Henry Cavendish: The Shy Scientist
Henry Cavendish was born October 10, 1731 in Nice, France. His mother, Lady Anne Grey was the daughter of the first Duke of Kent while his father Lord Charles Cavendish, was second Duke of Devonshire. His ancestry links back to many of the aristocratic families in Great Britain. The chemist/physicist is most accredited for the discovery of hydrogen, the “inflammable air” and measuring the Earth’s density, but he also researched and discovered many other important scientific revolutions.
Henry was described as being a very silent and solitary individual. Many called him eccentric and some believe Asperger Syndrome was the root of his behavior. He was shy of strangers and especially shy of women, so much that he only conversed with his female servants by notes. At one point he had a back staircase added onto his house to avoid his housekeeper. This shyness did not allow him to have close or personal relationships to those outside of his family. He dressed from the previous century wearing an old faded velvet coat and a three-cornered hat. When he did talk he spoke in a squeaky voice and with difficulty. His single social outlet was his membership in the Royal Society Club, in which members dined together before their weekly meetings. Cavendish rarely missed these meetings and was highly respected by his colleagues. Although admired, those who sought his intelligence were often given a response of a mumble or a vacant reply as Cavendish dashed off to find a more peaceful area.
Henry Cavendish began attendance to the University of Cambridge in St. Pete’s College on November 24, 1749 at the age of 18. On February 23, 1753, four years later, he left the university without graduating. After ex...
... middle of paper ...
... the church now named Derby Cathedral and was honored by having the road he lived on named after him. William Cavendish the 7th Duke of Devonshire, Henry Cavendish later relative, donated the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge.
Works Cited
Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. Henry Cavendish. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cavendish; Dec. 1, 2011
Bruce Mattson. “Henry Cavendish 1731-1810”. History of Gas Chemistry. Updated September 25, 2001. Retrieved December 1, 2011
“Henry Cavendish”. Famous Scientists. http://www.famousscientists.org/henry-cavendish/. Retrieved Dec. 1, 2011
chemistry.mtu.edu/~pcharles/SCIHISTORY/HenryCavendish.html. Updated Oct. 30,1997. Retrieved Dec. 1, 2011
Eric Weisstein. “Cavendish, Henry (1731-1810”. Wolfram Research.1996-2007 Eric W. Weisstein. http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Cavendish.html
Henry was born on May 29, 1736 in Studley in Hanover County, Virginia (Red Hill). His father John Henry was a Scottish – born planter. His dad educated young Patrick at home, including teaching him to read Latin, but Patrick studied law on his own (History). His mother Sarah Winston Syme was a young widow from a prominent gentrys family (Red Hill). Henry attended a local school for a few years and received the remainder of his education from his father who had attended Kings College in Abedeen.
middle of paper ... ... The Web. 22 Feb. 2014. http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history>.
In the book Letters of Horace Walpole, the author Toynbee placed together a collection of letters Horace Walpole the Fourth Earl of Orford, wrote. In this volume Walpole writes to many acquaintances ranging from Reverends to Dukes during the time period 1771 to 1774. Horace Walpole, a man of letters and Whig politician is the son of the first Prime Minister Robert Walpole (Langford). He is most famous for his correspondences he wrote at his house Strawberry Hill (Langford). In this document Walpole is writing to the Earl of Strafford. The Earl of Strafford with the name William Wentworth is an English nobleman during the 1700s. In this message to the Earl of Strafford Horace Walpole gives an in depth look into the thoughts and ideals of Englishman during the Eighteenth Century.
Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm on October 21, 1833. By the age of 17 he was fluent in Swedish, Russian, French, English and German. Early in his life he had a huge interest in English literature and poetry as well as in chemistry and physics. Alfred's father disliked his interest in poetry and found his son rather introverted. In order to widen Alfred's horizons his father sent him to different institutions for further training in chemical engineering. During a two-year period he visited Sweden, Germany, France and the United States. He came to enjoy Paris the best. There he worked in the private laboratory of Professor T. J. Pelouze, a famous chemist. He also met the young Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero who, three years earlier, had invented nitroglycerine.
In 1798, his grandfather died, which gave him his title and his estate. He later attended Trinity College at Cambridge University and earned his master’s degree in July of 1808 (“Lord”). Aside from his schooling he was an excellent marksman, horseman, and swimmer (Gurney 72). Many thought he was “mad- bad- and dangerous to know” (Napierkowski 38). His personality was very out of the realm of normal for the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in which he lived. He isolated himself from others’ opinions about his cruel, sexual eccentric...
Oppenheimer was the son of a German immigrant who had made his fortune by importing textiles in New York City. During his undergraduate studies at Harvard University, Oppenheimer excelled in Latin, Greek, physics, and chemistry, published poetry, and studied Oriental philosophy. After graduating in 1925, he sailed for England to do research at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, which, under the leadership of Lord Rutherford, had an international reputation for its pioneering studies on atomic structure. At the Cavendish, Oppenheimer had the opportunity to collaborate with the British scientific community in its efforts to advance the cause of atomic research. Max Born invited him to Göttingen University, where he met other prominent physicists, such as Niels Bohr and Paul Dirac, and where, in 1927, he received his doctorate.
After he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1608, he was recommended by the principal of Magdalen was appointed tutor William Cavendish who eventually became the second Earl of Devonshire. Hobbes became part of the Cavendish family they were very close. In 1610 Hobbes accompanied his pupil to a trip to France and Italy. While in Europe he discovered that what he studied in Oxford came from what Europeans had learned. Thomas Hobbes then pursued to the classics which he has studied , before he went to Oxford and to which he has given much attention to.
John Locke was born in 1632 at Wrington, Somersetshire, England. He studied philosophy and the natural sciences at Oxford, and received his doctorate in medicine. Having entered into the graces of Lord Ashley, who later became the Earl of Shaftesbury, Locke held several political offices. Thus he had the opportunity to visit France, where he made the acquaintance of the most representative men of cultur...
After primary school he decided to go on and attend Brasenose College at Oxford University where he would major in philosophy (C3). He enjoyed coll...
Victor Frankenstein has a deep obsession with the sciences-- referred to as "natural philosophy" in text.. After going to Waldman's lecture, Victor is put on the course of natural philosophy. He says, speaking about events post-Waldman's lecture, that "From this day natural philosophy, and particularly chemistry, in the most comprehensive sense of the term, became nearly my sole occupation." Occupation, in this line, is read as 'how one spends their time.' Essentially, Victor spends all his time upon natural philosophy to find truth (as most scientists do). Perhaps, though, one could argue that: "This is not obsession. Frankenstein just has a great love for the sciences. That is how he wishes to spend the majority of his time." While this could be the case, especially at first, before his studies begin, I suspect that Victor is suffering from monomania. This can be seen in the line "...I appeared rather like one doomed by slavery to toil in the mines, or any other unwholesome trade than an artist occupied by his favourite employment."
As Newton came closer to the teenage age, he also came closer to his mother. He reunited with her after her second husband passed. Eventually, Newton was introduced into the fine ole’ chemistry,he enrolled at King's’ School in Lincolnshire, Grantham. Newton’s mother had
He would eventually drop the apprenticeship and enroll at Harvard University to study chemistry. When the money that funded James’ college payments started to decrease significantly, he tr...
After King Henry V’s very short reign ended, the Duke of York, Richard, the son of Richard, Anne Mortimer, and the Earl of C...
Francis Bacon was born on January 2nd, 1561, in the city of London, England. Bacon was educated at home in his early years due to poor health. He received tuition from an Oxford graduate and by the age of 12, he entered Trinity College in Cambridge. For three years, he lived with his older brother Anthony Bacon. Bacon’s education followed curriculum of the medieval ages and was directed largely in Latin. He first met Queen Elizabeth at Cambridge, who was impressed by his intellectual characteristics and called him The Young Lord Keeper. A year after he enrolled at Gray's Inn, Bacon left school to work under the British ambassador of France. Two and a half years later, he had to abandon his mission and return to England because of his father’s unexpected death. Fortunately, Bacon landed a job in the House of Commons, and was able to complete his education. He held a position in Parliament for about 4 decades, and became extremely dynamic in politics. Bacon ended up surpassing his father’s achievements and was promoted to one of the highest political positions in England. After retiring, he able to focus on the philosophy of science, and was determined to change the face of philosophy. Bacon applied his knowledge and focus to methods of perceptible truth, and emphasized communication and experimentation. His ideals and values sparked the industrial age, and his theories had a major influence on 17th-century European science. Francis Bacon’s opinion on the correlation between religion and science, his way of thinking towards reason and experience, and his views and impacts on the importance of education were his main contributions towards humanity and the theories of philosophy.
from the University College of London in Physics. He later became a candidate for a