Overview
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.
Full Product Details
Author: Roland Jackson (Visiting Fellow, The Royal Institution)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 12.90cm
, Height: 4.40cm
, Length: 19.60cm
Weight: 0.518kg
ISBN: 9780198788942
ISBN 10: 0198788940
Pages: 576
Publication Date: 23 July 2020
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
Jackson's book is as comprehensive as it is overdue ... Jackson at once recounts the important events of Tyndall's life and uses Tyndall himself to build a richly textured picture of the social and scientific world in which he lived. The book favours a rigorous attention to detail ... Jackson's impressive facility with the scientific and political contexts of Tyndall's late-nineteenth-century world enables him to weave together a series of themes that define both the man and the period, providing a useful and comprehensive launching pad for a wide variety of forays in to the social and scientific worlds of Victorian England. * Joshue Howe, Annals of Science * Roland Jackson paints a picture of an individual at the heart of Victorian science and society. * Playing Pasts * 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 * 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, its 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 * Splendid monument of a biography. * Barbara Kiser, Nature * Roland Jackson has done a thorough job... it is certainly the best biography of Tyndall. * John Gribbin, Literary Review * This story reveals much about Tyndall ... [this biography] is immensely long and devotedly successful at unearthing the facts of Tyndall's life... * Jonathan Parry, London Review of Books * 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. * Jules Stewart, Geographical Magazine * 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 *
Jackson's book is as comprehensive as it is overdue ... Jackson at once recounts the important events of Tyndall's life and uses Tyndall himself to build a richly textured picture of the social and scientific world in which he lived. The book favours a rigorous attention to detail ... Jackson's impressive facility with the scientific and political contexts of Tyndall's late-nineteenth-century world enables him to weave together a series of themes that define both the man and the period, providing a useful and comprehensive launching pad for a wide variety of forays in to the social and scientific worlds of Victorian England. * Joshue Howe, Annals of Science * Jackson's book is as comprehensive as it is overdue ... Jackson at once recounts the important events of Tyndall's life and uses Tyndall himself to build a richly textured picture of the social and scientific world in which he lived. The book favours a rigorous attention to detail ... Jackson's impressive facility with the scientific and political contexts of Tyndall's late-nineteenth-century world enables him to weave together a series of themes that define both the man and the period, providing a useful and comprehensive launching pad for a wide variety of forays in to the social and scientific worlds of Victorian England. * Joshue Howe, Annals of Science * 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 * 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, its 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 * The book is well written, at times witty, at other times entirely engrossing. But its major strength is the close, first-hand knowledge of all of Tyndall's writings. Jackson knows Tyndall's primary sources better than anyone and that is why this biography is so satisfying. Jackson is close to his subject, fully grasps the science, has followed Tyndall's paths across the Alps, and has managed to write about it in a smooth, engaging style. * Michael Reidy, Metascience * Splendid monument of a biography. * Barbara Kiser, Nature * Roland Jackson has done a thorough job... it is certainly the best biography of Tyndall. * John Gribbin, Literary Review * This story reveals much about Tyndall ... [this biography] is immensely long and devotedly successful at unearthing the facts of Tyndall's life... * Jonathan Parry, London Review of Books * 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. * Jules Stewart, Geographical Magazine * 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 *
Author Information
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 Editor of The Correspondence of John Tyndall, being published in 19 volumes by the Royal Institution.
