Talk:Joseph Henry
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I note this page is linked to Casualties of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks: City of New York where firefighter Joseph Henry is listed among those killed.
He should be mentioned here.
I would do it myself, but am too depressed from reading the names of the dead.
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[edit] What an AH!!!
Some philanthropic AH left this line on the very top of the front page:
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- joseph henry was the cockiest person of his time, and that is why he named his SI unit after himself, what an asshole
As I remarked in my book on Henry's friend, Prof. Thaddeus Lowe:
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- "The perception of Lowe (or Henry) as pompous, unyielding, egotistical, and overbearing is best left to those who can only envy their brilliance if they cannot possess it." Magi Media 19:49, 29 July 2006 (UTC)Magi Media
[edit] Influences in Aeronautics
The section on Lowe is far longer than all the discussion of Henry's groundbreaking electrical work. I recommend that this section be boiled down to 2 sentences with a link to the main Lowe article. The implication is that Henry's connection to Lowe is his main claim to fame, which is not at all the case.
The edited section could be something like "Prof. Henry was introduced to Prof. Thaddeus Lowe, a balloonist from New Hampshire who had taken interest in the phenomena of lighter-than-air gases, and exploits into meteorology, in particular, the high winds which we call the Jet stream today. Henry had been in charge of weather observation in New York for several years in his early career, and could see how a baloon could navigate by ascending to different altitudes where the wind direction naturally varied. While lecturing at the Albany Academy, Henry had done several interesting demonstrations on pneumatics and had studied the combustion of hydrocarbons. Henry took a great interest in Lowe's endeavors so much as to support and promote him among some of the more prominent scientists and institutions of the day. On Henry's recommendation Lowe went on to form the Union Army Balloon Corps and served two years with the Army of the Potomac as a Civil War Aeronaut."Edison 14:41, 12 June 2006 (UTC)
- Thank you very much for your note on Henry's article. This edit was done when I was first writing for wikipedia, and my exuberance did find me overwriting articles. There's obviously something more to Prof. Henry than his electrical work. He seemed to be a highly revered man of science with great influence around Washington. For the fact that he became very involved with Lowe prior to and during the war is of great significance, especially if he is an electrical scientist working with a gasman like Lowe. His letter to Cameron is of particular interest because he is a man of science and not just an "electrician." (I say with tongue in cheek.) He had a similar letter written to Capt Whipple of the Topographical Engineers, Lowe's first assignment, digging into the nuts and bolts of ballooning with the intent of influencing him to retain Lowe's services. He had the whole of the scientific community interested in Lowe's projects. But I am not so married to the article that I can't see the section edited. So feel free to truncate it.
- By the way! Prof. Lowe was extremely proficient working around the volatile gas. Hydrogen has a rise rate of 400 feet per second, so with the envelope well over his head, he was not wafting around in a cloud of hydrogen gas where a telegraph spark might do a Hindenburg on him. He used to go up in the dark using his oxyhydrogen lamps to light his inflation procedures. That's alot of hydrogen gas, but Lowe's safety record was impeccable.
- Thanks again! Magi Media 03:04, 13 June 2006 (UTC)Magi Media
[edit] Doorbell
about.com claims he invented the doorbell in 1831... is it to be considered reliable? Lo'oris - ロホリス 22:05, 25 September 2006 (UTC) (crosspost with the doorbell talk page)
[edit] Moyer's 1997 Biography
I've added a reference to the (relatively) recent biography: Moyer, Albert E., Joseph Henry: The Rise of an American Scientist, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1997. Moyer's a History of Science professor at Virgina Tech; perhaps someone should recruit him for this article. Anyway, the biography was partly supported by the Smithsonian, and was intended to celebrate the bicentennial of Henry's birth. I'm not prepared yet to make any changes to the main article based on my reading of this biography. I am, however, not a fan of Coulson's biography. I also have a pleasant, children's biography in my collection: Jahns, Patricia, Joseph Henry: Father of American Electronics, Rutledge Books, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1970.EAS 02:19, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
