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Mountaineering is science. Calculating slope, understanding makeup of base rock and knowing and understanding weather patterns all are required for dedicated mountaineers.

A lecture being held on the Montana State University campus on Wednesday takes that link a step further. How Mountaineering Changed Science is a research effort by Michael Reidy, an historian from MSU and photographer Dennis Duenas. The two made a climb during the summer to celebrate the 150th anniversary of a climb by Irish physicist John Tyndall.

Tyndall is credited with discovering natural greenhouse effect, and was a pioneer in mountaineering the Swiss Alps. His legacy is largely forgotten. Reidy's research discovered that Tyndall died by accidental poisoning from her. Reidy says in her grief, she demanded all of her husband's writings so she could assemble a book. That never happened, and John Tyndall was lost to history.

Reidy and Duenas are holding a slide show and lecture at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman Wednesday at 6 p.m. It is free and open to the public.