So you know ice age! Good boy! But do you know who postulated how or why they happen?
Well it is an interesting story as told in the novel A Short History of Nearly everything by Bill Bryson!
His name was CROLL! But is not the insteresting part!
The concept of an “ice age” had been previously proposed in 1837 by Swiss scientist Louis Agassiz. However, the real scientific breakthrough regarding what drives these massive climate shifts came from Croll in 1864!
His Working-Class Beginnings: Born in Scotland in 1821, Croll had almost no formal education. He spent his early adulthood working as a wheelwright, a tea merchant, and an innkeeper—failing at almost all of them due to poverty and health issues!
1859, he took a job at the Andersonian College and Museum in Glasgow. He chose this specific job because it granted him off-hours access to the university’s vast library.
So while cleaning the campus, he used his spare time to teach himself advanced physics, astronomy, and geology!
In 1864, Croll published a revolutionary paper in the Philosophical Magazine. He theorized that variations in the shape of Earth’s orbit (eccentricity) change the amount of winter sunlight the planet receives.
This triggers a cooling feedback loop—as more snow accumulates, the Earth reflects more sunlight back into space, driving the planet into an ice age!
Croll’s work was so impressive that it caught the attention of legendary scientists like Charles Darwin and Charles Lyell. He was eventually hired by the Geological Survey of Scotland and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1876!
So the thought in everyones mind is that what was his job which was so interesting!
Well when he wrote the revolutionary article, he was working as a JANITOR!
Of course all profesions and jobs are important and equal but then let your profession not stop you from making legendary and revolutionary theories!
Another legend also is Captain Smit Machchhar! His selfles act of bravery will be told for many years!
Proud of you sir ji!
God bless…
