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John Tyndall was born the second of August in 1820 in Leighlinbridge, Ireland. His parents were John Tyndall and Sarah McCassey. He was born into a poorer family with and elder sister. His father worked as a police constable in his home town. Baron, Ruth. “John Tyndall.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Tyndall.
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John Tyndall went to a local primary school until the ages of 17-18 which was very uncommon at this age as most students did not attend school for that long at this time. Then at 19 years old he joined the Irish Ordnance Survey which is the Irish State's National Mapping Agency, essential to the infrastructural development of the country.
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Later he did surveying work in England and worked later worked on railway construction in the boom of the 1840s.
Wyhe, John V. “John Tyndall.” John Tyndall (1820-1893), The Victorian Web, 30 June 2021, https://victorianweb.org/science/tyndall.htm. -
Tyndall opted to become a math and surveying teacher at Queenwood College (Boarding school in Hampshire). He became friends with another professor there named Edward Frankland who had previously worked as a chemical laboratory assistant for the British Geological survey.
Wyhe, John V. “John Tyndall.” John Tyndall (1820-1893), The Victorian Web, 30 June 2021, https://victorianweb.org/science/tyndall.htm. -
Germany's universities at the time were muvh more advanced than any British university; therefore, Tyndall and Frankland set off to Germany to further their education in experimental chemistry and physics. Tyndall and Frankland enrolled into the University of Marburg in the summer of 1848, where Tyndall studied under Robert Bunsen for two years. He also studied under Professor Hermann Knoblauch who was much more of an influence on Tyndall and remained in contact with for many years after.
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During this time John started mountaineering expedition sin the alps and began his study of glacial movement. The theory that these great ice sheets once covered the Northern Hemisphere and gradually moved over time already existed. John's main study was at the Mar de Glace glacier where his team placed stakes. John and his crew went back every couple of days to measure the distance between the stakes to discover that glaciers can move and rather quickly.
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John Tyndall studied the capacity gases and vapors have to transmit and absorb radiant heat. To successfully do this John invented the world's first ratio spectrophotometer. Tyndall discovered that water and carbon dioxide were among the best to absorb heat radiation. This was a key factor to Earth regulating its surface temperature.
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John created the "Tyndall Effect" by studying light passing through colloidal solutions. He discovered that a ray of light is more visible when colloidal particles are denser. A good example of this is driving a car at night in foggy weather. During the clear night time, the beam of light is not visible unlike when there is dense fog.
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Tyndall has been called the forgotten discoverer of climate change. It was said that the Earth was found to be getting warmer without explanation. Years of experimenting with his spectrometerspere. John discovered the greenhouse gas effect within the gases in the atmosphere. John's discovery that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere easily gains and retains heat was the first explanation of a warmer planet.
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John Tyndall died in Haslemere, England of an accidental sleeping medication overdose.
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Tyndall, John. “Hours of Exercise in the Alps.” Hours Of Exercise in the Alps, by John Tyndall--The Project Gutenberg EBook, 27 Oct. 2014, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/47209/47209-h/47209-h.htm.
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Davidson, Michael W. “John Tyndall.” Molecular Expressions: Science, Optics and You - Timeline - John Tyndall, Florida State University, 13 Nov. 2015, https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/timeline/people/tyndall.html.
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Mody, Bella. “Tyndall Effect.” Chemistry LibreTexts, Libretexts, 23 Sept. 2020, https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook_Maps/Supplemental_Modules_(Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry)/Physical_Properties_of_Matter/Solutions_and_Mixtures/Colloid/Tyndall_Effect.