亨利·卡文迪许(Henry Cavendish,1730～1810)是近代著名英国科学家。他出生于英国一个显赫的贵族家庭,40岁时继承祖业,成为全英屈指可数的大富翁。但他对金钱毫无兴趣,潜心致力于科学事业。他的科学生涯主要是在家庭私人实验室和图书馆中渡过的。一生从事大量的化学、电学实验。他性格孤僻,深居简出,将毕生的全部时间和精力贡献给了科学事业;他不知疲倦地埋头实验研究工作达50年之久。他研究过空气的组成、确定了水的成份;并在库仑之前发现和测得电荷间的作用力跟距离平方成反比的规律,他还独立提出过电势的概念。此外还在热学、气象学、动力学等方面取得一定的成就。最令人赞叹的是,1798年将近古稀高龄的卡文迪许,以无与伦比的实验技巧,运用构思巧妙的精密“扭秤”测定出地球的平均密度为5.481克/厘米~3(现代公认值为5.517克/厘米~3),并由此推算出万有引力常数是6.754×10~(11)牛顿(米~2/千克~2)(现代公认值为6.668±0.005×10~(12)牛顿(米~2/千 Henry Cavendish (Henry Cavendish, 1730 ~ 1810) is a famous modern British scientist. He was born in a prominent British aristocratic family, 40 years of age inherit the ancestral ancestral, become one of the few British Monopoly. But he was totally uninterested in money and dedicated himself to science. His scientific career is mainly spent in private home laboratories and libraries. Life engaged in a large number of chemical and electrical experiments. He was isolated and secluded, devoted all his life time and energy to science; he tirelessly immersed himself in experimental research for over 50 years. He studied the composition of the air and determined the composition of the water. Before Coulomb’s discovery and measurement, the force between charges was inversely proportional to the square of the distance. He also proposed the concept of overpotential independently. In addition, some achievements have been made in thermal science, meteorology and dynamics. What is most impressive is that in 1798 Calvin Digs, an ancient age, measured the average density of the earth at 5.481 g / cm ~ 3 using modern, sophisticated experimental techniques and sophisticated ingenuity The accepted value is 5.517 g / cm ~ 3), and from this it can be deduced that the gravitational constant is 6.754 × 10-11 Newton (m ~ 2 / kg ~ 2) (modernly accepted value is 6.668 ± 0.005 × 10-12) Newton (m ~ 2/1000