Joseph Henry - a famous American physicist, is considered one of the most famous American scientists, he is put on a par with Benjamin Franklin. Henry created magnets, thanks to which he discovered a fundamentally new phenomenon in electromagnetism, which was called self-induction. In parallel with Faraday, he discovered mutual induction, but Faraday managed to publish the results of his research earlier. However, it was Henry's work that became the basis for the emergence of the electric telegraph, which Morse invented.
Biography of a scientist
Joseph Henry was born in 1797. He was born in the state of New York, in the town of Albany. His mother and father were not rich, in addition, the dad of the hero of our article died early. Joseph was raised by his grandmother.
After graduating from elementary school, he went to work in a department store, and at 13 he became an apprentice with a watchmaker. In his youth, Joseph Henry was very interested in theater, he almost became a professional actor, but at the age of 16 he woke up to interest in science after he accidentally fell under the arm of a book entitled Popular Lectures on Experimental Philosophy.
Therefore, he decided to enter the Albany Academy. Joseph Henry received higher education free of charge, but his family was so poor that even under this condition he had to constantly earn extra money by tutoring. Initially, he wanted to do medicine, but in 1824 he was appointed assistant engineer for supervision of the construction of a bridge between Lake Erie and the Hudson River. After that, the engineering profession simply absorbed him.
Studying at the University
Joseph Henry, whose biography is given in this article, studied so well that he often helped teachers in teaching. Already in 1826 he was appointed professor of mathematics at the University of Albany.
The physicist Joseph Henry showed increased interest in magnetism. He became the first who managed to put into practice a new technology for creating an electromagnet using windings of an insulated wire, previously wound on an iron core.
Joseph Henry's electromagnets were significantly different from those used by physicists before, since previously everyone used bare wire. As a result, Henry managed to create the most powerful electromagnet for his time.
The next step in his work was the creation of a winding of several coils, which allowed to further increase the lifting force of the electromagnet. He began to place up to ten such windings, so coils appeared, later called bobbins.
Scientific experiments
The variety of scientific experiments Henry is simply amazing. In 1831, he created a swing motor model. He understood that it was a “physical toy”, but hoped that in the future his invention would be able to get practical application.
The basis of this invention was the principle of reciprocating motion, which in the future was applied in a steam engine. The fact that the first inventors of the steamship proposed using a steam engine to propel oars, replacing rowers in this way, is also exceptional. At the same time, the first inventors of the engine tried to create moving mechanisms that would imitate the movement of the horse's legs.
Mentoring
When he became famous, Henry began to turn to young inventors and scientists, hoping to get practical advice from him. The hero of our article was friendly and condescending to everyone, though he treated everyone with humor.
Among his visitors was Alexander Bell, who in 1875 wrote a letter to Henry to get to know each other. Joseph showed a keen interest in the development of Bell, the very next day went to visit him.
Demonstrating his experiences, Bell talked about his unexplored idea of transmitting human speech using electricity, using a device similar to harmonics. Bell suggested that it would have steel tongues tuned to different frequencies to cover a person’s voice spectrum. Henry immediately declared that it was a germ of a great invention. The only thing, Henry did not recommend Bella to advertise his ideas until he finally improved his invention. When Bell pointed out that he lacked knowledge, Henry strongly urged him to take possession immediately.
Bell's invention
Acquainted with Henry, Bell continued to improve his invention. In 1876, he demonstrated an experimental phone of a different design at an exhibition in Philadelphia. At it, Henry acted as one of the experts in the electrical exhibition.
In 1877, the hero of our article appreciated his inventions at the Smithsonian Institution. Henry encouraged Bell to demonstrate invention in the Washington Philosophical Society. Since 1852, Henry was appointed a member of the State Council for Lighthouses, and then Chairman of the Council, remaining in this post for the rest of the days. He remained the only civilian chairman in history.
In 1878, Henry died in Washington at the age of 80.
Grandmaster
When studying the biography of Henry, you can stumble upon a biography of his famous namesake - chess player Joseph Henry Blackburn. He was considered one of the strongest grandmasters on the planet in the second half of the 19th century.
Initially, he received a commercial education, was an excellent drafts player. He became interested in chess only at the age of 18. In 1869, Blackburn became the champion of Great Britain, considered one of the strongest in the country for 30 years. In 1914, Blackburn became the champion of Great Britain at the age of 72 years.
His opponents called him “Black Death” because he always wore a worn black suit and the old top hat was also black. According to another version, he also owed this nickname to his black beard. In chess, he adhered to a sharp attacking style, adhering to the spirit of romantic chess masters of the old school. In a large number of games, he won by playing with black pieces.
The last time he played at an international tournament was at the age of 73 in St. Petersburg.
Mr. Church
Another namesake of the great physicist is the main character of the story, Susan McMartin, Mr. Henry Joseph Church. In 2016, Bruce Beresford directed the eponymous drama with Eddie Murphy in the title role, "Mr. Church."
He once appears in the home of breast cancer patient Mary Brooks and her daughter Charlie. He is hired by Mary's ex-husband to look after her for the last six months of her life.
But after 6 months Mary remains to live, another 6 years pass, for which Mr. Church becomes a home attribute. Mary dies only after graduation Charlie, and Church helps her to enter Boston University. The girl’s life now turns out to be permanently connected with this person who is ready to help her at any moment.