| AdminHistory | Born at Leighlin Bridge, county Carlow, 1820; educated at the local national school; employed as a surveyor from 1839 and later as a railway engineer; teacher of mathematics and surveying at Queenwood College, Hampshire, from 1847; went to the University of Marburg, Hesse-Cassel, 1848; attended Bunsen's lectures on chemistry and also studied mathematics and physics; doctor of philosophy, 1850; subsequently devoted himself to original research on mathematics and physics, including magnetism; left Marburg for Berlin, 1851; acquainted with many eminent scientists; elected Fellow of the Royal Society, 1852; returned to Queenwood as lecturer on mathematics and natural philosophy for two years; delivered a lecture at the Royal Institution which caused a sensation, 1853; unanimously chosen professor of natural philosophy in the Royal Institution, 1853; worked there with Faraday, with whom he became close friends; delivered the Bakerian lecture before the Royal Society, 1855; studied crystals, the cleavage of slate, and the structure and motion of glaciers, 1850s; conducted research on radiant heat in its relation to gases and vapours from 1859; investigated the behaviour of bacteria and the implications for hygiene; scientific adviser to the Board of Trade, 1866-1883; investigated the effects of the atmosphere on sound with regard to fog signals; superintendent of the Royal Institution, 1867-1887; received the Rumford medal, 1869; his views on the relationship between science and theological opinions, given in his presidential address to the British Association in 1874, were controversial; retired and was elected honorary professor of the Royal Institution, 1887; noted as a lecturer and disseminator of scientific knowledge; published numerous scientific papers; died, 1893. |
| CustodialHistory | Part of the library of Charles Kay Ogden (1889-1957), linguistic psychologist, founder of the Orthological Institute and originator of the language system Basic English, whose interests in language systems are reflected in the subject matter of his collection, which comprised individual manuscripts and manuscript collections dating from the 14th to the 20th century. |