Tyndall: such a colourful character
This great Irish scientist was the first to show that certain gases act like a blanket, trapping heat under them, a key process behind global warming. He also, famously, explained why the sky is blue and why a drake mallard’s head has such extraordinary colours.
Tyndall was born of modest land-owning stock in Leighlin-bridge, Co Carlow, where his father ensured he had a good education. The young Tyndall worked as a draughtsman and surveyor with the Ordnance Survey in Dublin and London before going to Germany to study. His professor at the University of Marburg was Robert Bunsen, whose ‘burner’ is still used in school science labs today. Tyndall went on to become a professor at London’s Royal Institution where he spent most of his career. A man of many parts, he was a keen mountaineer, being the first person to climb the 4,506m Weisshorn in the Swiss Alps. He might also have conquered the notorious Matterhorn, but local guides were too fearful to assist him.
