Henry Eyring - The Faith of a Scientist

T O KEEP THE FAITH AND YET MOVE FORWARD IN THE field of science is not irreconcilable, but it has proved difficult for some people. In Dr. Henry Eyring we find the desirable combination of a great scientist, for he was selected by readers of Chemical Bulletin, a professional publication of the American Chemical Society, as one of the ten leading authorities in the field of physical chemistryand a stalwart believer in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As he states:

For me there has been no serious difficulty in reconciling the principles of true science with the principles of true religion, for both are concerned with the eternal verities of the universe.

Probably it would be well to delve into the background of the man whose brilliance has placed him and, through his loyalty to it, the Church of which he is an active member, in such high esteem that one of his colleagues at Princeton University said on the occasion of Dr. Eyrings farewell dinner (in an oblique reference to Gospel discussion between the two):

I have defended Mormonism among a community of Jesuits and pride myself on the issue, though, of course, I had the great advantage that came from earlier argument about it and about.

Born in Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, on February 20, 1901, Dr. Eyring went through the difficulties of the exodus when he was eleven years of age, at the time when so many of the Saints were driven from their homes. With his parents, Edward Christian and Caroline Romney Eyring, and their family, which includes Camilla Eyring, wife of Spencer W. Kimball of the Council of the Twelve, he settled in Pima, Arizona. The Eyring family has always been unusually active in the educational field, and Henry was no exception. He obtained a B.S. degree in Mining Engineering in 1923, and an M.S. in Metallurgical Engineering in 1924, both from the University of Arizona. The following year he was instructor in chemistry at the same university. In 1925 he enrolled in the University of California at Berkeley, from which institution he received his PhD in chemistry in 1927.

From here he went directly to the University of Wisconsin, where he was instructor of chemistry the first year and a research associate from 1928-29. Here, interestingly enough, the current of his life was enriched through his meeting of Mildred Bennion of Granger, Utah, who had obtained a years leave of absence from the University of Utahwhere she was assistant professor in health and physical educationin order to do further study in her chosen field. She, too, knew the value of education, for she had lost her father when she was seventeen and had diligently worked to equip herself as a teacher. Her years leave of absence from the University of Utah was extended permanently when she met Henry Eyring, for they were married in Chicago, August 25, 1928, going through the Salt Lake Temple, December 21, 1928. The following year they went to Europe on their belated working honeymoon, while Dr. Eyring attended the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin as a National Research Fellow (1929-30).