The Ascent of John Tyndall: Victorian Scientist, Mountaineer, and Public Intellectual
Roland Jackson
(Author)
Description
Rising from a humble background in rural southern Ireland, John Tyndall became one of the foremost physicists, communicators of science, and polemicists in mid-Victorian Britain. In science, he is known for his important work in meteorology, climate science, magnetism, acoustics, and bacteriology. His discoveries include the physical basis of the warming of the Earth's atmosphere (the basis of the greenhouse effect), and establishing why the sky is blue. But he was also a leading communicator of science, drawing great crowds to his lectures at the Royal Institution, while also playing an active role in the Royal Society. Tyndall moved in the highest social and intellectual circles. A friend of Tennyson and Carlyle, as well as Michael Faraday and Thomas Huxley, Tyndall was one of the most visible advocates of a scientific world view as tensions grew between developing scientific knowledge and theology. He was an active and often controversial commentator, through letters, essays,speeches, and debates, on the scientific, political, and social issues of the day, with strongly stated views on Ireland, religion, race, and the role of women. Widely read in America, his lecture tour there in 1872-73 was a great success. Roland Jackson paints a picture of an individual at the heart of Victorian science and society. He also describes Tyndall's importance as a pioneering mountaineer in what has become known as the Golden Age of Alpinism. Among other feats, Tyndall was the first to traverse the Matterhorn. He presents Tyndall as a complex personality, full of contrasts, with his intense sense of duty, his deep love of poetry, his generosity to friends and his combativeness, his persistent ill-health alongside great physical stamina driving him to his mountaineering feats. Drawing on Tyndall's letters and journals for this first major biography of Tyndall since 1945, Jackson explores the legacy of a man who aroused strong opinions, strong loyalties, and strong enmities throughout his life.
Product Details
Price
$34.95
$32.50
Publisher
Oxford University Press, USA
Publish Date
July 01, 2018
Pages
576
Dimensions
6.4 X 2.0 X 9.3 inches | 2.02 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9780198788959
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliate
About the Author
Roland Jackson is a historian of science, with interests also in contemporary science and innovation policy, and in bioethics. His recent posts include: Head of the Science Museum, London; Chief Executive of the British Science Association; and Executive Chair of Sciencewise. He is a General Editorof The Correspondence of John Tyndall, being published in 19 volumes by the Royal Institution.
Reviews
"Mr. Jackson amasses a wealth of detail to give a fuller picture of this extraordinary man... [He] has done a great service in his detailed and careful presentation of John Tyndall's life at a time when science is under attack, neglected and misunderstood, especially by those in government." -- Peter Pesic, Wall Street Journal
"Roland Jackson has done a thorough job... it is certainly the best biography of Tyndall." - John Gribbin, LITERARY REVIEW
"Jackson's book arrives just in time to help situate Tyndall's work on heat in the atmosphere-which has recently seen him dubbed an anachronistic "father" of global warming-within the context of a life bursting with science and much else besides . . . Roland Jackson's admirably complete biography is the first serious biography to appear since a patchy production appeared in 1945, soon after [Tyndall's wife] Louisa's death. It's about time." - SCIENCE
"A massive biography of one of the Victorian era's most significant all-around scientists. Science historian Jackson sets himself the monumental task of sorting through the volumes of writing of Irish scientist John Tyndall." - KIRKUS
"Roland Jackson brings a unique set of credentials to his chronicle of Tyndall's life. The author is himself an accomplished mountaineer, who has served as Head of London's Science Museum . . . It was not until 1945, more than half a century after his death, that a semi-authorised biography of Tyndall was published. Now Jackson has authoritatively redressed this injustice." - Geographical
"Splendid monument of a biography." - Barbara Kiser, NATURE
"One of the most important mountaineering biographies to have been published in recent years... Roland Jackson's biography of John Tyndall is not only a tour de force of scholarship, it's also an eminently readable book... It's a magnificent piece of work and a must-read for every scholar of Alpine history." - Alex Roddie, THE GREAT OUTDOORS
"Excellent biography... The Ascent of John Tyndall is a long-overdue, magnificent tribute to an important, but largely under-appreciated scientist. Highly recommended." - Richard Carter, FRIENDS OF DARWIN
