Michael Reidy and Dennis Dueñas spoke about their investigations into the life and research of John Tyndall, a neglected mountaineer and scientist, to students and community members gathered at the Hager Auditorium of the Museum of the Rockies last evening.

Their presentation “How Mountaineering Changed Science,” was sponsored by the Department of History, Philosophy and Religious Studies, and was intended to rectify Tyndall’s 21st century accidental anonymity.  

Inspired by Tyndall’s role in the scientific community and his identity as a mountaineering scientist, Michael Reidy, an associate professor of history, philosophy and religious studies, made the decision to travel to the Swiss Alps and follow Tyndall’s path.  

Beginning in the late 1850s, Tyndall, who Reidy refers to as the “flag carrier of science,” published information on how carbon dioxide’s presence in the atmosphere would change the planet’s climate.  In 1861, he climbed Weissenhorn in the Alps, and later spent 20 hours at the summit of Mont Blanc collecting environmental data.  

Because his wife never published his correspondence and research after his death, Tyndall became a forgotten name.  However, MSU is one of 12 universities involved with the Tyndall Correspondence Project, an effort to gather, transcribe and publish Tyndall’s letters.    
 
Often embodying the role of J.J. Bennen, Tyndall’s guide, Dennis Dueñas, a photographer and alpaca farmer, joined Reidy on a trek to follow Tyndall’s journey up Weissenhorn.  “We wanted to really experience what Tyndall had to go through,” said Dueñas.  “We were always thinking of [him].”

Through Adventurers and Scientists, a Bozeman-based program that matches climbers with scientists who are doing research, Reidy and Dueñas were able to complete Tyndall’s climb of Weissenhorn while doing scientific research much like he would have done.    

“He really did mix his mountaineering and science,” said Reidy.  “The history of mountaineering is infused with culture.”