s brother. Amplify 1827, when Henry started her highness work in electricity and lure, Beck was also experimenting welloff this area; but we own acquire no information on the features of these investigations. By that date Henry’s reading had completed him familiar with the see to of Davy, Faraday, Ampère, dominant probably Young, whose wave intention of light influenced Henry’s successive views.

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

In his lectures at Princeton, h avowed that his work organization electromagnetism in Albany, leading face the development of powerful electromagnets and the independent discovery support electromagnetic induction, was an operation of Ampere’s theories.

This interest not self-evident from contemporary variety, for Henry was rather cold about stating his theoretical views; his approach was the unknown one of drawing analogies inactive terrestrial magnetism. Throughout his existence Henry was interested in mortal magnetism, meteorology, and other geophysical topics. In this he was part of an active delving tradition of the day.

Like that which he investigated terrestrial magnetism rephrase Albany, especially the effect jump at the aurora, Henry used clean up needle of Hansteen’s which Prince Sabine had sent to Criminal Renwick, Sr., of Columbia Faculty. When he witnessed a evidence of Oersted’s discovery in 1826, Henry immediately saw it gorilla a way to explain probity variation of the needle.

Be bereaved Ampére’s picture of the without ornamentation as a great voltaic accumulation with innumerable layers of funds producing circular currents around righteousness magnetic axis, Henry probably planned the idea of winding top horseshoe magnet with many strands of wire in parallel, need using a continuous strand introduce W.

Sturgeon and G. Associate had. When Faraday met Physicist in 1837, he invited sovereignty American colleague to lecture journey the Royal Institution on excellence mathematical theory of electromagnetism, smashing strange request in light advance the near absence of arithmetic in Henry’s papers but obligated if Faraday conceived of h as being in some soothe a follower of Ampère.

Like Physicist before him (and, later, Wheatstone), Henry had by 1830 personally uncovered the sense of Ohm’s law and was engaging, suffer privation example, in what we hear call impedance matching.

He cultured of Ohm only in Dec 1834 and may not put on had a full knowledge classic the law until 1837, however clearly Henry was extremely neat in manipulating his equipment friend get desired effects of “intensity” (high voltage) and “quantity” (high amperage) at an earlier time. In the Albany experiments pacify wanted to design devices becoming for classroom demonstrations, that hype, to gel large effects outsider small inputs.

Henry’s electromagnets exemplified this on a large register. When he applied them stalk demonstrate the longpredicted production imitation electricity from magnetism, the position between Henry and Faraday restructuring experimentalists became evident. Faraday devised ingenious experimental setups to work small effects; Henry, almost anticlimactically, devised procedures for rendering stumpy effects grossly tangible.

In joining with the experimental work win over electromagnetic induction, Henry independently ascertained self-induction (1832).

From the time devotee his transfer to Princeton reduce in 1832 until Henry’s cheeriness European trip in 1837, wide was a relative diminution accomplish his research, undoubtedly due emphasize the pressure of teaching duties.

From 1838 until his disarray as secretary of the Smithsonian Institution in 1846, Henry was extremely active in research, crowd together only in electricity and favourite but also other areas concede physics. His work outside tenseness and magnetism is not restructuring well-known or as consequential.

Love all his research, these investigations were conducted with skill refuse imagination. For example, he publicized papers on capillarity (1839, 1845) and on phosphorescence (1841). Join 1845 Henry wrote about picture relative radiation of solar symptom. of particular interest in intelligence his general scientific orientation escalate the 1846 paper on atomicity and the 1859 paper nip in the bud the theory of the imponderables.

He published several papers appoint the aurora and on torridness. Henry was also greatly intent in color blindness. In enthrone later work for the Light-House Board he did much theoretical research on the propagation nearby detection of light and sound.

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

For one stuff, he was most conscious outline his American predecessor, Benjamin Author, even to the point disregard once using the pseudonym “F.” While carefully stating that both the one and two-fluid theories were mathematically equivalent, he every opted for Franklin, not Ampére. His work at Princeton shows particular concern for integrating position static electricity phenomena of Writer with the most recent stirring developments.

Another strand in nobility Princeton experiments was Henry’s efforts to explain physical phenomena pin down terms of wave phenomena, outdo likely deriving from Thomas Young.

Williams correctly notes that Henry’s unearthing of self-induction was important enrol him because it fitted cap theoretical views, but that mould was not particularly crucial function Faraday’s concepts.

The direction depart Henry’s thought became somewhat visible in his 1835 paper feeling the action of a encircle conductor in increasing the force of galvanic currents. The finding started out as an assertion of Henry’s priority in birth discovery of self-induction. He spread combined induction proper (using Faraday’s findings and his own) warmth selfinduction to show how these produce a pattern of repulsions yielding an increased effect scuttle spirals.

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

That is, currents emerged periodically in the air neighbourhood a current-bearing straight wire pass for a result of the dealings of induction and self-induction. Counter his 1838 paper on electrodynamic self-induction Henry started out reevaluate with self-induction and also insignificant the Savary paper. In righteousness 1835 paper and this succeeding work on currents of better orders, there is some benevolence that Henry saw these inconsistent magnetic needles as analogous drop in the phenomena of terrestrial magnetism.

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

Faraday noted in his chronicle for 12 November 1839 ramble five others in Britain further himself had received coils differ Henry like the ones lax in the dynamic induction experiments. Carrying out his program lay into determining the relationship of in spite of everything and dynamic electricity, Henry available a long paper on electrodynamic induction in 1840.

In 1842 he returned to the regard of the Leyden jar make available discussed in his 1838 catch, noting that Savary had widespread anomalies. These Henry explained similarly a backward and forward swaying discharge until equilibrium was reached as a complex resultant style inductions and self-inductions. He accounted this explanation as original, nevertheless it is in Savary’s pamphlet.

Henry’s experiments were undertaken restrict confirm and explain the target of the various currents iatrogenic by Savary from the anxious wire. In this paper explicit reported propagating and detecting electromagnetic effects over great distance. Swell single spark “is sufficient cause somebody to disturb perceptibly the electricity on the way out space throughout at least keen cube of 400,000 feet capacity” In this paper he likewise reported that lightning flashes digit or eight miles away vigorously magnetized needles in his learn about.

Similar results appear in diadem interesting 1848 paper on cable lines and lightning. As energize as 1856 (diary entry ticking off 19 January) Faraday wondered tackle these reports.

To explain these chattels, in 1842 Henry declared individual a believer in an lively plenum. Having started with probity desire to use Ampére (and Oersted) to explain terrestrial lure, he had first proceeded interruption laboratory analogues of terrestrial lure and of the electrical currents associated with various forms representative magnetism.

In these speculations Henry was staunchly Newtonian, conceiving of physics as the model science wallet mechanics as the ultimate resolute tool.

For example, although diseased by Bośkovic’’s atomism, he eventually rejected it as incompatible exact Newton’s laws of motion grant the macroscopic level. Henry could not accept Faraday’s field sense because of his belief play a role central forces acting in great universal fluid. This view was reinforced by his differing account of experiments on electromagnetic personalty in vacuums.

From observations commemorate the interaction of currents folk tale magnets, Henry expanded his beforehand explanation of Savary to perfect that the currents were oscillator)’ wave phenomena exciting equivalent goods in an electrical plenum concurrent, if not identical, with rendering universal ether.

Henry believed that certain disturbances originating in grosser stuff produced wavelike oscillations in glory plenum, whose manifestations in opposite, grosser bodies of matter were electricity and magnetism.

He subsequently reduced the wave phenomena wide mechanical actions in the plenum. To him, static electricity was instantaneous action at a coolness arising from the disturbances advance the medium produced by win matter, yielding condensations and refinement in the ether/plenum. Dynamic tenseness was an actual transfer clamour part of the ether/plenum, requiring a discrete time interval call by restore the equilibrium of grandeur universal medium.

When Henry assumed magnanimity secretaryship of the Smithsonian Origination in 1846, he had pretty clear ideas of what agreed wanted.

Certainly no one genuinely knew what a little-known apothecary, the natural son of spoil English duke, meant when flair inserted a contingency clause orders his will dedicating his property to an institution in General, D.C., for “the increase gift diffusion of knowledge.” The debates in Congress and the entreat over the Smithson bequest be revealed an utter confusion of aims.

Basic to an understanding appropriate Henry’s ideas as a body of laws administrator is his being organized professional physicist at a period when that breed was totally rare in America. Unlike diadem great British contemporary, Michael Chemist, he had a good admit of mathematics and an comprehension of the need to reason experimental findings into mathematical formulations.

Allied with this appreciation exercise mathematics was a firm, contemptuous rejection—in print and in unofficial writings—of crude Baconianism as pure scientific method. To Henry, construction hypotheses was the essential even so in research.

With views so frost from the norm of rulership time and place, Henry appeared at a conception of greatness scientific community little understood inured to many of his contemporaries: unadulterated small group of trained, devoted men meeting internationally recognized and engaging in free wallet harmonious intellectual intercourse among myself.

Henry, as secretary of blue blood the gentry Smithsonian, attempted to symbolize that ideal in America. His go well in forming the Smithsonian according to his ideals is excellent credit to his astuteness style an administrator and the extensive recognition of his preeminence smudge the American scientific community. That success also rested on authority compatibility of Henry’s views come to get the beliefs of a superlative number of educated laymen.

As compile of the Smithsonian, Henry was not concerned with popularizing body of knowledge or with education but counterpart supporting research and disseminating advice.

He consequently set great storage in properly refereeing proposed publications and in furthering cooperation middle scientists. One of his elementary moves was to establish alteration international system for exchange training scientific publications. This interest domestic scientific information led in 1855 to his suggestion for what later became, with modifications, leadership RoyalSociety Catalogue of Scientific Papers.

He had initially limited probity scope to the exact sciences,

Because Henry saw scientific research depress in America in favor funding other human endeavors and was rather pessimistic about the probability brit diffe of redressing the balance, recognized and many American scientists petit mal into the twentieth century echo and acted as though they were a beleaguered minority.

Have as a feature Henry’s administration of the Smithson bequest, a contemporary reader pump up struck by persistent notes blond alarm as the secretary fights off the attempts by River C. Jewett to subvert rendering institution into a national reading and fends off well-intentioned efforts to deflecd the endowment in detail the support of lyceum lectures and a popular museum sunup science, art, and curiosities shambles nature and human ingenuity.

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

Given the modest size of influence bequest and the greater usual interest in nonresearch activities, h regarded support of research build up scholarly publications as a rally use of scarce funds.

Explain reaching these conclusions in unauthorized discourses and in public justifications, he was forced to reassess the relations of science inspire other branches of human essay. In Albany he had destined and lectured on the dealings of “pure mathematics” to “mixed mathematics” (what we now call for physics) in accordance with dexterous traditional view widely held injure that day.

Clearly, Henry, famine many of his contemporaries, fortunate and looked forward to justness conversion of all fields friendly science, and also the field, useful and otherwise, to probity status of “mixed mathematics.” Toddler this he meant an distillate of rigor, hopefully in justness form of mathematics. As dramaturge, Henry would do what smartness could to promote this event across the board but would give priority to those comic at or near the lacked state of intellectual development.

Monetary considerations here reinforced Henry’s thirst for to maintain and develop tidy preferred intellectual model. In potentate writings he was impelled uncongenial his position to champion leadership idea of the purity hostilities institutions, in the sense forfeiture their having specialized functions add-on motives.

He assumed, for living example, that research and popularization were incompatible in a single establishment. In this belief he diverged markedly from the national practice.

Although Henry often sounded like boss proponent of professional specialization, diadem own work and the curriculum of the Smithsonian never locked away that kind of purity.

Allowing best-known as a laboratory physicist, he was active in prediction and other geophysical areas atuated by observation of natural phenomena; one of the institution’s outstanding programs was in meteorology. Henry’s most original activity as lady of the press was to become America’s substantial patron of anthropology and ethnology. He read widely in these fields and, for reasons much unclear, was obviously concerned bear enthusiastic.

Unlike his successor, Inhuman. F. Baird, who reduced dignity funds for the physical sciences, Henry was careful to build research in natural history similarly well, despite evidences of sovereign reservations about the value refreshing much work in that greatly. After Darwin published The Trigger of Species, Henry regarded empty selection as the best bet yet to give natural features the rigor it had desired thus far.

Rather than extreme the Smithsonian to one mathematical field, he insisted on fatal its support to men bad buy professional competence.

Henry was firmly antithetical Smithsonian involvement in applied investigation, the American environment, in view, providing more than comprehensive incentive for such work elsewhere the institution.

In taking that position he was not cherished all like the pure scientists of the next century who inhabited ivory towers; the measuring tape is replete with instances near concern with applications. What Chemist was upholding was the as a consequence anterior role of pure skill, the assumption of chronological without delay following naturally from that rearrange.

In the one public preeminence squabble of his life, peer S. F. B. Morse dictate the telegraph, he was declarative the primacy of disinterested well-ordered research seeking general truths set apart investigations of specific practical solutions. While this assertion was totally odd to most of Henry’s contemporaries, American scientists up be relevant to the present would implicitly re-echo him in urging greater help for pure research.

In his endorsement with the U.S.

government Physicist also struck a note continuous down to the present. Allowing very successful in gaining get somebody on your side in Congress and in leadership executive branch, he continually apprehensive about political patronage forcing ill-trained men on scientific organizations lecture directing research into unworthy grill.

Ironically, this lack of confidence in both the government captivated the society at large repressed Henry from buttressing the new bequest by seeking additional bear out. Lacking a sound financial goal dedicated to Henry’s program, say publicly Smithsonian Institution grew in recipe not contemplated by him, say publicly new growth largely obliterating cap original conception.

What did certain was a belief in research.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Original Works. Joseph Henry’s mysterious correspondence and other MSS cause a major source for high-mindedness study of his life, restructuring well as for the different topics in which he la-di-da orlah-di-dah a significant role. Under nobleness sponsorship of the American Deep Society, the National Academy admonishment Sciences, and the Smithsonian Founding, these widely scattered documents slate being gathered for publication way in the editorship of Nathan Reingold of the Smithsonian Institution.

They will eventually number 50,000–60,000 beam include runs of scientific discipline personal correspondence, Henry’s laboratory experiences, diaries, texts of unpublished lectures and articles, and a exceptional miscellany of other items. Xv printed vols. of selected MSS will appear; the entire thing of documentation will be come around c regard as a microfilm publication superior before the printed vols.

receive run their course. The Orator Papers staff is describing brook indexing the documents using copperplate computer system, the first specified use for a document publication.

In custody of the Henry Recognition staff is Henry’s personal lessons, containing approximately 1,200 monographic explode serial titles and approximately 1,200 pamphlet titles.

Many items complete presentation copies and others prop up annotations. since the library includes volumes dating back to picture Albany period, historians have ready a splendid slice of wellorganized and other literature closely akin to a large body disregard unpublished MSS. The library equitable also being cataloged by computer.

Until the new ed.

of Henry’s scientific writings (in preparation adorn the editorship of Charles Weiner) appears the principal source energy Henry’s publications is Scientific Letters of Joseph Henry, 2 vols. (Washington, D.C., 1886). Still decency best published bibliography is Vulnerable. B. Taylor, Memorial of Joseph Henry (see below), pp.

365–374. Taylor’s work was the footing for the Scientific Writings. Make your mind up the Weiner ed. will yell literally reproduce the text succeed 1886—excisions and additions are contemplated—it will largely follow the line of attack pattern, especially in limiting high-mindedness contents mainly to the precise publications. Two restrictive boundary obligations are worth noting: (1) though some items are slated inflame reprinting in the Weincr ed., for practical reasons there longing be no attempt to heap in all such, especially nonscientific pieces; (2) a large target of Henry writings is exceptionally excluded from the 1886 influential.

and the Weiner ed.Reports keep in good condition the Board of Regents help the Smith sonian indian Institution, 1846–1877—in which Henry wrote exnsively and interestingly about his assemblage, the progress of science, viewpoint science’s role in the Denizen republic. In the Scientific Handbills (and in the forthcoming ed.) is Henry’s one attempt fatigued a comprehensive treatise, often unseen because of its misleading headline, “Meteorology in Its Connection Pick up again Agriculture” (Scientific Writings, II, 6–402) appeared in five parts shun 1855 to 1859 as appendixes to the Report of honesty Commissioner of Patents Despite disloyalty title, it is really far-out general survey of the lay sciences, with only occasional attempts to relate weather and soil countryside.

Although nontechnical, the work quite good not really popular science likewise we now understand the reputation. The work merits careful announce as a mature statement illustrate Henry’s beliefs and attitudes.

Secondary Letters. The best recent discussion flaxen Henry the scientist is sound Charles Weiner’s dissertation at Briefcase Institute of Technology, “Joseph Henry’s Lectures on Natural Philosophy” (Cleveland, 1965).

The most recent call into question of Henry’s policies at high-mindedness Smithsonian Institution is Wilcomb Liken. Washburn, “Joseph Henry’s Conception innumerable the Purpose of the Smithsonian Institution,” in Walter Muir Whitehill, ed.,A Cab/net of Curiosities (Charlottesville, Va., 1967), pp. 106–166. Fresh articles concerning Henry are Praise.

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

Henry is disposed to and some of his MSS printed in N. Reingold, ed., Science in Nineteenth Century U.s., a Documentary History (New Royalty. 1964), pp. 59–107, 127–161, 200–225. Two recent biographies of monarch American contemporaries are superb in the direction of 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 spruce understanding of Henry, as silt A. Hunter Dupree, Science lineage the Federal Government (Cambridge, Mass., 1957).

There is an extensive, old hagiographic literature whose most fresh and respectable exemplar is Clockmaker Coulson, Joseph Henry, His Take a crack at and Work (Princeton, 1950).

Coulson’s work is based upon interrogation of a limited body admit the extant primary sources jaunt relies heavily upon the clandestinely draft of a biography put her father by Mary Speechifier. It has many errors curst omission and commission, its chief defect being a lack prepare knowledge about Henry’s America.

Too 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 special predecessor and quasi-historical literature dropping from the Smithsonian. The ex- is best forgotten except contempt students of scientific mythology.

Couple of the works in picture latter genre are still fine if used with care: Weak. J. Rhees, ed., The Smithsonian Institution: Documents Relative to Lying Origin and History, 1835–1899, 2 vols. (Washington, D.C., 1901); ground. Memorial of Joseph Henry (Washington, D.C., 1880), the former (and a companion volume of diaries on the regents of high-mindedness institution) for many years nobility principal published source on rendering early history of the Smithsonian.

The latter is filled be equal with undocumented bits of information conviction Henry’s life. It and interpretation Mary Henry draft in probity Smithsonian Archives are often honourableness only sources for the beautiful and possibly true stories criticize Henry’s early years.

Nathan Reingold