The Ascent of John Tyndall: Victorian Scientist, Mountaineer, and Public Intellectual by Roland Jackson

Author:Roland Jackson [Jackson, Roland]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780191093326
Publisher: OxfordUP
Published: 2018-01-25T00:00:00+00:00

Lord Derby had now seen all the Kew correspondence, agreed that Hooker had a good case, and concurred that the correspondence should be asked for in Parliament. It was clear to all that such a course of action could result in the resignation of either Hooker or Ayrton, and that Ayrton might be protected by his political colleagues, notwithstanding the fact that so many people disliked him. A ‘quarter-deck apology’ from Ayrton to a subordinate was quite out of the question. The stakes were high. Tyndall had already petitioned, or ‘memorialized’, one Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, in 1843 over conditions of service in the Ordnance Survey. He now orchestrated the memorialization of another. In this he was aided by Huxley, who had returned in April from a long stay in Egypt to recover his health, and by others, including Spottiswoode and Lubbock, whose position as an MP in Gladstone’s party was delicate. Nothing could be done formally until the House met again in late May. In early June, Lord Derby moved in the Lords for the papers to be produced, and a fortnight later, Lubbock, who had seemed to be equivocating, did so in the Commons.63 In the meantime, Tyndall sought signatories for the memorial to Gladstone and lined up further supporters in the Lords, as did Hooker and his colleagues. Eleven of the most eminent men of science signed the memorial, including Darwin, Lyell, Huxley, and Spottiswoode. A notable absentee was Airy, Astronomer Royal, and President of the Royal Society, who felt it was quite improper for him, as an officer under the government, to interfere. Lord Derby advised that nothing would be lost by publishing the memorial, since the signatories would guarantee interest from the press.64 The view was that on seeing the evidence, published in full in Nature,65 the press and public would back Hooker, which they largely did. There the matter stood when Tyndall left for the Alps on 25th June, telling Huxley that he would have to take over the coordination, and missing the annual excursion of X-Club members and their wives. His book Contributions to Molecular Physics in the Domain of Radiant Heat, an edited collection of his papers, was published just before his departure abroad, and respectfully dedicated to Bence Jones. Joule, bearing no grudges for the earlier dispute, wrote to thank him for such a handsome collection of his researches on radiation.66

On the way to Switzerland, Tyndall stopped off in Paris for a couple of days, dined with Jamin, and spent an hour with Pasteur, whose experiments on fermentation much impressed him. Pasteur had written the previous October in a flattering manner, sending several of his papers and a summary of his work to date. Sensing someone who could help, he wrote flatteringly that with Tyndall’s ‘rare genius, your brilliant imagination, your incomparable talent of explaining, you will provide a great service’.67

Chamonix was Tyndall’s initial Alpine destination. On the first day he climbed straight up the cliffs above Montanvert, extricating himself with difficulty when he lost his way on the descent.

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