Meet The Shy Scientist You Never Knew About

Many Scientists are known for their great works, achievements and discoveries. We all know Isaac Newton to be a very popular and good scientist but this post unveils another scientist greater than him. He is Known as Henry Cavendish.

Henry Cavendish was a British Scientist and is noted for his numerous contributions to the world of Chemistry and Physics.

He was born on 10th October 1731 into the family of Lord Charles Cavendish. Who was also into the science world although not too popular. . His father joined a club named Royal Society Club of London. Lord Cavendish always took his son to their club meetings and they discussed about latest scientific discoveries. Henry was of a shy nature but was active in the council of the Royal Society

Let's see few things he discovered

It was in the year 1766 that Henry Cavendish published an article which brought him to limelight in a newspaper. The headline was -'Factitious Air'

In his article, he described an inflammable air which forms a solvent (water) on combustion.

Antoine Lavoisier however reproduced Cavendish experiment and gave the element it's name, hydrogen.

Earlier before Cavendish's discovery of the inflammable air (hydrogen), some scientists had worked on it but he is noted for the discovery of hydrogen because he was the first to find out about it's elemental nature.

He went further to explain that when certain acids react with a metal, then the inflammable air is produced. Which is what we know today as Hydrogen Gas.

He also discovered that air exhaled by mammals is converted to 'fixed air'(Carbon-di-oxide) and was subsequently awarded with the Royal Society Copley Award.

Henry Cavendish further published an article related to eudiometry, and another concerning the production of water, which is formed by burning Hydrogen in Oxygen which makes water to be formed and condensed from the air. Sadly, he did not publish this because he was shy than Another Scientist James Watt however, published about the composition and formation of water.

It was also Henry Cavendish that gave the correct value for the gravitational constant (G).

The shy Henry Cavendish liked to dress in an old fashioned suit.
He was so shy that he had a back staircase added to his house in order to avoid seeing his housekeeper who was a lady.

He missed club meeting intentionally because of his shy behavior and often times refused to publish his work or even share his discoveries with fellow scientists.

James Clerk Maxwell, in the late nineteenth century found the shy scientist Henry Cavendish's papers which clearly showed that Henry has made a lot of discoveries which other scientists had received credit for.

These Included:

Ohms Law

Law of Partial Pressure

Charles Law

Law of reciprocating Proportions

Principle of Electrical Conductivity

Cavendish's discovered paper works has given other scientists enough details to help them on the road to modern ideas. None of his discoveries have been rejected, and for this reason he is still, in a unique way, part of modern life.

Henry Cavendish the shy scientist died on 24th February 1810 at the age of 78 as one of the wealthiest men in Britain but was never married still because of his shyness. The Road he used to live on in derby was named after him also, The University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory was endowed by one of his relatives, William Cavendish, who was the Chancellor of the Cambridge University from 1861 to 1891.

Conclusion

If only the shy scientist, Henry Cavendish had published his works, he would have been known for achieving many things even more than the Popular Sir Isaac Newton and other scientists. Unfortunately, he didn't.