Tyndall

Tyndall is a surname of Irish origin. It is associated with several notable figures, most prominently John Tyndall (1820–1893), a 19th‑century physicist whose experiments on light and heat laid groundwork for molecular physics.

John Tyndall is best known for his work on the scattering of light by particles in suspensions, which gave rise to the phenomenon known as the Tyndall effect. This effect explains why dispersed colloidal particles in a mixture scatter sunlight, making the path of the beam visible.

The Tyndall effect is used to distinguish true solutions from colloids: in a true solution, light passes through with minimal scattering, whereas in a colloidal suspension, the dispersed particles scatter light and render the beam visible.

The Tyndall National Institute in Cork, Ireland, named in his honor, is a major research center focused on photonics and nanoelectronics, closely associated with University College Cork and other national scientific initiatives.

The name Tyndall also appears in geography and institutions. There are places named Tyndall in the United States, including the town of Tyndall, South Dakota, as well as the Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida.