From a humble background, John Tyndall rose to great heights,
becoming one of the most eminent men of science during his
period. The self-made man was a powerful lecturer and an
influential writer who published on topics ranging from
molecular physics and magnetism to mountaineering, literature,
religion, and the motion of glaciers. In optics, he is most
famous for his discovery of the phenomenon that came to be known
as the Tyndall effect. Tyndall was born August 2, 1820 in County
Carlow, Ireland to a family of limited means. His father,
however, ensured that he received a solid elementary education.
In 1839, he began working as a surveyor, first in Ireland and
then in England, and reportedly attended lectures at a
mechanical institute. For a brief period, in 1844, Tyndall
became a railway engineer, and a few years later a teacher at
Queenwood College. By 1848, he decided with much determination
to obtain his doctorate degree, despite the financial strain it
would cause him. Tyndall enrolled at the Universit