The Resume

(December 17, 1797-May 13, 1878)
Born in Albany, New York
Chair of Natural History at Princeton (1832-46)
First Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (1846-78)
President of the National Academy of Sciences (1868-79)
Discovered electromagnetic self-inductance
Discovered mutual inductance independently of Michael Faraday
Invented the electromagnetic relay

Why he might be annoying:

During classroom demonstrations at Princeton, he and his students would deliver electric shocks to Sam Parker, his black research assistant.
When a series of lectures by prominent abolitionist was scheduled at the Smithsonian, he refused to let Frederick Douglass be the final speaker, stating, ‘I would not let the lecture of a coloured man be given in the rooms of the Smithsonian.’
He was not credited for several discoveries due to his slowness in publishing.

Why he might not be annoying:

While a student at the Albany Academy, he would assist the instructors in teaching science.
He designed an electromagnet that set a new record by lifting more than a ton.
His invention of the electromagnetic relay made the telegraph practical.
He provided further support to Samuel F.B. Morse’s development of the telegraph by writing to Congress, encouraging them to finance a 5-mile test line (1842).
At the Smithsonian, he recruited a group of volunteer weather observers, which led to the creation of the U.S. Weather Bureau.
His name was given to the standard unit of inductance, the henry (1893).

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 19th Century Scientists
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 80]
• Hall of Fame for Great Americans (Ranked: 1915)
• Inventors
• Look at Me, My Picture Is Art
• My Name Became a Unit of Measurement
• Profiles 51056-51250 (Ranked: 51077)
• Scientists

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying