Joseph Henry (1797-1878)

Joseph Henry was an American scientist who pioneered the construction of strong,
practical electromagnets and built one of the first electromagnetic motors. During
his experiments with electromagnetism, Henry discovered the property of inductance in
electrical circuits, which was first recognized at about the same time in England by
Michael Faraday, who was the first to publish on the subject. In honor of Henry, the SI
unit of inductance bears his name. One henry equals the inductance of a circuit with an
induced voltage of one volt and an inducing current that changes one ampere per second.

Henry was born to Scottish immigrants living in Albany, New York, on December 17,
1797. His father was a laborer and his family struggled financially. Henry was only 8
when his father died, and at that time moved to the town of Galway, where his
grandmother helped rear him. After an elementary school education, Henry began an
apprenticeship with a watchmaker. Though eventually he would choose a different
vocation, the apprenticeship provided him with a hands-on education in mechanics and
instrument construction that would later serve him well. When he was 16, Henry read a
book on experimental philosophy that inspired an interest in science. Yet he considered a
stage career before finally entering the Albany Academy in 1819, where his natural
scientific abilities became apparent.

While attending the academy, Henry tutored other students to help make ends meet.
Henry had a knack for explaining and demonstrating scientific concepts, and frequently
during those years helped his own teachers teach. In 1826, Henry officially became a
professor at the academy. He taught mathematics and natural philosophy, and in his hours
outside of the classroom carried out much of his most significant scientific work. At first,
he focused his energies on terrestrial magnetism, which soon led him to broaden his
scope to other types of magnetism.

Henry attended a lecture at which the English scientist William Sturgeon demonstrated a
new type of magnet. It was created by the flow of an electric current and ceased to be
magnetic when the current stopped. Henry decided to experiment with these
electromagnets, and greatly improved the design. He insulated the wire, and tightly coiled
it around the iron core of the electromagnet. By using more wire, he created greater
magnetic field strength. Henry became well known for the powerful electromagnets he
constructed and often demonstrated them before large crowds. An electromagnetic he
built at the behest of Yale College was able to lift more than 2,000 pounds, a very
impressive feat at the time. Later Henry electromagnets were capable of suspending in
excess of 3,500 pounds.

While working with his powerful electromagnets, Henry first observed inductance. This
property of a circuit is observable when a varying magnetic field generates an
electromotive force, or voltage, in that circuit or in a nearby circuit. When two circuits
are involved, the phenomenon is generally referred to as mutual inductance. The
discovery of this type of inductance is usually credited to Faraday, whereas the discovery
of self inductance, which involves a single circuit, is most commonly ascribed to Henry.
Also in the early 1830s, Henry built a simple contraption that was a predecessor of the
modern direct current motor. The contraption was a novelty and did not perform any
useful work, but possessed all the basic components found in later motors, including a
field generated by a magnet, a commutator and an electromagnetic armature. The motion
produced by the device was not rotation, however, but rather a rocking movement that
occurred at about 75 vibrations per minute.

In 1832, Henry left the Albany Academy to accept a professorship at the College of New
Jersey, which later became Princeton University. There he devised an early telegraph that
allowed communication between his laboratory and his home located on campus. He
sometimes used the relay for such mundane purposes as ordering lunch. Henry did not
attempt to commercialize his telegraphing system and, as a result, today Samuel Morse is
more commonly associated with the invention of the telegraph than Henry. Other projects
carried out by Henry at the college included additional work in electromagnetism as well
as the study of sunspots, investigations into acoustics and experimental work in ballistics.

When the United States Congress founded the Smithsonian Institution in 1846, the board
chose Henry, the best-known American scientist alive at the time, to be its first secretary.
In this new capacity, Henry had less time to carry out independent research, a loss he
deeply regretted. Yet, his administrative work at the Smithsonian, which gave him access
to the highest tiers of government, made him extremely influential. Moreover, many of
the procedures and policies Henry established at the Smithsonian remain in place today.
During the Civil War, he served as a technical adviser to President Lincoln; the large
group of volunteers Henry organized to share weather observations from across the
country eventually evolved into the National Weather Service. Henry was also influential
in the establishment of the National Academy of Sciences. The society elected Henry its
second president.

Henry passed away on May 13, 1878, in Washington, D.C. The considerable attendance
at his funeral, which included the U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes, members of the
Supreme Court, renowned scientists and many other illustrious figures, was a testament
to the tremendous impact made by Henry and his work.