Henry Cavendish - little-known facts from the life of a scientist

Henry Cavendish - a scientist-misanthrope, fenced off from the whole world. Exceptional wealth allowed him to live as he saw fit. And the scientist chose for himself science and loneliness. Life and research of this scientist for a long time remained a mystery to others - the essence of the experiments conducted by Henry Cavendish, became clear only many years later. Below, readers are invited to familiarize themselves with some little-known facts from the life of Henry Cavendish and his activities.

Henry Cavendish's biography is mean to the details of his personal life. He was the representative of one of the most notable English families. He spent his considerable fortune on research and experiments. His mind has significant discoveries in the natural sciences, but only the subscribers of the Philosophical Transactions, who described the latest research of the members of the Royal Scientific Society, saw detailed publications of discoveries. Most of his scientific records Henry Cavendish kept in his own archive, which became available to researchers only two hundred years after his death.

Privacy

Most of all in life, Henry Cavendish valued solitude. With his servants he communicated through short notes, could not bear the presence of strangers in his house. Often he returned home through the back door, for fear of talking with his own housekeeper. The scientist eschewed the women's society and sometimes climbed to his office on the ladder to avoid meeting with the fair sex workers who work for him. Henry Cavendish appreciated privacy above all and was not very interested in reality. Such social upheavals as the French Revolution and its consequences left him indifferent - at least in the preserved correspondence there is no hint that the scientist knew about this social catastrophe of the late 18th century. But he was well versed in furniture and collected the most unique examples of carpentry - there was a record of his acquisition of several chairs with expensive satin upholstery.

He so treasured his loneliness that he ordered to bury himself in a closed coffin, and on the crypt with his ashes there should not be inscriptions indicating that Henry Cavendish was buried there. Photo of the famous cathedral in Derby, where this wonderful scientist was buried, is in every guidebook, but not one of his authentic portraits, unfortunately, has survived.

Investigation of gases

From his father, who successfully engaged in meteorology, Henry Cavendish adopted the gift of observation and the propensity to scientific research. A fairly accurate weighing of hydrogen suggested to him the idea of using it in aeronautics. His experiments with this gas (Cavendish called it phlogiston) helped him to open the water composition, to decompose the air into its components: oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapor. The accuracy of his analyzes was so great that repeating the experiments of the scientist in practically the same conditions, W. Ramsay and J. Rayleigh were able to open an inert gas of argon.

Experiments with electricity

Henry Cavendish and his discovery of the law of interaction of electric charges remained in the unknown more than two hundred years. Meanwhile, this basic law of electricity was discovered by Sir Henry Cavendish for twelve years before Coulomb. In another work, the scientist studied the effect of substances that do not conduct electricity on the capacitance of capacitors. His pen belongs to the first, fairly accurate calculations of dielectric constants for some substances.

Confirming Newton

The empirical discovery of Isaac Newton, although striking the imagination of scientists, but needed practical confirmation. Henry Cavendish's experience with torsion scales allowed using this simple design to measure the force of attraction of two spheres, thereby confirming the law of universal gravitation. The given researches allowed to derive such constants as gravitational constant, mass and average density of planet Earth.

Patronage

This very modest and self-contained person was one of the greatest patrons of the time. He financially supported the poor, who sought to gain knowledge. There were notes about the student, who helped the scientist to put in order the huge library of Cavendish. Learning about the financial difficulties of his assistant, Henry Cavendish wrote a colossal amount of 10 thousand pounds sterling for his support. And this is far from an isolated case.

Accidental discovery

Few people know that the unique legacy of Henry Cavendish has become available thanks to another well-known scientist - James Maxwell. He managed to get permission to look through the archives of the eccentric researcher. And even now, most of it remains unclear - the designation of projected instruments and the complex language of manuscripts are practically not understood by modern scientists. It should be taken into account that the mathematical language at that time was not thoroughly developed, and the explanation of many functions was multisyllabic and incomprehensible.

Laboratory of Cavendish

The famous English laboratory of Cavendish is not Henry Cavendish, but his relative and surname - Sir William Cavendish, the seventh Duke of Devonshire. This scientist did not leave a trace in science, but he was able to perpetuate his name, sacrificing a large sum for the construction of a unique scientific laboratory, which functions successfully today.