George Darwin

Sir George Howard Darwin

Sir George Howard Darwin
Born George Howard Darwin
(1845-07-09)9 July 1845
Down House, Downe, Kent, England
Died 7 December 1912(1912-12-07) (aged 67)
Cambridge, England
Nationality British
Fields Astronomy and mathematics
Alma mater St John's College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Academic advisors Edward John Routh
Notable students Ernest William Brown
E. T. Whittaker
Notable awards Smith's Prize (1868)
Royal Medal (1884)
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1892)
Copley Medal (1911)

Signature

Sir George Howard Darwin KCB FRS FRSE (9 July 1845 – 7 December 1912)[1] was an English barrister and astronomer.

Biography

Sir George Howard Darwin, oil on canvas, Mark Gertler, 1912
George Darwin ca 1908 by his daughter Gwen Raverat
Lady George Darwin, pastel, Cecilia Beaux, 1889

George Darwin was born at Down House, Kent, the second son and fifth child of Charles Darwin and Emma Darwin.

From the age of 11 he studied under Charles Pritchard at Clapham Grammar School, and entered St John's College, Cambridge, in 1863, though he soon moved to Trinity College,[2] where his tutor was Edward John Routh. He graduated as second wrangler in 1868, when he was also placed second for the Smith's Prize and was appointed to a college fellowship. He earned his M.A. in 1871.[2] He was admitted to the bar in 1872, but returned to science.[2] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in June 1879 and won their Royal Medal in 1884 and their Copley Medal in 1911.[3] He delivered their Bakerian Lecture in 1891 on the subject of "tidal prediction".

In 1883 Darwin became Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. He studied tidal forces involving the Sun, Moon, and Earth, and formulated the fission theory of Moon formation.[4]

Darwin was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) and won the Gold Medal of the RAS in 1892. From 1899–1901 he served as President of the RAS. The RAS founded a prize lectureship in 1984 and named it the George Darwin Lectureship in Darwin's honour.

He was an invited speaker in the International Congress of Mathematicians 1908, Rome on the topic of "Mechanics, Physical Mathematics, Astronomy."[5] As President of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, he also gave the Introductory Address to the Congress in 1912 on the character of pure and applied mathematics.[6]

George and Maud Darwin bought Newnham Grange, Cambridge in 1885. The Darwins extensively remodelled the house. Since 1962 the Grange has been part of Darwin College, Cambridge.

He is buried in Trumpington Extension Cemetery in Cambridge with his son Leonard and his daughter Gwen (Raverat), his wife Lady Maud Darwin was cremated at Cambridge Crematorium; his brothers Sir Francis Darwin and Sir Horace Darwin and their respective wives are interred in the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground.

Family

Darwin married Martha (Maud) du Puy, the daughter of Charles du Puy of Philadelphia, in 1884; his wife was a member of the Ladies Dining Society in Cambridge, with 11 other members.

She died on 6 February 1947. They had three sons and two daughters:

Ancestry

Works by G. H. Darwin

Articles

References

  1. ↑ GRO Register of Deaths: DEC 1912 3b 552 CAMBRIDGE – George H. Darwin, aged 67
  2. 1 2 3 "Darwin, George Howard (DRWN863GH)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. ↑ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  4. ↑ Britannica.com: Sir George Darwin
  5. ↑ "ICM Plenary and Invited Speakers since 1897". International Congress of Mathematicians.
  6. ↑ Hobson, E. B. and A. E. H. Love, eds. (1913). Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress of Mathematicians (Cambridge, 22-28 August 1912). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 33–36.
  7. 1 2 Brown, Ernest W. (1909). "Review: Scientific Papers, by George Howard Darwin". Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 16 (2): 73–78. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1909-01862-2.
  8. ↑ "Review: Scientific Papers. Vol. I by Sir George Howard Darwin". The Athenaeum (4196): 386. March 28, 1908.
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