Huxley also developed scientific education in Britain, and fought against the more extreme forms of religion. These activities had a big effect on the way people in Britain and elsewhere thought about the world. Huxley used the term "agnostic" to say that he did not know if there is a god or not. We continue to use the term "agnostic" today. Huxley was for many years a close friend of the Irish physicist John Tyndall. 