Steven Holt: “As a representative of Central New Jersey, including Princeton University, and as a physicist, I could not let this…”

“As a representative of Central New Jersey, including Princeton University, and as a physicist, I could not let this opportunity go by to speak of one of the great Americans. New York likes to claim Joseph Henry. Washington, D.C., likes to claim Joseph Henry. In New Jersey, we really have a soft spot for someone who did much of his scientific research at what was then called the College of New Jersey, Princeton University. Outside of the Princeton Physics Building there are really two statues now; on one side, Joseph Henry; on the other side, Benjamin Franklin. Joseph Henry is a remarkable American story, a self-made scientist, a country boy who made good. He was self-taught. When he was appointed to a professorship at Princeton, he asked whether they knew that he had had no formal education. But they were happy to have him because of his careful mind, and, most important, his careful experimental work. That is what I want to say a word about. He is known for his work with induction.”