Joseph Henry
1797 – 1878
Discovered self-induction; the henry is his.
An American physicist and the first Secretary of the Smithsonian, Henry discovered electromagnetic self-induction in 1832, independently of Faraday. The unit of inductance is named for him.
The inductor tools here measure in henries. He built powerful electromagnets and laid groundwork for the telegraph, then declined to patent his discoveries.
Portrait: a stylized blueprint-line rendering, not a photograph.
Contributions in the toolbox
- 1832
Self-induction discovered (the henry remembers him).
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