Physicist

Beginnings.

Joseph Henry was born in Albany, New York, to William and Ann Alexander Henry. His father, a day laborer, died young. When he was seven his impoverished mother sent him to live with her stepmother in Galway, New York. He attended district school and at age ten began to work in a local general store. His biographer maintained that Henry showed little evidence of intellectual greatness as a boy. He did, however, develop a taste for reading when he discovered the village library. His love for science was sparked by a chance encounter at age sixteen with a book on experimental philosophy, astronomy, and chemistry. After reading that book Henry determined to go to college and pursue the study of science. Soon thereafter he returned to Albany. His indifferent education had not prepared him for college, so he worked by day and attended...