Fragments of Science: A Series of Detached Essays, Addresses & Reviews

by John Tyndall

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

918 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1874

About the author

John Tyndall FRS (2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was a prominent 19th century physicist. His initial scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of infrared radiation and the physical properties of air. Tyndall also published more than a dozen science books which brought state-of-the-art 19th century experimental physics to a wide audience. From 1853 to 1887 he was professor of physics at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in London.

Reviews

[John Gribbin]

The Irish scientist and writer John Tyndall is almost forgotten today, but in the nineteenth century he was in effect the first science populariser, and his lectures in the United States drew crowds as large as those for Charles Dickens. The fortune he made from those lectures was used to set up a fund for the advancement of American science. A contemporary biographer wrote “Prof. Tyndall occupies the foremost place among his contemporaries, his only rival being his friend, Prof. Huxley [‘Darwin’s Bulldog,’ Thomas Henry Huxley].” Tyndall was a prolific author, but Fragments of science for unscientific people, published in 1871, is probably his best book. It covers topics ranging from the nature of heat and light to spectroscopy, a voyage to Algeria to observe an eclipse, glaciology, and the composition of the Sun.