Tyndall, John

tin'dal, John (1820-1893), a British student of physics. He was born in Ireland. He was educated for engineering, but forsook the business for an instructorship in a college at Hants. He studied at various German universities. He became a member of the Royal Society in 1852. With Huxley he investigated the phenomena of glaciers in Switzerland. He did much to make the movements of glaciers understood. He was a popular writer and lecturer on light, heat, sound, forms of water, and electricity. In 1872-3 he visited the United States to deliver a course of lectures on light. His writings fill a score of volumes. See Huxley; Faraday