The Forms of Water in Clouds and Rivers, Ice, and Glaciers

John Tyndall (1820-93) was an Irish physicist who became fascinated by mountaineering after a scientific expedition to Switzerland in 1856. He traversed the summit of the Matterhorn in 1868 and climbed Mount Blanc three times. Alongside this love of mountains was a scientific interest in glaciers and ice formations. Tyndall was also well-regarded for his ability to communicate with the public about science. Many of his books, such as this one, published in 1872 as part of the International Scientific Series, are aimed at the general reader. Tyndall uses this work to explain many aspects of water, beginning with cloud formation and rain before moving on to ice, snow and glaciers. He also discusses the principles behind phenomena ranging from tropical rains to glacial movement. Illustrated and organised into 493 different points under themed headings, this book gives clear explanations of the complexity of the earth's water system.1, 2. Clouds, rains, and rivers; 3. The waves of light; 4. The waves of heat which produce the vapour of our atmosphere and melt our glaciers; 5. Experiments to prove the foregoing statements; 6. Oceanic distillation; 7. Tropical rains; 8. Mountain condensers; 9. Architecture of snow; 10. Atomic poles; 11. Architecture of lake ice; 12. The source of the Aveiron; 13. The Mer de Glace and its sources; 14. Ice-cascade and snows of the Col du Geant; 15. Questioning the glaciers; 16. Branches and medial moraines of the Mer de Glace from the cleft station; 17. The Talefre and the Jardin; 18. First questions regarding glacier motion; 19. The motion of glaciers; 20. Precise measurements of Agassiz and Forbes; 21. The theodolite and its use; 22. Motion of the Mer de Glace; 23. Unequal motion of the two sides of the Mer de Glace; 24. Suggestion of a new likeness of glacier motion to river motion; 25. New law of glacier motion; 26. Motion of axis of Mer de Glace; 27. Motion of tributary glaciers; 28. Motion of top and bottom of glacier; 29. Lateral compression of a glacier; 30. Longitudinal compression of a glacier; 31. Sliding and flowing; 32. Winter on the Mer de Glace; 33. Winter motion of the Mer de Glace; 34. Motion of the Grindelwald and Aletsch Glacier; 35. Motion of Morteratsch Glacier; 36. Birth of a crevasse; 37. Icicles; 38. The Bergschrund; 39. Transverse crevasses; 40. Marginal crevasses; 41. Longitudinal crevasses; 42. Crevasses in relation to curvature of glacier; 43. Moraine-ridges, glacier tables, and sand cones; 44. The glacier mills or moulins; 45. The changes of volume of water by heat and cold; 46. Consequences flowing from the foregoing properties of water, correction of errors; 47. The molecular mechanism of water-congelation; 48. The dirt bands of the Mer de Glace; 49. Sea-ice and icebergs; 50. The Aeggischhorn, the Margelin See and its icebergs; 51. The Bel Alp; 52. The Riffelberg and Gorner Glacier; 53. Ancient glaciers of Switzerland; 54. Erratic blocks; 55. Ancient glaciers of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales; 56. The glacier epoch; 57. Glacial theories; 58. Dilatation and sliding theories; 59. Plastic theory; 60. Viscous theory; 61. Regelation theory; 62. Cause of regelation; 63. Faraday's view of regelation; 64. The blue veins of glaciers; 65. Relation of structure to pressure; 66. Slate cleavage and glacier lamination; 67. Conclusion.