Public lecture in Kilkenny on legendary scientist and mountaineer

A public lecture on the legendary scientist and mountaineer, John Tyndall, will take place in Rothe House in Kilkenny later this month.

The Kilkenny Archaeological Society are hosting the lecture by Kevin Higgins on March 23 at 8pm.

John Tyndall, who grew up and worked locally, was one of Ireland's finest scientists and the country's first great mountaineer.  Forgotten for many years, especially here in Ireland, he now has a number of scientific institutions named in his honour - in China, in Great Britain and in UCC - as well as having numerous mountain features named after him.  He is best remembered, if at all, for explaining why the sky is blue, for his process of 'Tyndallisation' and the 'Tyndall Effect'.

This is an attempt to gain an insight to the man himself: aspects of his life not easily found on the internet – the women in his life, from his favourite in Bagenalstown to the one that poisoned him; his religious beliefs or lack thereof and the controversy attached.  The lecture will also look at how he influenced the world of mountaineering during its Golden Age and afterwards, and how his conquest of the vertical, his Alpine exploits, impacted on his science,  . . .  and replicating a couple of his groundbreaking scientific demonstrations.

Kevin Higgins is a member of KAS and a retired teacher, originally from Mullingar. He has a research interest in the history of Irish explorers and mountaineers such as John Tyndall and has followed in the footsteps of some of them in various parts of the world.