Survey Says

George had five other siblings, two younger and three older, and his father was an upstanding member of the community, serving as the local Justice of the Peace. George started his professional life as a cadet with the East India Company in eighteen oh six, and after graduating from the Royal Military College in Marlow, he was sent to India itself,

but we're not exactly sure why. We do know that he was made a second lieutenant with the Bengal Army and that he was quite gifted in astronomy and mathematics. But around eighteen fourteen, George's work begins to come into focus more. That year, while on Secundament in Java, off the coast of Indonesia, he was given the job of surveying the entire island. This led to more survey work in India as he mapped a four hundred mile line

between Calcutta and Banaras. Eventually, George's dedication and work ethic was noticed by a man named William Lambton, who had been heading up a project called the Great Trigonometrical Survey or the GTS. The GTS was a plan to map the entirety of India with a kind of detail and precision that had never been done before, the kind of precision George had come to be known for. Lambton had started the survey in eighteen oh two in Madras, but it really kicked into gear once he brought George on

board as his chief assistant. You see, George was assessed with accuracy. He didn't just survey the land. He took matters into his own hands to verify all the readings were as true as possible. He modified the equipment, he tweaked the calculations, and he made every effort to reduce errors brought on by weather and changes in the landscape. Then, in eighteen twenty three, Colonel William Lambton died, leaving George

in charge of the GTS project going forward. He made it his mission to survey a meridian arc or longitudal line that his predecessor had been working on. Unfortunately, George fell seriously ill, suffering from a fever and rheumatism, which partially paralyzed him and prevented him from continuing his work. He returned to England in eighteen twenty five and rested for the next five years, during which time he pestered

the East India Company for more advanced equipment. He returned to the project in eighteen thirty, at which point he was made Surveyor General of India. He then appointed a second in command named Andrews Scott Waugh, an officer in the British Army. Wild led the survey team over the next eleven years to complete the map of the meridian arc from Cape Comorin in the south tip of India all the way to the Himalayas, a distance of about

fifteen hundred miles. George didn't do much field work during this time as the Surveyor General, his days were spent behind a desk. He wound up resigning from his position one year later in November of eighteen forty two, but George continued on writing about his work in India and earning awards from the Royal Astronomical Society. He passed away at his home in eighteen sixty six, when he was

seventy six years old. Now, George had done a lot during his time, but his legacy would not be the Meridian arc that he had helped map, nor would it be his awards from the various societies of which he was a member. Instead, his greatest honor came one year before his death, in eighteen sixty five. You see, a decade earlier, his successor, Andrew Waw had noted a mountain in the Himalayas. His heights had been calculated previously by

an Indian mathematician named Radhanat Sikdar. In eighteen fifty two. Wow took this information and wrote a letter to the Royal Geographical Society back in England, claiming that this was in fact the tallest mountain in the world. It had originally been named Peak B, but Wow had a better name in mind, one that would honor the man who had given him the job of a lifetime mapping India.

Back in eighteen thirty. The name for the peak was debated for years, with different academic and scholarly groups vying for the right to christen the mountain with an appropriate moniker, but in the end Wow won out, so in eighteen sixty five, Peak B was given the name it would be known by forever onward. It was named after George George Everest, although his last name got butchered over time, which is why we know it today as Mount Everest.

He was as enigmatic as he was brilliant. He is remembered as a first rate oddity, an eccentric genius whose contributions to electromagnetism shaped how we understand the world today. From an early age, he showed a remarkable aptitude for mathematics and a deep curiosity about the natural world. He was not an ordinary child by any means, often spending hours engrossed in books and scientific experiments. Considered a loner, he preferred the company of his thoughts and ideas over

that of his peers. As he grew older, his passions for mathematics intensified. He delved into the works of great thinkers like James Clerk Maxwell, whose theories on electromagnetism captivated his imagination. Inspired by Maxwell's ideas, he embarked on a journey to revolutionize the field of electromagnetism and solve the complex problems that plague scientists of his time. It could be said that his mind was a whirlwind of ideas

and innovations. He invented many mathematical techniques that are still widely used to date, such as an operational calculus and a step function that allowed scientists and engineers to tackle complex electromagnetic problems with greater ease and precision. It's like having a super toolkit for solving complex equations in mathematics. If you're wondering who we're talking about, no, it's not

Tony Stark. Although our historical superhero was a trailblazer, paving the way for future breakthroughs in the field, but our inventor's brilliance came with a price. He was a prickly character, known for his cantankerous nature and his disdain for the conventional. He had little patience for social norms and niceties, often

alienating those around him. Despite his graphic sterior, however, he remained deeply dedicated to his work He spent countless hours immersed in his studies, rarely leaving his house and sometimes forgetting to eat or sleep. Legend has it that he would work late into the night, with his room illuminated only by flickering candlelights as he pushed on toward morning. His desk was piled high with books written by some of the world's most prestigious experts in their given fields.

Papers with wildly scribbled notes and equations littered his desk. I guess you could say that he was a true embodiment of the saying mad scientist. But mad or not, his contributions to electromagnetism were monumental. He developed a new form of vector notation, which simplified the mathematical description of

electromagnetic fields. He also proposed the existence of a layer in the Earth's atmosphere known as the ionosphere, which plays a crucial role in the long distance communication used by radios. And speaking of communications, his work was groundbreaking when it came to the telephone. If you're still guessing who our inventor is, no, it's not Alexander Grahambell or even Thomas Edison. For about nine years he worked on electric charges, velocity

and elements of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. So if you were thinking of that great inventor, sorry, and although I half mentioned radio waves, no it is not Marconi either. No, our little known inventor's work was met with both admiration and skepticism from the scientific community. Some hailed him as a visionary, while others dismissed him as an eccentric with unconventional ideas. But our visionary soldiered on, undeterred by the

opinions of others. He knew his ideas were groundbreaking and would eventually be recognized for their true worth. We've all heard of the genius of Nikola Tesla and Isaac Newton, oddly given our inventors breakthroughs, though his name doesn't appear among them. In fact, our inventor never stepped inside a college. You see, he grew up poor and couldn't afford a higher education. He was self taught as a mathematician and

also as a physicist and electrical engineer. His achievements rivaled those who studied at Harvard, Oxford or other prestigious universees. The man I have been describing to you, the enigmatic genius who defied societal norms and transformed our understanding of electromagnetism. Is British born Oliver Heavyside, one of the world's most prolific and lesser known inventors whose works will go on to infinity and beyond. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided

tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with How Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can learn all about it over at the Worldolore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.