Henry Clifton Sorby
Sheffield's Greatest Scientist
by Valerie Clinging
Henry Clifton Sorby was
undoubtedly the greatest
scientist that Sheffield has ever
produced yet his work is not
well known to non-scientists
and few people, even in his own
home town, are aware of the
many scientific achievements of
this great man.
His early life
He was born at Woodbourne,
Attercliffe in 1826 into a wealthy
middle class family. His father
was a tool manufacturer, owner
of the firm of "John Sorby &
Sons" and as an only child Henry
Sorby might have been expected
to go into the family business but
he never did so. Instead at the
age of 15 he decided to become a
scientist and after leaving
Henry Clifton Sorby on board
Sheffield Collegiate School he
his yacht "The Glimpse"
studied at home with a private
(Reproduced by kind permission
tutor. Although his family could
of the University of Sheffield)
easily have afforded to send him
to University there were no
university courses at that time
dealing solely with the sciences and a degree would not have helped him towards a
scientific career. In 1847 when he was 21 his father died and Sorby found himself
with a comfortable private income and no need to earn a living. Instead of enjoying
the fashionable life of a gentleman he immediately established a scientific laboratory
and workshop at his home (Broomfield, Beech Hill Road, Broomhill. The site is now
covered by part of the Royal Hallamshire Hospital.) and devoted the rest of 61 years!
He was still working until a few days before his death in 1908 at the age of 82. This
financial independence was of great importance in his work. Unfettered by the
demands of an employer or by financial constraints he was able to pursue his own
lines of scientific enquiry even when they seemed to be expensive and unproductive
and he was perhaps the last great scientific amateur in an age when science was
becoming the concern of professionals.
His geological work
Sorby's main achievements lay in the field of geology and one of the reasons that he is
not better known is that he worked in specialist areas which are not easy for the
non-scientist to understand. In 1849 he pioneered a new branch of geology
-"Microscopical Petrography" the microscopic examination of very thin sections of
rock. He ground thin slices of rock by hand to an incredible one thousandth of an inch
thickness and then examined them under a microscope in normal and polarised light.
This technique was not invented by Sorby but it was he who appreciated its
significance for geological study and developed it into an accepted branch of the
science. As Sorby himself wrote many years later:
"In those early days people laughed at me. They quoted Saussure who had said that it
was not a proper thing to examine mountains with microscopes, and ridiculed my
action in every way. Most luckily I took no notice of them."
Sorby pointed out to his critics that no one expected astronomers to confine their
observations to what they could see with the naked eye so why should geologists be
so restricted and commented that there is no necessary connection between the size of
an object observed and the value of the facts and conclusions to be derived from it. By
studying rocks in this way Sorby was able to discover a great deal about how they had
been formed and in 1853 he applied these microscopical techniques to the study of a
controversial phenomenon known as "slaty cleavage" (the fact that slates will form
cleavage lines in directions unrelated to the way in which they were originally
deposited). Many geologists had studied this problem and several explanations had
been put forward but it was Sorby who finally proved conclusively that it was due to
mechanical pressure. He was incidentally told at an early stage in his work by the
Director-General of the Geological Survey that he had no business to study the
subject as it had already been settled, fortunately Sorby again took no notice,
continued with his research and proved the Director-General was wrong! In 1857,
aged only 31 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of this work
on slaty cleavage.
From Geology to Metallurgy
Sorby was always a scientific pioneer. Once he had solved a problem to his own
satisfaction he would move on to another one and leave others to consolidate the
fields of study that he had opened up. From his microscopical study of rocks he
became interested in the minute fluid cavities in mineral crystals and how these could
be used to show the ways in which the rocks themselves had been formed millions of
years ago. This led him to study meteorites and meteoric iron and then to the
microscopical examination of modern manufactured iron and steel, a very appropriate
study in Sheffield. In 1863 he again pioneered a new field of study, that of
"Microscopic Metallurgy" which is now an accepted part of modern metallurgy.
Towards the end of his life Sorby commented with justifiable satisfaction:
"In those early days, if railway accident had occurred and I had suggested that the
company should take up a rail and have it examined with the microscope, I should
have been looked upon as a fit man to send to an asylum. But that is what is now
being done..."
Further microscopical work
His microscopical work in metallurgy led Sorby to invent a spectrum microscope with
a new arrangement to get what is calls "direct vision" and this work pioneered yet
another new branch of scientific study, "Microspectroscopy". By this technique he
discovered a means for detecting minute traces of blood, even if invisible to the naked
eye, which had obvious implications for forensic science. He also applied his
spectrum microscope to almost every branch of scientific enquiry in which colour
plays a part, studying the pigment of leaves, fungi, birds' eggs, hair wood, the sky,
insects, plants, algae and semi precious stones. He published the results of his
researches and was always willing to demonstrate the use of his microscope to those
who were interested. Among these was John Ruskin who was a friend of Sorby for
many years and wrote lyrically of the beauties to be seen through a spectrum
microscope. Sorby also thought that he had discovered a new element, which he
named Jargonium, by spectrum analysis, but after further work on the subject he
realised, much to his disappointment, that he had been mistaken.
Marine biology and other interests
In 1878 Sorby bought himself a yacht. "The Glimpse", perhaps to occupy himself
with a new interest after the death of his mother to whom he was devoted. Needless to
say this was not intended to be used for pleasure cruises. It is typical of Sorby that
before purchasing the yacht he made a detailed study of methods of boat construction
and rigging and even lectured on the subject. "The Glimpse" was a large yacht with a
crew of five, it was equipped as a floating laboratory and for the next 20 years he
cruised up and down the east coast of England every summer studying geology,
botany, meteorology, archaeology and above all marine biology. He developed his
own special techniques for mounting actual specimens of marine animals and plants
directly on to lantern slides so that they could be projected on to a screen without
distortion. Many of these slides still exist in Sheffield City Museum and are still in
excellent condition. He also studied living organisms in the Thames estuary and
collected and examined water samples in connection with the Royal Commission on
the Drainage of London. He also studied architecture, archaeology, old churches,
mediaeval art, Egyptian hieroglyphics, illuminated manuscripts, and, for relaxation,
painted in water-colours.
National Recognition
During his lifetime Sorby received national and international recognition of his work
although he never sought honours and regarded the pleasure of following his original
research as its own reward. Amongst many awards he received three gold medals, the
Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society in 1869, the Gold Medal of the Dutch
Society of Sciences in 1872 and the Gold Medal of the Royal Society in 1874. He was
also made an honorary Doctor of Laws at Cambridge University, He was president at
various times of the Royal Microscopical Society, the Mineralogical Society, the
Geological Society and the geological branch of the British Association, and there can
be few scientists who have achieved so many distinctions in such a wide variety of
subjects.
Sorby and Sheffield
Sorby never married and lived his whole life in Sheffield despite being urged many
times to move to London where he would have been in touch with the latest scientific
developments. He joined the Sheffield Literary and Philosophical Society at the age
of 20 and remained an active member for the next 60 years. He was elected President
seven times and read many papers to the Society, often presenting his original
research to the "Lit. & Phil." before publishing it in a national scientific journal. He
also organised regular "conversaziones:, a mixture of social and scientific events
combining music, conversation and refreshments with scientific displays, short
lectures, and demonstrations of microscopic techniques and other interesting scientific
equipment. He was also the first president of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, a
federation of natural history societies within the county, and in 1879 he was largely
responsible for bringing a meeting of the British Association to Sheffield. He was
very active, with Mark Firth, in the development of higher education in Sheffield,
became the President of Firth College in 1882 after Mark Firth's death and worked
hard for the establishment of a University in the City. This was eventually founded in
1905 and in his will Sorby left a very considerable sum to the University to endow a
professorship in geology. He also endowed a fellowship to promote original research,
such as he had devoted his whole life to studying. He died in 1908 at the age of 82
and was buried in Ecclesall churchyard.
Bibliography
This brief bibliography is by no means complete and is intended merely as a brief
introduction to the subject in response to several requests by visitors to this Web site!
DENNY, A., 1929. Resume of the biological works of Dr. H. C. Sorby, F.R.S.
Proceedings of the Sorby Scientific Society, Sheffield. Vol. 1, p.1-4.
EDYVEAN, R. G. J., 1988. Henry Clifton Sorby (1826-1908): studies in marine
biology - the algal lantern slides. Archives of Natural History 1988, Vol. 15 part 1,
p.35-44.
EDYVEAN, R. G. J. and HAMMOND, C., 1997. The metallurgical work of Henry
Clifton Sorby and an annotated catalogue of his extant metallurgical samples.
Historical Metallurgy. Vol. 31 No. 2, p.54-85.
ENTWISTLE, A. R., 1963. An account of the exhibits relating to Henry Clifton Sorby,
shown at the Sorby centenary in Sheffield, 1963. Metallography, p.313-326.
HAMMOND, C., 1989. The contribution of Henry Clifton Sorby to the study of
reflected light microscopy of iron and steel. Historical Metallurgy. Vol. 23 No. 1,
p.1-8.
HARDWICK, D. and WILLIAMS, W. M., 1980. The birth of metallography - The
work of Henry Clifton Sorby (1826 - 1908). Bulletin of the Canadian Institute of
Mining and Metallurgy. Vol. 73 No. 813, p.143-144.
HIGHAM, Norman, 1963. A very scientific gentleman: the major achievements of
Henry Clifton Sorby. Oxford: Pergamon.
(This is an excellent general biography covering all aspects of his work but now out
of print.)
JUDD, H. W., 1908. Henry Clifton Sorby and the birth of microscopical petrology.
Geological Magazine. decade 5 V, p.193.
SHEPPARD, T., 1906. Prominent Yorkshire workers. 1 - Henry Clifton Sorby. The
Naturalist, May 1906, p.137-230.
(This lists 250 of Sorby's published papers on a wide variety of subjects.)
SORBY, Henry Clifton, 1897. Fifty years of scientific research. An address delivered
before the members of the Sheffield Literary and Philosophical Society, at Firth
College, on Tuesday February 2nd, 1897, by the President, H. C. Sorby LLD. FRCS
&c. Sheffield, (Independent Press,) 1897.
(This paper also appeared in the Annual Report of the Society for 1898. This short
paper is the only published autobiographical account of Sorby's work and gives a brief
and modest summary of his achievements.)
born May 10, 1826, Woodbourne, near Sheffield, Yorkshire, Eng.
died March 9, 1908, Sheffield