Joseph Henry

Henry, Joseph 

Born Dec. 17, 1797, in Albany, N. Y.; died May 13, 1878, in Washington, D. C. American physicist.

In 1832, Henry was appointed a professor at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). From 1846 he served as secretary and director of the Smithsonian Institution. In 1868 he was appointed president of the National Academy of Sciences, and in 1871 he became the first president of the Philosophical Society of Washington. His principal works were devoted to electrical engineering. In 1828, Henry built the first high-powered electromagnets using multilayered coils of insulated wire. He discovered the phenomenon of self-induction (1832) and the oscillatory character of the capacitor discharge (1842). The unit of inductance in the International System of Units—the henry—has been named after him. Henry also wrote works in meteorology.

WORKS

Scientific Writings, vols. 1-2, Washington, 1886.

REFERENCE

Lebedev, V. I. “Izobretenie Dzhozefa Genri.” Vestnik sviazi, 1946, no. 8.