Letter to George F. Fitzgerald from Albert Griffiths
Title
Letter to George F. Fitzgerald from Albert Griffiths
Creator
Date
Identifier
GFF 9/61
Description
Handwritten letter from Albert Griffith to George F. Fitzgerald, dated 14th December 1898. Griffith is responding to criticism or commentary on his scientific paper "Diffusive Convection".
Transcription:
"Dear Sir,
Having heard your kind remarks on my paper "Diffusive Convection" referred to as criticism, it is perhaps a duty I owe myself to state that, before reading my paper to the Physical Society, I had considered nearly everything you mention in your article "Diffusion in Relation to Work" which appeared in Nature, Nov - . I knew my remarks applied to gases. I had mentally devised machines depending on the ascent of the diffusing substance. I was cognizant of the importance of the rise of the centre of gravity; but was unable to apply that to my apparatus because the rise is the same whether work is done or not.
Some time before last Christmas, probably in the summer of 1897, but perhaps as early as 1896, I worked out an equation giving the relationship between the fall of temperature, and the height of the cylinder along which diffusion occurs.
Last night in searching through some papers I accidentally came across my original notes; and I find that I considered diffusion upwards, diffusion (combined with [m?] ) with horizontal displacement of the centre of gravity, and [m?] when the centre of gravity falls.
It may be mentioned that diffusion could be applied to the constitution of a machine, analogous to Lippmann's electro-motor, by awaiting's ones self of the fact that certain salts apparently travel with the current.
In conclusion I may say that personally I was very pleased to see your article. The casual reader is liable to obtain a unong impression of my missions and deficiencies; but life would be very slow and "wouldn't be worth living", if one had to be careful and guarded in every little matter.
With thanks for your notice,
I am,
Yours very truly,
Albert Griffiths"
Transcription:
"Dear Sir,
Having heard your kind remarks on my paper "Diffusive Convection" referred to as criticism, it is perhaps a duty I owe myself to state that, before reading my paper to the Physical Society, I had considered nearly everything you mention in your article "Diffusion in Relation to Work" which appeared in Nature, Nov - . I knew my remarks applied to gases. I had mentally devised machines depending on the ascent of the diffusing substance. I was cognizant of the importance of the rise of the centre of gravity; but was unable to apply that to my apparatus because the rise is the same whether work is done or not.
Some time before last Christmas, probably in the summer of 1897, but perhaps as early as 1896, I worked out an equation giving the relationship between the fall of temperature, and the height of the cylinder along which diffusion occurs.
Last night in searching through some papers I accidentally came across my original notes; and I find that I considered diffusion upwards, diffusion (combined with [m?] ) with horizontal displacement of the centre of gravity, and [m?] when the centre of gravity falls.
It may be mentioned that diffusion could be applied to the constitution of a machine, analogous to Lippmann's electro-motor, by awaiting's ones self of the fact that certain salts apparently travel with the current.
In conclusion I may say that personally I was very pleased to see your article. The casual reader is liable to obtain a unong impression of my missions and deficiencies; but life would be very slow and "wouldn't be worth living", if one had to be careful and guarded in every little matter.
With thanks for your notice,
I am,
Yours very truly,
Albert Griffiths"
Source
RDS Library & Archives GFF collection of letters
Rights
Copyright RDS Library & Archives. Publication, transmission or display is prohibited without formal written approval of the RDS Library & Archives.
Relation
RDS Science Archive
Format
Manuscript
Language
English
Type
Coverage
1870-1901
Collection
Citation
Griffiths, Albert. 1867-1937, “Letter to George F. Fitzgerald from Albert Griffiths,” RDS Digital Archive, accessed December 5, 2025, https://digitalarchive.rds.ie/items/show/2377.