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Dado (architecture)

2025-10-25T06:16:58Z

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:C458:2D74:DC9E:3992: /* Gallery */

{{Short description|Architectural element}}
{{For|the joinery term|Dado (joinery)}}
{{Other uses|Dado (disambiguation){{!}}Dado}}
[[File:Wall.svg|thumb|right|alt=Wall.svg|Diagram of a wall {{leftlegend|#e88200|[[crown moulding]]}} {{leftlegend|#00cf40|[[dado rail]]}} {{leftlegend|#d9d04c|dado}} {{leftlegend|#664fe1|[[skirting board]]}} ]]

In [[architecture]], the '''dado''' is the lower part of a wall,<ref>{{cite dictionary | url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dado | title=Dado - definition | dictionary=[[Merriam-Webster]] | access-date=March 10, 2013}}</ref> below the [[dado rail]] and above the [[skirting board]]. The word is borrowed from Italian meaning "dice" or "cube",<ref name=lexico>{{cite web |url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/dado |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920204654/https://www.lexico.com/definition/dado |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 20, 2021 |title=Dado|work=Lexico }}</ref> and refers to ''[[wikt:die|die]]'', an architectural term for the middle section of a [[pedestal]] or [[plinth]].<ref name=chitam>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W_0rBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT209 |title=The Classical Orders of Architecture |first= Robert |last=Chitham |publisher=Routledge |date=2007|isbn=9781136358951 }}</ref>

==Decorative treatment==
This area is given a decorative treatment different from that for the upper part of the wall; for example [[panelling]], [[wainscoting]] or [[lincrusta]]. The purpose of the dado treatment to a wall is both aesthetic and functional. Historically, the panelling below the [[dado rail]] was installed to cover the lower part of the wall which was subject to stains associated with rising damp; additionally it provided protection from furniture and passing traffic. The dado rail itself is sometimes referred to as a chair rail, though this can be misleading since its function is principally aesthetic and not to protect the wall from chair backs.

==Derivation==
[[File:CimetiereRD02.JPG|thumb|upright|Dado meaning the middle section or main body of a pedestal]]

The name was first used in English as an [[architectural terms|architectural term]] for the part of a pedestal between the base and the [[cornice (architecture)|cornice]]. As with many other architectural terms, the word is Italian in origin. The dado in a pedestal is roughly cubical in shape, and the word in Italian means "dice" or "cube" (ultimately Latin ''[[wikt:datum|datum]]'', meaning "something given", hence also a die for [[Cleromancy|casting lots]]).<ref name=lexico /><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jeeGAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA168 |title=An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language |first= Walter W.|last= Skeat |date=15 February 2013 |pages=152, 168–169|publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=9780486317656 }}</ref> By extension, the dado becomes the lower part of a wall when the pedestal is treated as being continuous along the wall, with the cornice becoming the dado rail.<ref name=chitam />

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="160px">
File:Spring Hall Halifax 029.jpg|Dado in carved oak, designed by [[William Swinden Barber|W. S. Barber]] at [[Spring Hall, Halifax]]
File:Château de Maisons-Laffitte - cabinet aux miroirs 05.JPG|Dado in the French chateau of [[Maisons-Laffitte]]
File:TajDado.jpg|Dado in [[Taj Mahal]]
File:Leeds Central Library 21 February 2019 (208).JPG|Dado in [[Leeds Central Library]]
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Dado (joinery)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category inline}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Columns and entablature]]
[[Category:Types of wall]]

Charles Algernon Parsons

2025-10-25T05:58:59Z

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:C458:2D74:DC9E:3992: Added location

{{short description|Anglo-Irish mechanical engineer and inventor (1854–1931)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox engineer
| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
| honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OM|KCB|FRS}}
| image = Charles Algernon Parsons.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1854|6|13}}
| birth_place = [[London]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1931|2|11|1854|6|13}}
| death_place = ''[[RMS Empress of Canada (1928)|Duchess of Richmond]]''
| resting_place = Church of St Bartholomew, [[Northumberland]]
| alma_mater = [[Trinity College Dublin]] (B.A., 1871) [[St John's College, Cambridge]] (M.A., 1877)
| occupation = {{hlist|Engineer|inventor}}
| known_for = Inventing the modern [[steam turbine]] (1884)
| notable_works = ''[[Turbinia]]'' (1894)
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Katharine Bethell]]|1883}}
| children = 2, including [[Rachel Mary Parsons|Rachel]]
| parents = {{ubl|[[William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse]]|[[Mary Rosse|Mary Field]]}}
| relatives = [[Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse]] (brother)
| awards = {{plainlist|
*[[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (1898)
*[[Rumford Medal]] (1902)
*[[Albert Medal (Royal Society of Arts)|Albert Medal]] (1911)
*[[Royal Society Bakerian Medal|Bakerian Medal]] (1918)
*[[Franklin Medal]] (1920)
*[[Faraday Medal]] (1923)
*[[Kelvin Gold Medal]] (1926)
*[[Copley Medal]] (1928)
*[[Bessemer Gold Medal]] (1929)
}}
| honours = {{plainlist|
*[[File:Order of the Bath UK ribbon.svg|25px]] [[Order of the Bath]] (Knight Commander, 1911)
*[[File:Galó de l'Orde del Mèrit (UK).svg|25px]] [[Order of Merit]] (1927)
}}
| discipline = [[Mechanical engineering]]
| employer = [[C. A. Parsons and Company]] [[Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company]]
| significant_advance = [[Heat engine]] [[Steamship]]
| significant_awards = [[Engineering Heritage Awards|Engineering Heritage Award]] (1995)
}}

'''Sir Charles Algernon Parsons''' (13 June 1854 – 11 February 1931) was an [[Anglo-Irish people|Anglo-Irish]]<ref name="UL, A-I" >{{Cite web
|title= Charles Parsons the Person
|url= http://www.ul.ie/cpi/charles-parsons-person
|website= University of Limerick
|quote= ... was an Anglo-Irish engineer,
|access-date= 16 January 2024
|archive-date= 11 September 2016
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160911133837/http://www.ul.ie/cpi/charles-parsons-person
|url-status= dead
}}</ref> mechanical engineer and inventor who designed the modern [[steam turbine]] in 1884.<ref name="EB2018">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Sir Charles Algernon Parsons |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |date=n.d. |access-date=6 September 2018 |url= https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Algernon-Parsons }}</ref> His invention revolutionised [[marine propulsion]], and he was also the founder of [[C. A. Parsons and Company]]. He worked as an engineer on [[dynamo]] and [[turbine]] design, and [[power generation]], with great influence in the naval and [[electrical engineering]] fields. He also helped develop optical equipment for [[searchlight]]s and [[telescope]]s. Parsons received the [[Franklin Medal]] in 1920, the [[Faraday Medal]] in 1923, and the [[Copley Medal]] in 1928 for his work, as well as the [[Engineering Heritage Awards]] posthumously in 1995.

His inventions and developments were used in many appliances during the early 20th century, including both naval and optical devices. He was elected to the [[Fellow of the Royal Society|Royal Society]] in 1898, and he served as the president of the [[British Association]] between 1916 and 1919. For his lasting contributions, Parsons was knighted in 1911, and he became a member of the [[Order of Merit]] in 1927. He additionally received the [[Bessemer Gold Medal]] in 1929.

Parsons died in 1931 on board the [[SS_Duchess_of_Richmond_(1928)|''Duchess of Richmond'']] due to [[neuritis]]. He was buried at the church of St Bartholomew in [[Kirkwhelpington]], [[Northumberland]].

== Career and commercial activity ==

Parsons was born into an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family on 13 June 1854<ref>{{Cite web
|title= Charles Parsons the Person
|url= http://www.ul.ie/cpi/charles-parsons-person
|website= University of Limerick
|quote= ... was an Anglo-Irish engineer,
|access-date= 26 July 2015
|archive-date= 11 September 2016
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160911133837/http://www.ul.ie/cpi/charles-parsons-person
|url-status= dead
}}</ref><ref name="Weightman2011">{{Cite book |title= Children of Light |last= Weightman |first= Gavin |publisher= Atlantic Books |year= 2011 |isbn= 978-0857893000 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=k-Tqvt-JrO0C&pg=PA112 |page= 112 |quote= Charles Algernon Parsons was from the English aristocracy}}</ref><ref name="Invernizzi2013">{{cite book|last= Invernizzi|first= Costante Mario |title= Closed Power Cycles: Thermodynamic Fundamentals and Applications|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=RV9DAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1|year= 2013|publisher= Springer|isbn= 978-1-4471-5140-1|pages= 1–}}</ref> in London as the youngest son of the astronomer [[William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse]]. The family seat is [[Birr Castle]], [[County Offaly]], Ireland, and the town of [[Birr, County Offaly|Birr]] was called Parsonstown, after the family, from 1620 to 1901.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.offalyarchives.com/index.php/parsonstown?onlyDirect=1 |title=Search: Parsonstown |website=www.offalyarchives.com}}</ref>

With his three brothers, Parsons was educated at home in Ireland by private tutors,<ref name="Rosse1968">{{Cite journal |title= William Parsons, third Earl of Rosse |author= The Earl of Rosse |journal= Hermathena |date=Autumn 1968 |issue= 107 |pages= 5–13 |access-date= 6 September 2018 |jstor= 23040086 |url = http://www.tcd.ie/Secretary/FellowsScholars/discourses/discourses/1968_Lord%20Rosse%20on%20W.%20Parsons.pdf}}</ref> including [[John Purser (mathematician)|John Purser]] and [[Sir Robert Ball]], all of whom were well versed in the sciences and also acted as practical assistants to the Earl in his astronomical work. Parsons then read mathematics at [[Trinity College Dublin]], and at [[St. John's College, Cambridge]], graduating from the latter in 1877 with a first-class honours degree.<ref name="Venn">{{acad|id= PRSS873CA|name= Parsons, the Hon. Charles Algernon}}</ref> He joined the [[Newcastle Upon Tyne|Newcastle]]-based engineering firm of [[Armstrong Whitworth|W. G. Armstrong]] as an apprentice, an unusual step for the son of an earl. Later he moved to [[Kitson & Co.|Kitsons]] in Leeds, where he worked on rocket-powered [[torpedo]]es.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Turbine Revolution |author= |work=Key Military |date=31 December 2020 |access-date=13 June 2022 |url= https://www.keymilitary.com/article/turbine-revolution}}</ref>

=== Steam turbine engine ===

[[Image:Parson's Compound Steam Turbine - 1887 - Project Gutenberg eText 17167.png |thumb|First [[Compound steam engine|compound steam turbine]], built by Parsons in 1887]]

[[File:1900 Elberfeld 1MW Generator.jpg |thumb|Parsons's first 1 MW [[turbogenerator]] built for the city of [[Elberfeld, Germany]], in 1899 produced [[Single-phase generator|single-phase electricity]] at 4 kV]]
In 1884 Parsons moved to [[Clarke Chapman|Clarke, Chapman and Co.]], ship-engine manufacturers operating near Newcastle, where he became head of their electrical-equipment development. He used [[Henri Victor Regnault|Regnault]]'s large collection of steam properties ("data of the physicists") to develop a turbine engine turning at 18,000 [[Revolutions per minute|RPM]]<ref name=hamm>{{cite web |author1-link=Bill Hammack |last1=Hammack |first1=Bill |title=Reclaiming Engineering in the Minds of the Public |url=https://engineerguy.com/axs/ax.pl?/white-papers/hammack-hoover-speech-aiche-2021-11-08.pdf |date=8 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Steam Turbine: The Surprising Relationship of Engineering & Science |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8lXXg8dWHk |author1-link=Bill Hammack |last1=Hammack |first1=Bill | website=[[YouTube]] |language=en |date=11 May 2023}}</ref> in 1884 and immediately utilised the new engine to drive an electrical generator, which he also designed. Parsons's [[steam turbine]] made cheap and plentiful electricity possible and revolutionised marine transport and naval warfare.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.universityscience.ie/pages/scientists/sci_charles_parsons.php |title= Charles Parsons (1854–1931) |access-date= 6 February 2005 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080110063209/http://www.universityscience.ie/pages/scientists/sci_charles_parsons.php |archive-date= 10 January 2008 |work= Profiles of Scientists from Irish Universities}}</ref>

Another type of steam turbine at the time, invented by [[Gustaf de Laval]] (1845–1913) in the 1880s, was an [[Impulse steam turbine|impulse design]] that subjected the mechanism to huge centrifugal forces and so had limited output due to the weakness of the materials available. Parsons explained in his 1911 [[Rede Lecture]] that his appreciation of the scaling issue led to his 1884 breakthrough on the compound steam turbine:

<blockquote>It seemed to me that moderate surface velocities and speeds of rotation were essential if the turbine motor was to receive general acceptance as a prime mover. I therefore decided to split up the fall in pressure of the steam into small fractional expansions over a large number of turbines in series, so that the velocity of the steam nowhere should be great...I was also anxious to avoid the well-known cutting action on metal of steam at high velocity.<ref name="smil">{{cite book |page= [https://archive.org/details/creatingtwentiet0000smil/page/62 62]| title= Creating the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations of 1867–1914 and Their Lasting Impact |first= Vaclav |last= Smil |isbn= 0-19-516874-7 |url= https://archive.org/details/creatingtwentiet0000smil |url-access= registration |quote= Transformer coltman 1988.|year= 2005|publisher= Oxford University Press}}</ref></blockquote>

=== Founding Parsons and Company ===

In 1889 he founded [[C. A. Parsons and Company|C. A. Parsons and Company]] in Newcastle to produce [[turbo generator]]s to his design.<ref name=birr/> In the same year he set up the [[Newcastle and District Electric Lighting Company]] (DisCo). In 1890, DisCo opened [[Forth Banks Power Station]], the first power station in the world to generate electricity using turbo generators.<ref name="Parsons1939">{{cite book|last= Parsons|first= Robert Hodson |title= The Early Days of the Power Station Industry|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WiIZAAAAIAAJ|year= 1939|publisher= University Press|location= Cambridge|page= 171|chapter= Ch. X}}</ref> In 1894 he regained certain patent rights from [[Clarke Chapman]]. Although his first turbine was only 1.6% efficient and generated a mere 7.5 kilowatts, rapid incremental improvements in a few years led to his first megawatt turbine, built in 1899 for a generating plant at [[Elberfeld, Germany|Elberfeld]] in the German Empire.<ref name=smil/>

[[File:Turbinia At Speed.jpg|thumb| The first [[steam turbine]]-powered ship ''[[Turbinia]]'': fastest in the world at that time]]
[[Image:HMS Dreadnought 1906 H63596.jpg|thumb|HMS {{HMS|Dreadnought|1906|2}}, considered the first modern [[battleship]]. In 1906 it was the fastest in the world due to Parsons's [[steam turbine]].]]

=== Marine steam turbine applications ===

Also interested in marine applications, Parsons founded the [[Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company]] in Newcastle. Famously, in June 1897, his turbine-powered [[yacht]], ''[[Turbinia]]'', turned up unannounced at the Navy Review for the [[Diamond Jubilee]] of [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]] at [[Spithead]], on 26 June 1897, in front of the [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Prince of Wales]], foreign dignitaries, and [[Lords of the Admiralty]]. Moving at speed at [[Queen Victoria]]'s [[Diamond Jubilee]] [[Fleet Review]] off [[Portsmouth]], to demonstrate the great potential of the new technology. The ''Turbinia'' moved at {{Convert|34|knot|abbr= on}}; the fastest [[Royal Navy]] ships using other technologies reached {{Convert|27|knot|abbr= on}}. Part of the speed improvement came from the slender hull of the ''Turbinia''.<ref name="Robertson">{{Cite web |title= Charles Algernon Parsons |last= Robertson |first= Paul |work= [[Cambridge University]] : 125 Years of Engineering Excellence |date= n.d. |access-date= 6 September 2018 | url= http://www-g.eng.cam.ac.uk/125/noflash/1875-1900/parsons2.html }}</ref>

Within two years the [[destroyer]]s [[Viper class destroyer|HMS ''Viper'']] and {{HMS|Cobra|1899|2}} were launched with Parsons's turbines, soon followed by the first turbine-powered [[passenger ship]], [[Clyde steamer]] [[TS King Edward|TS ''King Edward'']] in 1901; the first turbine transatlantic liners [[RMS Victorian|RMS ''Victorian'']] and [[RMS Virginian|''Virginian'']] in 1905; and the first turbine-powered battleship, {{HMS|Dreadnought|1906|6}} in 1906, all of them driven by Parsons' turbine engines.<ref name=birr>{{cite web|url= http://www.birrcastle.com/inventionsAndExperiments.asp |title= Chronology of Charles Parsons |publisher= Birr Castle Scientific and Heritage Foundation |access-date= 3 January 2009 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081225130458/http://www.birrcastle.com/inventionsAndExperiments.asp |archive-date= 25 December 2008 }}</ref> ({{As of | 2012}} ''Turbinia'' is housed in a purpose-built gallery at the [[Discovery Museum]], Newcastle.<ref name="DiscMus">{{Cite web |url= http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/discovery/collections.html |title= Collections at Discovery Museum |access-date= 19 June 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120728054722/http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/discovery/collections.html |archive-date= 28 July 2012 |url-status= bot: unknown }}</ref>)

=== Honours and awards ===

Parsons was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in June 1898, received their [[Rumford Medal]] in 1902 and their [[Copley Medal]] in 1928, and delivered their [[Bakerian Lecture]] in 1918.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://royalsociety.org/Lists-of-Royal-Society-Fellows-1660-2007/ |title= Lists of Royal Society Fellows 1660–2007 |publisher= The Royal Society |access-date= 15 July 2010 |location= London |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100324095152/http://royalsociety.org/Lists-of-Royal-Society-Fellows-1660-2007/ |archive-date= 24 March 2010 }}</ref> He served as the president of the [[British Science Association|British Association]] from 1916 to 1919.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url= https://archive.org/stream/reportofbritisha20adva#page/n83/mode/2up|title= Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science|chapter= President's Address|first= Charles A.|last= Parsons|date= 1919 |location= London | publisher= John Murray}}</ref> He was an Invited Speaker of the [[International Congress of Mathematicians|ICM]] in 1924 at Toronto.<ref>{{cite book|author= Parsons, C. A.|chapter= The steam turbine|title= ''In:'' Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians in Toronto, August 11–16. 1924|volume= 2|pages= 465–472|chapter-url= http://www.mathunion.org/ICM/ICM1924.2/Main/icm1924.2.0019.0022.ocr.pdf|access-date= 2 October 2019|archive-date= 1 December 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171201042558/http://www.mathunion.org/ICM/ICM1924.2/Main/icm1924.2.0019.0022.ocr.pdf|url-status= dead}}</ref> [[Knight]]ed in 1911, he became a member of the [[Order of Merit]] in 1927.<ref name="SciMus">{{Cite web |url= https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/onlinestuff/people/charles%20algernon%20parsons.aspx |title= Charles Algernon Parsons (1854–1931) |access-date= 6 September 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120214140105/https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/onlinestuff/people/charles%20algernon%20parsons.aspx |archive-date= 14 February 2012 |url-status= dead }}</ref> In 1929 the [[Iron and Steel Institute]] awarded him the [[Bessemer Gold Medal]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.iom3.org/awards-archive|title= Awards archive|publisher= IOM3 |access-date= 9 September 2020}}</ref>

=== Surviving companies ===

The Parsons turbine company survives in the [[Heaton, Newcastle|Heaton]] area of Newcastle as part of [[Siemens]], a [[Germany|German]] [[Conglomerate (company)|conglomerate]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Focus on the famous Parsons factory in Heaton |last=Warburton |first=Dan |work=[[Evening Chronicle|The Newcastle Chronicle]] |date=20 April 2009 |access-date=13 June 2022 |url= https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/focus-famous-parsons-factory-heaton-1453095}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=North East engineering company investing in future growth with move to 120,000sq ft CA Parsons Works site in Newcastle – NOF |author= |work=NOF |date=29 September 2020 |access-date=13 June 2022 |url= https://www.nof.co.uk/news/2020/september/north-east-engineering-company-investing-in-future-growth-with-move-to-120-000sq-ft-ca-parsons-works-site-in-newcastle/}}</ref> In 1925 Charles Parsons acquired the ''Grubb Telescope Company'' and renamed it ''[[Grubb Parsons]]''.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KAWwzHlDVksC&pg=PA387 |page=387 |title=The History of the Telescope |author=Henry C. King |publisher=Courier Corporation |date=2003 |orig-date=1955 |edition=Dover |publication-date=1979 |isbn=9780486432656 }}</ref> That company survived in the Newcastle area until 1985.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A view of the stars from a place in the sun |author=Ian Ridpath |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=27 June 1985 |page=13 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=13 June 2022 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103676133/the-guardian/}}</ref>

Parsons also designed the [[Auxetophone]], an early [[Compressed air gramophone|compressed-air gramophone]].<ref>
{{cite book
| last = Reiss | first = Eric
| title = The compleat talking machine: a collector's guide to antique phonographs
| publisher = Sonoran Pub | location = Chandler, Ariz | year = 2007
| isbn = 978-1886606227 | page = 217 }}
</ref>

== Personal life and death ==

In 1883, Parsons married [[Katharine Bethell]], the daughter of William F. Bethell. They had two children: the engineer and campaigner [[Rachel Parsons (engineer)|Rachel Mary Parsons]] (b. 1885), and Algernon George "Tommy" Parsons (b. 1886), who was killed in action during World War I in 1918, aged 31.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Heald, Henrietta|title=Magnificent women and their revolutionary machines|year=2019|isbn=978-1-78352-660-4|location=London|oclc=1080083743}}</ref>

They had a London home at 1 [[Brook Street, London|Upper Brook Street]], [[Mayfair]], from 1918 to 1931.<ref>{{cite web |title=Upper Brook Street: North Side Pages 200-210 Survey of London: Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings). Originally published by London County Council, London, 1980. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol40/pt2/pp200-210 |website=British History Online |access-date=12 July 2020}}</ref>

Sir Charles Algernon Parsons died on 11 February 1931, on board the steamship ''[[SS Duchess of Richmond (1928)|Duchess of Richmond]]'' while on a cruise with his wife. The cause of death was given as [[Peripheral neuropathy|neuritis]].<ref name="Times45746">{{Cite newspaper The Times|title=Sir Charles Parsons and Sir Arthurt Dorman |department=Obituaries |date=13 February 1931 |page=14 |issue=45746 |column=B }}</ref> A memorial service was held at [[Westminster Abbey]] on 3 March 1931.<ref>'The Abbey Scientists' Hall, A.R. p48: London; Roger & Robert Nicholson; 1966</ref> Parsons was buried in the parish church of St Bartholomew's in [[Kirkwhelpington]] in [[Northumberland]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bid to restore Parsons' graves at Kirkwhelpington|url=https://www.hexham-courant.co.uk/features/16614454.bid-restore-parsons-graves-kirkwhelpington/|access-date=27 February 2021|website=Hexham Courant|date=13 February 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

His widow, Katharine, died at her home in Ray Demesne, Kirkwhelpington, Northumberland in 1933.<ref>{{cite news|title=Obituary The Hon. Lady Parsons|url=http://www.wes.org.uk/content/obituary-hon-lady-parsons|access-date=6 January 2015|work=Heaton Works Journal|publisher=[[Women's Engineering Society]]|date=December 1933|archive-date=6 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150106235027/http://www.wes.org.uk/content/obituary-hon-lady-parsons|url-status=dead}}</ref> Rachel Parsons died in 1956; stableman Denis James Pratt was convicted of her manslaughter.<ref>{{cite news|title=A history of General Motors in pictures|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/picturegalleries/5423182/A-history-of-General-Motors-in-pictures.html?image=1|work=The Telegraph|access-date=6 January 2015|date = June 2009}}</ref>

In 1919, Katharine and her daughter Rachel co-founded the [[Women's Engineering Society]] with [[Eleanor Shelley-Rolls]], [[Margaret, Lady Moir]], [[Laura Annie Willson]], [[Margaret Dorothea Rowbotham|Margaret Rowbotham]] and [[Janetta Mary Ornsby]], which is still in existence today. Sir Charles was initially a supportive member of the organisation until his wife's resignation.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Heald|first1=Henrietta|title=What was a girl to do? Rachel Parsons (1885–1956): engineer and feminist campaigner|url=http://blue-stocking.org.uk/2014/05/23/what-was-a-girl-to-do-rachel-parsons-1885-1956-engineer-and-feminist-campaigner/|website=blue-stocking|access-date=6 January 2015|date=23 May 2014|quote=In January 1919, Rachel and her mother, Katharine, established the Women’s Engineering Society, with Rachel as the first president and Caroline Haslett, an electrical engineer, as secretary.}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

==Commemoration==
[[File:Parsons Earls of Rosse (33611696510).jpg|thumb|Parsons's plaque in Birr Castle]]

Parsons's ancestral home at [[Birr Castle]] in Ireland houses a museum detailing the contribution the Parsons family have made to the fields of science and engineering, with part of the museum given over to the engineering work of Charles Parsons.<ref name="birr_Scie">{{Cite web |title=Science Centre at Birr Castle |work=birrcastle.com |date=n.d. |access-date=26 May 2019 |url= https://birrcastle.com/science }}</ref>

Parsons is depicted on the reverse of an Irish silver 15-[[Euro]] silver [[Proof coin]] that was struck in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Launch of new €15 silver proof coin to commemorate life and work of Sir Charles Algernon Parsons|url=https://www.centralbank.ie/news-media/press-releases/charles-parsons-coin-launch-1Sep2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025190456/https://www.centralbank.ie/news-media/press-releases/charles-parsons-coin-launch-1Sep2017 |archive-date=25 October 2017 }}</ref>

The Irish Academy of Engineering awards The Parsons Medal, named after Charles Parsons, every year to an engineer who has made an exceptional contribution to the practice of engineering. Previous winners include Prof. Tony Fagan (2016), Dr. Edmond Harty (2017), Prof. Sir John McCanny (2018) and Michael McLaughlin (2019).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://iae.ie/news/parsons-medal-award-2019/|title=Parsons Medal Award 2020 – iae|last=McCarron|first=Fiona|language=en-US|access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref>

== Selected works ==

* [http://www.houseofdavid.ca/parsons.htm E-book: "The Steam Turbine and Other Inventions of Sir Charles Parsons"]
* [[s:The Steam Turbine|The Steam Turbine]] (Rede Lecture, 1911)
* Charles Parsons's grand-nephew, Michael Parsons, in his 1968 Trinity Monday Discourse{{clarification needed|date=June 2025}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Scaife|first=W.G.S |title=From Galaxies to Turbines: Science, Technology and the Parsons Family|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BeMjgxsifcQC|year=1999|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-4200-4692-2}}
* {{cite ODNB|first=Claude |last=Gibb|id=35396|title=Parsons, Sir Charles Algernon (1854–1931)}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==

{{commons category|Charles Algernon Parsons}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.btinternet.com/~philipr/Parsons.htm |title=Parsons and Turbinia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010140643/http://www.btinternet.com/~philipr/Parsons.htm |archive-date=10 October 2012}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070314213318/http://www.newcomen.com/excerpts/turbinia/index.htm Sir Charles Parsons Symposium, excerpts from Transactions of the Newcomen Society]
* {{cite TIWW |article=Parsons, The Hon. Sir Charles Algernon|page=201 }}
* {{cite web |title=Charles Parsons |url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/cp37610/charles-algernon-parsons |website=Science Museum}}

{{Copley Medallists 1901-1950}}
{{Electricity generation in North East England}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Charles Algernon}}
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Ambergris

2025-10-25T05:45:47Z

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:C458:2D74:DC9E:3992: /* Legality */Added word

{{Short description|Substance produced in the digestive system of sperm whales}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:Ambergris, Skagway Museum.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|Ambergris in dried form]]

'''Ambergris''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|m|b|ər|g|r|iː|s|}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|m|b|ər|g|r|ɪ|s|}}; {{langx|la|ambra grisea}}; {{langx|fro|ambre gris}}), '''''ambergrease''''', or '''grey amber''' is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull grey or blackish colour produced in the digestive system of [[sperm whale]]s.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/18871/ambergris |title=Ambergris |encyclopedia=Britannica |access-date=31 January 2013 }}</ref> Freshly produced ambergris has a marine, [[feces|fecal]] odor. It acquires a sweet, earthy scent as it ages, commonly likened to the fragrance of [[isopropyl alcohol]] without the vaporous chemical [[astringency]].<ref name="Burr">{{cite book|author=Burr, Chandler|title=The Emperor of Scent: A Story of Perfume, Obsession, and the Last Mystery of the Senses|year=2003|location=New York|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0-375-50797-7|url=https://archive.org/details/emperorofscentst00burr }}</ref>

Ambergris has been highly valued by [[Perfumer|perfume makers]] as a [[Fixative (perfumery)|fixative]] that allows the scent to last much longer, although it has been mostly replaced by synthetic [[ambroxide]].<ref>Panten, J. and Surburg, H. 2016. Flavors and Fragrances, 3. Aromatic and Heterocyclic Compounds. Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. 1–45.</ref> It is sometimes used in cooking.

Dogs are attracted to the smell of ambergris and are sometimes used by ambergris searchers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ikonlondonmagazine.com/jovoy-paris-designed-for-fascinating-olfactory-experiences/ |title=Jovoy Paris 'Designed' for Fascinating Olfactory Experiences |website=Ikon London Magazine|date=October 2017 |access-date=October 12, 2017}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The English word ''amber'' derives from [[Middle Persian]] [[wiktionary:ʾmbl#Middle_Persian|ʾmbl]], traveling via [[Arabic]] {{lang|ar-Latn|ʿanbar}} ({{lang|ar|[[wikt:عنبر|عنبر]]|rtl=yes}}),<ref name="Amber Etymonline">{{Cite web |title=amber {{!}} Etymology, origin and meaning of amber by etymonline |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/amber |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref><ref>Edward Lipinski | Semitic Languages Outline of A Comparative Grammar | Department Of Oriental Studies Leuven Belgium | Assimilation stages of the word Anbar P.189 https://hcommons.org/?get_group_doc=1004138/1673969011-Lipinski_-_Semitic_Languages._Outline_of_a_Comparative_Grammar.pdf</ref> [[Medieval Latin|Middle Latin]] ''ambar,'' and [[Middle French]] ''ambre'' to be adopted in [[Middle English]] in the 14th century.<ref name="Amber Etymonline" />

The word "ambergris" comes from the [[Old French]] ''ambre gris'' or "grey [[amber]]".<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Ambergris |volume=1 |page=794}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Wedgwood |first=Hensleigh |author-link=Hensleigh Wedgwood |title=On False Etymologies |journal=Transactions of the Philological Society |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3924121;view=1up;seq=76 |year=1855 |issue=6 |pages=66}}</ref> The addition of "grey" came about when, in the [[Romance languages]], the sense of the word "amber" was extended to [[Baltic amber]] (fossil resin), as white or yellow amber (''ambre jaune''), from as early as the late 13th century.<ref name="Amber Etymonline" /> This fossilized resin subsequently became the dominant (and now exclusive) sense of "amber", leaving "ambergris" as the word for the whale secretion.

The archaic alternate spelling "ambergrease" arose as an [[eggcorn]] from the phonetic pronunciation of "ambergris," encouraged by the substance's waxy texture.<ref name="OED">{{Cite OED|ambergris|access-date=28 February 2023|date=December 2022}}</ref>

==Formation==
Ambergris is formed from a secretion of the [[biliary|bile duct]] in the [[intestines]] of the sperm whale, and can be found floating on the sea or washed up on coastlines. It is sometimes found in the [[abdomen]]s of dead [[sperm whales]].<ref name="EB1911"/> Because the beaks of [[giant squid]]s have been discovered within lumps of ambergris, scientists have hypothesized that the substance is produced by the whale's gastrointestinal tract to ease the passage of hard, sharp objects that it may have eaten.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Ambergris is passed like fecal matter. It is speculated that an ambergris mass too large to be passed through the intestines is expelled via the mouth, but this remains under debate.<ref>{{cite book |author1=William F. Perrin |author2=Bernd Wursig |author3=J. G.M. [[Hans Thewissen|Thewissen]]|title=Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals |year=2009 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0080919935 |page=28 }}</ref> Another theory states that an ambergris mass is formed when the colon of a whale is enlarged by a blockage from intestinal worms and [[cephalopod]] parts resulting in the death of the whale and the mass being excreted into the sea.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clarke |first=R. |date=2006 |title=The origin of ambergris |url=https://www.lajamjournal.org/index.php/lajam/article/view/231 |journal=Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals |volume=5 |pages=7–21 |doi=10.5597/lajam00087 |issn=2236-1057|doi-access=free }}</ref> Ambergris takes years to form. Christopher Kemp, the author of ''Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris'', says that it is only produced by sperm whales, and only by an estimated one percent of them. Ambergris is rare; once expelled by a whale, it often floats for years before making landfall.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kemp |first=Christopher |title=Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F0CKIxwLT-oC |year=2012 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-43036-2 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=F0CKIxwLT-oC&pg=PA12 12–13]}}</ref> The slim chances of finding ambergris and the legal ambiguity involved led perfume makers away from ambergris, and led chemists on a quest to find viable alternatives.<ref name="Daley 2016">{{cite web |last=Daley |first=Jason |title=Your High-End Perfume Is Likely Part Whale Mucus |website=Smithsonian |date=14 April 2016 |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/your-high-end-perfume-likely-part-whale-mucus-180958767/ |access-date=6 August 2018}}</ref>

Ambergris is found primarily in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and on the coasts of [[South Africa]]; [[Brazil]]; [[Madagascar]]; the [[East Indies]]; [[The Maldives]]; [[China]]; [[Japan]]; [[India]]; [[Australia]]; [[New Zealand]]; and the [[Maluku Islands|Molucca Islands]]. Most commercially collected ambergris comes from [[the Bahamas]] in the Atlantic, particularly [[New Providence]]. In 2021, fishermen found a 127 kg (280-pound) piece of ambergris off the coast of [[Yemen]], valued at US$1.5 million.<ref>{{cite web|title=A group of fishermen netted a $1.5 million whale-vomit windfall after dredging up a 127 280-pound hunk of the stuff |url=https://www.insider.com/whale-vomit-worth-millions-fishermen-2021-6 |website=Business Insider}}</ref> Fossilised ambergris from 1.75 million years ago has also been found.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baldanza |first1=Angela |first2=Roberto |last2=Bizzarri |first3=Federico |last3=Famiani |first4=Paolo |last4=Monaco |first5=Roberto |last5=Pellegrino |first6=Paola |last6=Sassi |title=Enigmatic, biogenically induced structures in Pleistocene marine deposits: A first record of fossil ambergris |journal=Geology |volume=41 |issue=10 |pages=1075 |date=30 July 2013 |doi=10.1130/G34731.1
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254559304 |bibcode=2013Geo....41.1075B}}</ref>

==Physical properties==
Ambergris is found in lumps of various shapes and sizes, usually weighing from {{convert|15|g|oz|frac=2|abbr=off}} to {{convert|50|kg|lb|abbr=off}} or more.<ref name="EB1911"/> When initially expelled by or removed from the whale, the fatty precursor of ambergris is pale white in color (sometimes streaked with black), soft, with a strong fecal smell. Following months to years of [[photodegradation]] and [[oxidation]] in the ocean, this precursor gradually hardens, developing a dark grey or black color, a crusty and waxy texture, and a peculiar odor that is at once sweet, earthy, marine, and animalic. Its scent has been generally described as a vastly richer and smoother version of [[isopropanol]] without its stinging harshness. In this developed condition, ambergris has a [[specific gravity]] ranging from 0.780 to 0.926 (meaning it floats in water). It melts at about {{convert|62|C}} to a fatty, yellow resinous liquid; and at {{convert|100|C|0|abbr=on}} it is volatilised into a white vapor. It is soluble in [[diethyl ether|ether]], and in volatile and fixed oils.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Chemical properties==
Ambergris is relatively nonreactive to acid. White crystals of a [[terpenoid]] known as [[ambrein]], discovered by [[Leopold Ružička]] and Fernand Lardon in 1946,<ref name=ruzicka46>{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/hlca.19460290414|title=Zur Kenntnis der Triterpene. (105. Mitteilung) Über das Ambreïn, einen Bestandteil des grauen Ambra |year=1946 |last1=Ruzicka |first1=L. |last2=Lardon |first2=F. |journal=Helvetica Chimica Acta |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=912–921}}</ref><ref name="frs">{{cite journal |last1=Prelog |first1=Vladimir |author-link1=Vladimir Prelog |last2=Jeger |first2=Oskar |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1980.0013 |title=Leopold Ruzicka (13 September 1887 – 26 September 1976) |journal=[[Biogr. Mem. Fellows R. Soc.]] |volume=26 |pages=411–501 |year=1980 |s2cid=71933568 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="hillier19">{{cite journal |last1=Hillier |first1=Stephen G. |last2=Lathe |first2=Richard |title=Terpenes, hormones and life: Isoprene rule revisited |year=2019 |journal=Journal of Endocrinology |volume=242 |issue=2 |pages=R9–R22 |pmid=31051473 |doi=10.1530/JOE-19-0084 |doi-access=free}}</ref> can be separated from ambergris by heating raw ambergris in alcohol, then allowing the resulting solution to cool. Breakdown of the relatively scentless ambrein through oxidation produces [[ambroxide]] and ambrinol, the main odor components of ambergris.

<gallery widths="150" heights="200">
File:Ambrein.svg|Ambrein
File:Ambrox.svg|Ambroxide
File:Ambrinol.svg|Ambrinol
</gallery>

[[Ambroxide]] is now produced synthetically and used extensively in the perfume industry.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://perfumeshrine.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/ambroxambroxan-modern-fascination-on.html |title=Ambrox/Ambroxan: a Modern Fascination on an Elegant Material |date=5 November 2010 |publisher=Perfume Shrine |access-date=31 January 2013 }}</ref>

==Applications==
Ambergris has been mostly known for its use in creating perfume and fragrance much like [[musk]]. Perfumes based on ambergris still exist.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/ambergris-treasure-of-the-deep-01122012.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114153426/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/ambergris-treasure-of-the-deep-01122012.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 14, 2012 |title=Ambergris, Treasure of the Deep |date=January 12, 2012 |first=Eric |last=Spitznagel |magazine=Bloomberg Businessweek |access-date=31 January 2013 }}</ref>
Ambergris has historically been used in food and drink. A serving of eggs and ambergris was reportedly King [[Charles II of England]]'s favorite dish.<ref>{{cite book |author=Lord Macaulay |title=The History of England from the Accession of James II |year=1848 |publisher=Harper |chapter-url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1468 |volume=1 |chapter=IV |page=222 |author-link=Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay }}</ref> A recipe for [[Shrub (drink)|Rum Shrub]] liqueur from the mid 19th century called for a thread of ambergris to be added to rum, almonds, cloves, cassia, and the peel of oranges in making a cocktail from ''[[The English and Australian Cookery Book]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Abbott |first=Edward |url=https://archive.org/details/b21505524 |title=The English and Australian Cookery Book |date=1864 |page=[https://archive.org/details/b21505524/page/272 272] (at the top)}}</ref> It has been used as a flavoring agent in Turkish coffee<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theguideistanbul.com/istanbul-historic-coffeehouses/ |title=The starting point of Turkish coffee: Istanbul's historic coffeehouses |website=The Istanbul Guide |access-date=26 October 2018 |archive-date=18 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018170334/https://www.theguideistanbul.com/istanbul-historic-coffeehouses/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and in hot chocolate in 18th century Europe.<ref name="Green">{{cite news|last1=Green|first1=Matthew|title=How the decadence and depravity of London's 18th century elite was fuelled by hot chocolate|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/articles/surprising-history-of-london-chocolate-houses/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/articles/surprising-history-of-london-chocolate-houses/ |archive-date=2022-01-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=July 15, 2017|date=March 11, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The substance is considered an [[aphrodisiac]] in some cultures.<ref name="uchicago1">{{cite book |last=Kemp |first=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=akaxh794PdAC |title=Floating Gold: A Natural (& Unnatural) History of Ambergris |chapter-url=http://press.uchicago.edu/books/excerpt/2012/kemp_floating.html |chapter=The Origin of Ambergris |date=2012-05-11 |oclc=787843317|isbn=9780226430379 |publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref>

[[Ancient Egypt]]ians burned ambergris as incense, while in modern [[Egypt]] ambergris is used for scenting cigarettes.<ref name="MatHB">{{cite book |chapter=Ambergris |title=Materials Handbook: An Encyclopedia for Managers, Technical Professionals, Purchasing and Production Managers, Technicians, and Supervisors |page=64 |last1=Brady |first1=George Stuart |last2=Clauser |first2=Henry R. |last3=Vaccari |first3=John A. |isbn=978-0-07-136076-0 |year=2002 |publisher=McGraw-Hill}}</ref> {{anchor|Chinese }}The [[History of China#Ancient China|ancient Chinese]] called the substance "dragon's spittle fragrance".<ref name=sciam>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=strange-but-true-whale-waste-is-valuable |title=Strange but True: Whale Waste Is Extremely Valuable |date=April 26, 2007 |first=Cynthia |last=Graber |magazine=Scientific American |access-date=31 January 2013}}</ref> During the [[Black Death]] in [[Europe]], people believed that carrying a ball of ambergris could help prevent them from contracting plague. This was because the fragrance covered the smell of the air which was believed to be a [[Miasma theory of disease|cause of plague]].

During the [[Middle Ages]], Europeans used ambergris as a [[Pharmaceutical drug|medication]] for [[headache]]s, [[Common cold|colds]], [[epilepsy]], and other ailments.<ref name=sciam />

==Legality==
{{Main|International Whaling Commission#1982 moratorium}}
From the 18th to the mid-19th century, the whaling industry prospered. By some reports, nearly 50,000 whales, including sperm whales, were killed each year. Throughout the 19th century, "millions of whales were killed for their oil, whalebone, and ambergris" to fuel profits, and they soon became endangered as a species as a result.<ref>{{Cite book|title=For Appearance' Sake: The Historical Encyclopedia of Good Looks, Beauty, and Grooming|last=Sherrow|first=Victoria L.|publisher=Greenwood|year=2001|isbn=9781573562041|pages=[https://archive.org/details/forappearancesak00sher/page/129 129]|url=https://archive.org/details/forappearancesak00sher/page/129}}</ref> Due to studies showing that the whale populations were being threatened, the International Whaling Commission instituted a [[Moratorium (law)|moratorium]] on commercial whaling in 1982. Although ambergris is not harvested from whales, many countries also ban the trade of ambergris as part of the more general ban on the hunting and exploitation of whales.

Urine, faeces, and ambergris (that has been naturally excreted by a sperm whale) are waste products not considered parts or derivatives of a [[CITES]] species and are therefore not covered by the provisions of the convention.<ref>[https://cites.org/sites/default/files/common/cop/16/sum/E-CoP16-Com-II-Rec-02.pdf CITES CoP16 Com. II Rec. 2 (Rev. 1), Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties Bangkok (Thailand), 3–14 March 2013 Summary record of the second session of Committee II]</ref>

Countries where ambergris trade is illegal include:
* Australia – Under federal law, the export and import of ambergris for commercial purposes is banned by the [[Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999]]. The various states and territories have additional laws regarding ambergris.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/species/cetaceans/education/ambergris.html |title=Whale and Dolphin permits – Ambergris |publisher=Environment.gov.au |date=1979-06-28 |access-date=2014-03-13}}</ref>
* United States – The possession and trade of ambergris is prohibited by the [[Endangered Species Act of 1973]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/ambergris-treasure-of-the-deep-01122012.html#p2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114153426/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/ambergris-treasure-of-the-deep-01122012.html#p2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 14, 2012 |title=Ambergris, Treasure of the Deep |magazine=Businessweek |date=2012-01-12 |access-date=2014-03-13}}</ref>
* India – Sale or possession is illegal under the [[Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972]].

Countries where trade of ambergris is legal include:
* The United Kingdom<ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=Ambergris: lucky, lucrative and legal?|date=10 September 2015|url=http://us.whales.org/blog/2015/09/ambergris-lucky-lucrative-and-legal}}</ref>
* France<ref name=":0" />
* Switzerland<ref name=":0" />
* Maldives<ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last1=Borschberg |first1=Peter |title=''O comércio de âmbar asiático no início da época moderna (séculos XV–XVIII)'' |trans-title=The Asiatic Ambergris trade in the early modern period (15th to 18th century) |language=pt |editor1-first=Carla Alferes |editor1-last=Pinto |journal=Oriente |location=Lisbon |publisher=Fundação Oriente |volume=8 |date=April 2004 |pages=3–25}} [http://montalvoeascinciasdonossotempo.blogspot.sg/2011/10/peter-borschberg-o-comercio-de-ambar.html montalvoeascinciasdonossotempo.blogspot], accessed 21 August 2015
* {{cite journal |doi=10.5597/lajam00087 |url=http://lajamjournal.org/index.php/lajam/article/viewFile/231/183 |title=The origin of ambergris |year=2006 |last1=Clarke |first1=Robert |journal=Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=7–21|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |first1=Karl H. |last1=Dannenfeldt |url=http://paydirt-discourse.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/2X/b/bcb672ced09f409be638a4e41795dd33eaf94173.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024145026/http://paydirt-discourse.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/2X/b/bcb672ced09f409be638a4e41795dd33eaf94173.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2019-10-24 |title=Ambergris: The Search for Its Origin |journal=Isis |pmid=6757176 |jstor=231442 |year=1982 |volume=73 |issue=268 |pages=382–97 |doi=10.1086/353040|s2cid=30323379 }}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1098/rstl.1724.0053 |title=An Essay upon the Natural History of Whales, with a Particular Account of the Ambergris Found in the Sperma Ceti Whale. In a Letter to the Publisher, from the Honourable Paul Dudley, Esq; F. R. S |year=1724 |last1=Dudley |first1=Paul |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society |volume=33 |issue=381–91 |pages=256–69 |jstor=103782 |bibcode=1724RSPT...33..256D|s2cid=186208376 }}
* {{cite book |last=Kemp |first=Christopher |title=Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F0CKIxwLT-oC |date=2012|publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-43036-2}}
* {{cite book |first1=Christopher |last1=Kemp |year=2012 |chapter=The Origin of Ambergris |chapter-url=http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/excerpt/2012/kemp_floating.html |title=Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |pages=8–16 |isbn=978-0-226-43036-2}}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1021/ci034203t |pmid=15032539 |url=http://members.cbio.mines-paristech.fr/~jvert/svn/bibli/local/Kovatcheva2004Combinatorial.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722183611/http://members.cbio.mines-paristech.fr/~jvert/svn/bibli/local/Kovatcheva2004Combinatorial.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2018-07-22 |title=Combinatorial QSAR of Ambergris Fragrance Compounds |year=2004 |last1=Kovatcheva |first1=Assia |last2=Golbraikh |first2=Alexander |last3=Oloff |first3=Scott |last4=Xiao |first4=Yun-De |last5=Zheng |first5=Weifan |last6=Wolschann |first6=Peter |last7=Buchbauer |first7=Gerhard |last8=Tropsha |first8=Alexander |journal=Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=582–95|citeseerx=10.1.1.411.7708 }}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1002/hlca.19800630721 |title=Stereochemistry-Odor Relationships in Enantiomeric Ambergris Fragrances |year=1980 |last1=Ohloff |first1=Günther |last2=Vial |first2=Christian |last3=Wolf |first3=Hans Richard |last4=Job |first4=Kurt |last5=Jégou |first5=Elise |last6=Polonsky |first6=Judith |last7=Lederer |first7=Edgar |journal=Helvetica Chimica Acta |volume=63 |issue=7 |pages=1932–46 |citeseerx=10.1.1.880.1000 }}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
* [https://www.naturalhistorymag.com/picks-from-the-past/151686/floating-gold Natural History Magazine Article (from 1933): Floating Gold – The Romance of Ambergris]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060201072605/http://netstrider.com/documents/ambergris/ Ambergris – A Pathfinder and Annotated Bibliography]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060302082728/http://www.cropwatch.org/amber.htm On the chemistry and ethics of Ambergris]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/04/las-palmas-pathologist-ambergris-block-dead-sperm-whale Pathologist finds €500,000 ‘floating gold’ in dead whale in Canary Islands]
{{Whaling}}

[[Category:Perfume ingredients]]
[[Category:Whale products]]
[[Category:Animal glandular products]]
[[Category:Natural products]]
[[Category:Traditional medicine]]

Augustin-Louis Cauchy

2025-10-25T03:35:06Z

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:C458:2D74:DC9E:3992: /* Youth and education */Added word

{{Short description|French mathematician (1789–1857)}}
{{Redirect|Cauchy}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Augustin-Louis Cauchy
| image = Augustin-Louis Cauchy 1901.jpg
| caption = Cauchy around 1840. Lithography by Zéphirin Belliard after a painting by Jean Roller.
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1789|8|21|df=y}}
| birth_place = Paris, [[Kingdom of France|France]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1857|5|23|1789|8|21|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine|Sceaux]], [[Second French Empire|France]]
| residence =
| nationality = [[France|French]]
| alma_mater = [[École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées]]
| doctoral_advisor = 
| doctoral_students = [[Francesco Faà di Bruno]] [[Viktor Bunyakovsky]]
| known_for = [[Civil engineering]] [[Mathematical analysis]] [[Gradient descent]] [[Implicit function theorem]] [[Intermediate value theorem]] [[Spectral theorem]] [[Limit (mathematics)]] [[List of topics named after Augustin-Louis Cauchy|See full list]]
| awards = Grand Prize of L'Académie Royale des Sciences
| footnotes =
| spouse = Aloise de Bure
| children = Marie Françoise Alicia, Marie Mathilde
| field = [[Mathematics]], [[physics]]
| work_institutions = [[École Centrale du Panthéon]] [[École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées]] [[École Polytechnique]]
| prizes =
}}
[[Baron]] '''Augustin-Louis Cauchy''' {{postnom|FRS|FRSE}} ({{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|k|oʊ|ʃ|i}} {{Respell|KOH|shee}}, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|aʊ|ʃ|i|_}} {{Respell|KOW|shee}},<ref>{{cite EPD|16|Cauchy|page=59}}</ref><ref name=collins>{{cite web |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/cauchy |title=Cauchy |work=[[Collins English Dictionary]] |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |access-date=3 August 2023}}</ref> {{nobr|{{IPAc-en|US|k|oʊ|ˈ|ʃ|iː|_}}}} {{Respell|koh|SHEE}};<ref name=collins/><ref>{{cite dictionary |title=Cauchy |dictionary=[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]] |url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/cauchy |via=dictionary.com}}</ref> {{IPA|fr|oɡystɛ̃ lwi koʃi|lang}}; 21 August 1789 – 23 May 1857) was a French [[mathematician]], engineer, and [[physicist]]. He was one of the first to rigorously state and prove the key theorems of [[calculus]] (thereby creating [[real analysis]]), pioneered the field [[complex analysis]], and the study of [[permutation group]]s in [[abstract algebra]]. Cauchy also contributed to a number of topics in mathematical physics, notably [[continuum mechanics]].

A profound mathematician, Cauchy had a great influence over his contemporaries and successors;{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} [[Hans Freudenthal]] stated:
: "More concepts and theorems have been named for Cauchy than for any other mathematician (in [[Elasticity (physics)|elasticity]] alone there are sixteen concepts and theorems named for Cauchy)."{{sfn|Freudenthal|2008}}

Cauchy was a prolific worker; he wrote approximately eight hundred research articles and five complete textbooks on a variety of topics in the fields of mathematics and [[mathematical physics]].

==Biography==

===Youth and education===
[[File:Cauchy-Portrait.jpg|thumb|Augustin-Louis Cauchy, portrait, today in the [[Château de Sceaux]] near Paris]]
Cauchy was the son of [[Louis François Cauchy]] (1760–1848) and Marie-Madeleine Desestre. Cauchy had two brothers: Alexandre Laurent Cauchy (1792–1857), who became a president of a division of the court of appeal in 1847 and a judge of the court of cassation in 1849, and Eugene François Cauchy (1802–1877), a publicist who also wrote several mathematical works. From his childhood he was good at math.

Cauchy married Aloise de Bure in 1818. She was a close relative of the publisher who published most of Cauchy's works. They had two daughters, Marie Françoise Alicia (1819) and Marie Mathilde (1823).

Cauchy's father was a highly ranked official in the Parisian police of the
[[Ancien Régime]], but lost this position due to the [[French Revolution]] (14 July 1789), which broke out one month before Augustin-Louis was born.{{efn|His father's dismissal is sometimes seen as the cause of the deep hatred of the French Revolution that Cauchy felt all through his life.}} The Cauchy family survived the revolution and the following [[Reign of Terror]] during 1793–94 by escaping to [[Arcueil]], where Cauchy received his first education, from his father.{{sfn|Bruno|Baker|2003|p=66}} After the execution of [[Robespierre]] in 1794, it was safe for the family to return to Paris. There, Louis-François Cauchy found a bureaucratic job in 1800,{{sfn|Bruno|Baker|2003|pp=65–66}} and quickly advanced his career. When [[Napoleon]] came to power in 1799, Louis-François Cauchy was further promoted, and became Secretary-General of the Senate, working directly under [[Pierre-Simon Laplace|Laplace]] (who is now better known for his work on mathematical physics). The mathematician [[Joseph Louis Lagrange|Lagrange]] was also a friend of the Cauchy family.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

On Lagrange's advice, Augustin-Louis was enrolled in the [[École Centrale du Panthéon]], the best secondary school of Paris at that time, in the fall of 1802.{{sfn|Bruno|Baker|2003|p=66}} Most of the curriculum consisted of classical languages; the ambitious Cauchy, being a brilliant student, won many prizes in Latin and the humanities. In spite of these successes, Cauchy chose an engineering career, and prepared himself for the entrance examination to the [[École Polytechnique]].

In 1805, he placed second of 293 applicants on this exam and was admitted.{{sfn|Bruno|Baker|2003|p=66}} One of the main purposes of this school was to give future civil and military engineers a high-level scientific and mathematical education. The school functioned under military discipline, which caused Cauchy some problems in adapting. Nevertheless, he completed the course in 1807, at age 18, and went on to the [[École des Ponts et Chaussées]] (School for Bridges and Roads). He graduated in civil engineering, with the highest honors.

===Engineering days===
After finishing school in 1810, Cauchy accepted a job as a junior engineer in Cherbourg, where Napoleon intended to build a naval base. Here Cauchy stayed for three years, and was assigned the [[Canal de l'Ourcq|Ourcq Canal]] project and the [[Pont de Saint-Cloud|Saint-Cloud Bridge]] project, and worked at the Harbor of Cherbourg.{{sfn|Bruno|Baker|2003|p=66}} Although he had an extremely busy managerial job, he still found time to prepare three mathematical manuscripts, which he submitted to the ''Première Classe'' (First Class) of the [[Institut de France]].{{efn|In the revolutionary years the French Académie des Sciences was known as the "First Class" of the Institut de France.}} Cauchy's first two manuscripts (on [[regular polyhedron|polyhedra]]) were accepted; the third one (on directrices of [[conic sections]]) was rejected.

In September 1812, at 23 years old, Cauchy returned to Paris after becoming ill from overwork.{{sfn|Bruno|Baker|2003|p=66}} Another reason for his return to the capital was that he was losing interest in his engineering job, being more and more attracted to the abstract beauty of mathematics; in Paris, he would have a much better chance to find a mathematics related position. When his health improved in 1813, Cauchy chose not to return to Cherbourg.{{sfn|Bruno|Baker|2003|p=66}} Although he formally kept his engineering position, he was transferred from the payroll of the Ministry of the Marine to the Ministry of the Interior. The next three years Cauchy was mainly on unpaid sick leave; he spent his time fruitfully, working on mathematics (on the related topics of [[symmetric functions]], the [[symmetric group]] and the theory of higher-order algebraic equations). He attempted admission to the First Class of the Institut de France but failed on three different occasions between 1813 and 1815. In 1815 Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo, and the newly installed king [[Louis XVIII]] took the restoration in hand. The [[Académie des Sciences]] was re-established in March 1816; [[Lazare Carnot]] and [[Gaspard Monge]] were removed from this academy for political reasons, and the king appointed Cauchy to take the place of one of them. The reaction of Cauchy's peers was harsh; they considered the acceptance of his membership in the academy an outrage, and Cauchy created many enemies in scientific circles.

===Professor at École Polytechnique===
In November 1815, [[Louis Poinsot]], who was an associate professor at the École Polytechnique, asked to be exempted from his teaching duties for health reasons. Cauchy was by then a rising mathematical star. One of his great successes at that time was the proof of [[Pierre de Fermat|Fermat]]'s [[polygonal number theorem]]. He quit his engineering job, and received a one-year contract for teaching mathematics to second-year students of the École Polytechnique. In 1816, this Bonapartist, non-religious school was reorganized, and several liberal professors were fired; Cauchy was promoted to full professor.

When Cauchy was 28 years old, he was still living with his parents. His father found it time for his son to marry; he found him a suitable bride, Aloïse de Bure, five years his junior. The de Bure family were printers and booksellers, and published most of Cauchy's works.{{sfn|Bradley | Sandifer|2010| p=9}} Aloïse and Augustin were married on April 4, 1818, with great Roman Catholic ceremony, in the Church of Saint-Sulpice. In 1819 the couple's first daughter, Marie Françoise Alicia, was born, and in 1823 the second and last daughter, Marie Mathilde.{{sfn|Belhoste|1991|p=134}}

The conservative political climate that lasted until 1830 suited Cauchy perfectly. In 1824 Louis XVIII died, and was succeeded by his even more conservative brother [[Charles X of France|Charles X]]. During these years Cauchy was highly productive, and published one important mathematical treatise after another. He received cross-appointments at the [[Collège de France]], and the {{Interlanguage link|Faculté des sciences de Paris|fr}}.

===In exile===
In July 1830, the [[July Revolution]] occurred in France. Charles X fled the country, and was succeeded by [[Louis Philippe I]]. Riots, in which uniformed students of the École Polytechnique took an active part, raged close to Cauchy's home in Paris.

These events marked a turning point in Cauchy's life, and a break in his mathematical productivity. Shaken by the fall of the government and moved by a deep hatred of the liberals who were taking power, Cauchy left France to go abroad, leaving his family behind.{{sfn|Bruno|Baker|2003|p=67}} He spent a short time at [[Fribourg]] in Switzerland, where he had to decide whether he would swear a required oath of allegiance to the new regime. He refused to do this, and consequently lost all his positions in Paris, except his membership of the academy, for which an oath was not required. In 1831 Cauchy went to the Italian city of [[Turin]], and after some time there, he accepted an offer from the [[King of Sardinia]] (who ruled Turin and the surrounding Piedmont region) for a chair of theoretical physics, which was created especially for him. He taught in Turin during 1832–1833. In 1831, he was elected a foreign member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]], and the following year a Foreign Honorary Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]].<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter C|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterC.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterC.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=13 September 2016}}</ref>

In August 1833 Cauchy left Turin for [[Prague]] to become the science tutor of the thirteen-year-old Duke of Bordeaux, [[Henri d'Artois]] (1820–1883), the exiled Crown Prince and grandson of Charles X.{{sfn|Bruno|Baker|2003|p=68}} As a professor of the École Polytechnique, Cauchy had been a notoriously bad lecturer, assuming levels of understanding that only a few of his best students could reach, and cramming his allotted time with too much material. Henri d'Artois had neither taste nor talent for either mathematics or science. Although Cauchy took his mission very seriously, he did this with great clumsiness, and with surprising lack of authority over Henri d'Artois. During his civil engineering days, Cauchy once had been briefly in charge of repairing a few of the Parisian sewers, and he made the mistake of mentioning this to his pupil; with great malice, Henri d'Artois went about saying Cauchy started his career in the sewers of Paris. Cauchy's role as tutor lasted until Henri d'Artois became eighteen years old, in September 1838.{{sfn|Bruno|Baker|2003|p=67}} Cauchy did hardly any research during those five years, while Henri d'Artois acquired a lifelong dislike of mathematics. Cauchy was named a [[baron]], a title by which Cauchy set great store.

In 1834, his wife and two daughters moved to Prague, and Cauchy was reunited with his family after four years in exile.

===Last years===
Cauchy returned to Paris and his position at the Academy of Sciences late in 1838.{{sfn|Bruno|Baker|2003|p=67}} He could not regain his teaching positions, because he still refused to swear an oath of allegiance.
[[File:Augustin Louis Cauchy Litho (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|Cauchy in later life]]
In August 1839 a vacancy appeared in the [[Bureau des Longitudes]]. This Bureau bore some resemblance to the academy; for instance, it had the right to co-opt its members. Further, it was believed that members of the Bureau could "forget about" the oath of allegiance, although formally, unlike the Academicians, they were obliged to take it. The Bureau des Longitudes was an organization founded in 1795 to solve the problem of determining position at sea — mainly the [[longitude|longitudinal]] coordinate, since [[latitude]] is easily determined from the position of the sun. Since it was thought that position at sea was best determined by astronomical observations, the Bureau had developed into an organization resembling an academy of astronomical sciences.

In November 1839 Cauchy was elected to the Bureau, and discovered that the matter of the oath was not so easily dispensed with. Without his oath, the king refused to approve his election. For four years Cauchy was in the position of being elected but not approved; accordingly, he was not a formal member of the Bureau, did not receive payment, could not participate in meetings, and could not submit papers. Still Cauchy refused to take any oaths; however, he did feel loyal enough to direct his research to [[celestial mechanics]]. In 1840, he presented a dozen papers on this topic to the academy. He described and illustrated the [[signed-digit representation]] of numbers, an innovation presented in England in 1727 by [[John Colson]]. The confounded membership of the Bureau lasted until the end of 1843, when Cauchy was replaced by Poinsot.

Throughout the nineteenth century the French educational system struggled over the separation of church and state. After losing control of the public education system, the Catholic Church sought to establish its own branch of education and found in Cauchy a staunch and illustrious ally. He lent his prestige and knowledge to the [[École Normale Écclésiastique]], a school in Paris run by Jesuits, for training teachers for their colleges. He took part in the founding of the [[Institut Catholique de Paris|Institut Catholique]]. The purpose of this institute was to counter the effects of the absence of Catholic university education in France. These activities did not make Cauchy popular with his colleagues, who, on the whole, supported [[the Enlightenment]] ideals of the French Revolution. When a chair of mathematics became vacant at the Collège de France in 1843, Cauchy applied for it, but received just three of 45 votes.

In 1848 King Louis-Philippe fled to England. The oath of allegiance was abolished, and the road to an academic appointment was clear for Cauchy. On March 1, 1849, he was reinstated at the Faculté de Sciences, as a professor of mathematical astronomy. After political turmoil all through 1848, France chose to become a Republic, under the Presidency of [[Napoleon III of France]]. Early 1852 the President made himself Emperor of France, and took the name [[Napoleon III]].

The idea came up in bureaucratic circles that it would be useful to again require a loyalty oath from all state functionaries, including university professors. This time a cabinet minister was able to convince the Emperor to exempt Cauchy from the oath. In 1853, Cauchy was elected an International Member of the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Cauchy&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> Cauchy remained a professor at the university until his death at the age of 67. He received the [[Last Rites]] and died of a bronchial condition at 4 a.m. on 23 May 1857.{{sfn|Bruno|Baker|2003|p=67}}

His name is one of the [[List of the 72 names on the Eiffel Tower|72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower]].

==Work==

===Early work===
The genius of Cauchy was illustrated in his simple solution of the [[problem of Apollonius]]—describing a [[circle]] touching three given circles—which he discovered in 1805, his generalization of [[Euler characteristic|Euler's formula]] on [[polyhedra]] in 1811, and in several other elegant problems. More important is his memoir on [[wave]] propagation, which obtained the Grand Prix of the French Academy of Sciences in 1816. Cauchy's writings covered notable topics. In the theory of series he developed the notion of [[limit of a sequence|convergence]] and discovered many of the basic formulas for [[q-series]]. In the theory of numbers and complex quantities, he was the first to define [[complex number]]s as pairs of real numbers. He also wrote on the theory of groups and substitutions, the theory of functions, differential equations and determinants.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

===Wave theory, mechanics, elasticity===
In the theory of light he worked on [[Augustin-Jean Fresnel|Fresnel's]] wave theory and on the [[dispersion (optics)|dispersion]] and [[polarization (waves)|polarization]] of light.  He also contributed research in [[mechanics]], substituting the notion of the continuity of geometrical displacements for the principle of the continuity of matter.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kurrer |author-link=Karl-Eugen Kurrer |first=K.-E. |date=2018 |title=The History of the Theory of Structures. Searching for Equilibrium |location=Berlin |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons|Wiley]]|pages=978–979 |isbn=978-3-433-03229-9}}</ref> He wrote on the equilibrium of rods and elastic membranes and on waves in elastic media. He introduced a 3 × 3 symmetric [[matrix (mathematics)|matrix]] of numbers that is now known as the [[Cauchy stress tensor]].{{sfn|Cauchy|1827|p=42|loc="''De la pression ou tension dans un corps solide''" [On pressure or tension in a solid body]}} In [[Elasticity (physics)|elasticity]], he originated the theory of [[stress (physics)|stress]], and his results are nearly as valuable as those of [[Siméon Poisson]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

===Number theory===
Other significant contributions include being the first to prove the [[Fermat polygonal number theorem]].

===Complex functions===
Cauchy is most famous for his single-handed development of [[complex function theory]]. The first pivotal theorem proved by Cauchy, now known as ''[[Cauchy's integral theorem]]'', was the following:

:<math>
\oint_C f(z)dz = 0,
</math>

where ''f''(''z'') is a complex-valued function [[holomorphic function|holomorphic]] on and within the non-self-intersecting closed curve ''C'' (contour) lying in the [[complex plane]]. The ''contour integral'' is taken along the contour ''C''. The rudiments of this theorem can already be found in a paper that the 24-year-old Cauchy presented to the Académie des Sciences (then still called "First Class of the Institute") on August 11, 1814. In full form the theorem was given in 1825.{{sfn|Cauchy|1825}}

In 1826 Cauchy gave a formal definition of a [[residue (mathematics)|residue]] of a function.{{sfn|Cauchy|1826|p=11|loc="''Sur un nouveau genre de calcul analogue au calcul infinitésimal''" [On a new type of calculus analogous to the infinitesimal calculus]}} This concept concerns functions that have [[pole (complex analysis)|pole]]s—isolated singularities, i.e., points where a function goes to positive or negative infinity. If the complex-valued function ''f''(''z'') can be expanded in the [[neighborhood]] of a singularity ''a'' as

:<math>
f(z) = \varphi(z) + \frac{B_1}{z-a} + \frac{B_2}{(z-a)^2} + \cdots + \frac{B_n}{(z-a)^n},\quad
B_i, z,a \in \mathbb{C},
</math>

where φ(''z'') is [[Analytic function|analytic]] (i.e., well-behaved without singularities), then ''f'' is said to have a pole of order ''n'' in the point ''a''. If ''n'' = 1, the pole is called simple.
The coefficient ''B''1 is called by Cauchy the residue of function ''f'' at ''a''. If ''f'' is non-singular at ''a'' then the residue of ''f'' is zero at ''a''. Clearly, the residue is in the case of a simple pole equal to
:<math>
\underset{z=a}{\mathrm{Res}} f(z) = \lim_{z \rightarrow a} (z-a) f(z),
</math>
where we replaced ''B''1 by the modern notation of the residue.

In 1831, while in Turin, Cauchy submitted two papers to the Academy of Sciences of Turin. In the first{{sfn|Cauchy|1831}} he proposed the formula now known as [[Cauchy's integral formula]],
:<math>
f(a) = \frac{1}{2\pi i} \oint_C \frac{f(z)}{z-a} dz,
</math>
where ''f''(''z'') is analytic on ''C'' and within the region bounded by the contour ''C'' and the complex number ''a'' is somewhere in this region. The contour integral is taken counter-clockwise. Clearly, the integrand has a simple pole at ''z'' = ''a''. In the second paper<ref>Cauchy, ''Mémoire sur les rapports qui existent entre le calcul des Résidus et le calcul des Limites, et sur les avantages qu'offrent ces deux calculs dans la résolution des équations algébriques ou transcendantes'' (Memorandum on the connections that exist between the residue calculus and the limit calculus, and on the advantages that these two calculi offer in solving algebraic and transcendental equations], presented to the Academy of Sciences of Turin, November 27, 1831.</ref> he presented the [[residue theorem]],
:<math>
\frac{1}{2\pi i} \oint_C f(z) dz = \sum_{k=1}^n \underset{z=a_k}{\mathrm{Res}} f(z),
</math>
where the sum is over all the ''n'' poles of ''f''(''z'') on and within the contour ''C''. These results of Cauchy's still form the core of complex function theory as it is taught today to physicists and electrical engineers. For quite some time, contemporaries of Cauchy ignored his theory, believing it to be too complicated. Only in the 1840s the theory started to get response, with [[Pierre Alphonse Laurent]] being the first mathematician besides Cauchy to make a substantial contribution (his work on what are now known as [[Laurent series]], published in 1843).

===''Cours d'analyse''===
{{Main|Cours d'analyse}}
[[Image:Cauchy.jpg|left|thumb|The title page of a textbook by Cauchy.]] In his book ''Cours d'analyse'' Cauchy stressed the importance of rigor in analysis. ''Rigor'' in this case meant the rejection of the principle of ''[[Generality of algebra]]'' (of earlier authors such as Euler and Lagrange) and its replacement by geometry and [[infinitesimal]]s.{{sfn|Borovik|Katz|2012|pp=245–276}} Judith Grabiner wrote Cauchy was "the man who taught rigorous analysis to all of Europe".{{sfn|Grabiner|1981}} The book is frequently noted as being the first place that inequalities, and <math>\delta-\varepsilon</math> arguments were introduced into calculus. Here Cauchy defined continuity as follows: ''The function f(x) is continuous with respect to x between the given limits if, between these limits, an infinitely small increment in the variable always produces an infinitely small increment in the function itself.''

M. Barany claims that the École mandated the inclusion of infinitesimal methods against Cauchy's better judgement.{{sfn|Barany|2011}} Gilain notes that when the portion of the curriculum devoted to ''Analyse Algébrique'' was reduced in 1825, Cauchy insisted on placing the topic of continuous functions (and therefore also infinitesimals) at the beginning of the Differential Calculus.{{sfn|Gilain|1989}} Laugwitz (1989) and Benis-Sinaceur (1973) point out that Cauchy continued to use infinitesimals in his own research as late as 1853.

Cauchy gave an explicit definition of an infinitesimal in terms of a sequence tending to zero. There has been a vast body of literature written about Cauchy's notion of "infinitesimally small quantities", arguing that they lead from everything from the usual "epsilontic" definitions or to the notions of [[non-standard analysis]]. The consensus is that Cauchy omitted or left implicit the important ideas to make clear the precise meaning of the infinitely small quantities he used.{{sfn|Barany|2013}}

===Taylor's theorem===
He was the first to prove [[Taylor's theorem]] rigorously, establishing his well-known form of the remainder.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} He wrote a textbook{{sfn|Cauchy|1821}} (see the illustration) for his students at the École Polytechnique in which he developed the basic theorems of mathematical analysis as rigorously as possible. In this book he gave the necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a [[limit of a function|limit]] in the form that is still taught. Also Cauchy's well-known test for [[absolute convergence]] stems from this book: [[Cauchy condensation test]]. In 1829 he defined for the first time a complex function of a complex variable in another textbook.{{sfn|Cauchy|1829}} In spite of these, Cauchy's own research papers often used intuitive, not rigorous, methods;{{sfn|Kline|1982|p=176}} thus one of his theorems was exposed to a "counter-example" by [[Niels Henrik Abel|Abel]], later fixed by the introduction of the notion of [[uniform continuity]].

===Argument principle, stability===
In a paper published in 1855, two years before Cauchy's death, he discussed some theorems, one of which is similar to the "[[Argument principle|Principle of the argument]]" in many modern textbooks on complex analysis. In modern control theory textbooks, the [[Cauchy argument principle]] is quite frequently used to derive the [[Nyquist stability criterion]], which can be used to predict the stability of negative [[feedback amplifier]] and negative [[feedback]] control systems. Thus Cauchy's work has a strong impact on both pure mathematics and practical engineering.

==Published works==
[[File:Cauchy - Leçons sur le calcul différentiel, 1829 - 576181 F.jpg|thumb|''Leçons sur le calcul différentiel'', 1829]]

Cauchy was very productive, in number of papers second only to [[Leonhard Euler]]. It took almost a century to collect all his writings into 27 large volumes:
* {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070724003603/http://portail.mathdoc.fr/cgi-bin/oetoc?id=OE_CAUCHY_1_2|date=July 24, 2007|title=Oeuvres complètes d'Augustin Cauchy publiées sous la direction scientifique de l'Académie des sciences et sous les auspices de M. le ministre de l'Instruction publique (27 volumes)}}(Paris : Gauthier-Villars et fils, 1882–1974)
* {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/oeuvresdaugusti01caucrich |title=Œuvres complètes d'Augustin Cauchy|publisher= Académie des sciences (France)|via= Ministère de l'éducation nationale|date=1882–1938}}

His greatest contributions to mathematical science are enveloped in the rigorous methods which he introduced; these are mainly embodied in his three great treatises:
* {{cite book|id={{Internet Archive|id=coursdanalysede00caucgoog|name=online}}|title=Cours d'analyse de l'École royale polytechnique|date=1821|display-authors=0|first= Augustin Louis |last= Cauchy|location=Paris|title-link=Cours d'Analyse|chapter=Analyse Algébrique|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UrT0KsbDmDwC&pg=PA11|publisher=L'Imprimerie Royale, Debure frères, Libraires du Roi et de la [[Bibliothèque du Roi]]}}
* [https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k62404287 ''Le Calcul infinitésimal''] (1823)
* ''Leçons sur les applications de calcul infinitésimal''; ''La géométrie'' (1826–1828){{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
His other works include:
*{{cite book|title=Mémoire sur les intégrales définies, prises entre des limites imaginaires|language=fr|trans-title=A Memorandum on definite integrals taken between imaginary limits|first= Augustin Louis |last= Cauchy|date=1825 |location =submitted to the Académie des Sciences on February 28|url=https://archive.org/details/mmoiresurlesin00cauc/page/n4|display-authors=0|publisher=Paris, De Bure frères}}
*{{cite book|title=Exercices de mathematiques|first=Augustin Louis |last= Cauchy|date=1826 |location=Paris|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_BmOo00FGCuAC/page/n3|display-authors=0}}
*{{cite book|title=Exercices de mathematiques|first=Augustin Louis |last=Cauchy|date=1827|location=Paris|volume= Seconde Année|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_o6hCzbAYX7cC/page/n3|display-authors=0}}
*{{cite book|last=Cauchy|first=Augustin Louis Baron |title=Leçons sur le calcul différentiel|url=https://archive.org/details/BRIE000598_TO0324_PNI-2034_000000|year=1829|publisher=De Bure frères|location=Paris|display-authors=0}}
*{{cite book|last=Cauchy|first=Augustin-Louis |title=Sur la mecanique celeste et sur un nouveau calcul qui s'applique a un grand nombre de questions diverses etc|language=fr|trans-title=On Celestial Mechanics and on a new calculation which is applicable to a large number of diverse questions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iSVVAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA3|year=1831|display-authors=0|location=presented to the Academy of Sciences of Turin, October 11}}
* ''[https://archive.org/details/exercicedanaly01caucrich Exercices d'analyse et de physique mathematique (Volume 1)]''
* ''[https://archive.org/details/exercicedanaly02caucrich Exercices d'analyse et de physique mathematique (Volume 2)]''
* ''[https://archive.org/details/exercicedanaly03caucrich Exercices d'analyse et de physique mathematique (Volume 3)]''
* ''[https://archive.org/details/117770570_004 Exercices d'analyse et de physique mathematique (Volume 4)]'' (Paris: Bachelier, 1840–1847)
* ''[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8626657t Analyse algèbrique]'' (Imprimerie Royale, 1821)
* ''[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k78986c Nouveaux exercices de mathématiques]'' (Paris : Gauthier-Villars, 1895)
* ''Courses of mechanics'' (for the École Polytechnique)
* ''Higher algebra'' (for the {{Interlanguage link|Faculté des sciences de Paris|fr}})
* ''Mathematical physics'' (for the Collège de France).
* ''[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k90188b/f34 Mémoire sur l'emploi des equations symboliques dans le calcul infinitésimal et dans le calcul aux différences finis]'' CR Ac ad. Sci. Paris, t. XVII, 449–458 (1843) credited as originating the [[operational calculus]].

==Politics and religious beliefs==
Augustin-Louis Cauchy grew up in the house of a staunch royalist. This made his father flee with the family to [[Arcueil]] during the [[French Revolution]]. Their life there during that time was apparently hard; Augustin-Louis's father, Louis François, spoke of living on rice, bread, and crackers during the period. A paragraph from an undated letter from Louis François to his mother in [[Rouen]] says:{{sfn|Valson|1868|p=13|loc=Vol. 1}}
{{Blockquote|We never had more than a {{convert|1/2|lb|g|spell=in}} of bread — and sometimes not even that. This we supplement with little supply of hard crackers and rice that we are allotted. Otherwise, we are getting along quite well, which is the important thing and goes to show that human beings can get by with little. I should tell you that for my children's pap I still have a bit of fine flour, made from wheat that I grew on my own land. I had three bushels, and I also have a few pounds of [[potato starch]]. It is as white as snow and very good, too, especially for very young children. It, too, was grown on my own land.{{sfn|Belhoste|1991|p=3}} }} In any event, he inherited his father's staunch royalism and hence refused to take oaths to any government after the overthrow of Charles X.

He was an equally staunch Catholic and a member of the [[Society of Saint Vincent de Paul]].{{sfn|Brock|1908|p=}} He also had links to the [[Society of Jesus]] and defended them at the academy when it was politically unwise to do so. His zeal for his faith may have led to his caring for [[Charles Hermite]] during his illness and leading Hermite to become a faithful Catholic. It also inspired Cauchy to plead on behalf of the Irish during the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine of Ireland]].

His royalism and religious zeal made him contentious, which caused difficulties with his colleagues. He felt that he was mistreated for his beliefs, but his opponents felt he intentionally provoked people by berating them over religious matters or by defending the Jesuits after they had been suppressed. [[Niels Henrik Abel]] called him a "bigoted Catholic"{{sfn|Bell|1986|p=273}} and added he was "mad and there is nothing that can be done about him", but at the same time praised him as a mathematician. Cauchy's views were widely unpopular among mathematicians and when [[Guglielmo Libri Carucci dalla Sommaja]] was made chair in mathematics before him he, and many others, felt his views were the cause. When Libri was accused of stealing books he was replaced by [[Joseph Liouville]] rather than Cauchy, which caused a rift between Liouville and Cauchy. Another dispute with political overtones concerned [[Jean-Marie Duhamel|Jean-Marie Constant Duhamel]] and a claim on inelastic shocks. Cauchy was later shown, by [[Jean-Victor Poncelet]], to be wrong.

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[List of topics named after Augustin-Louis Cauchy]]
* [[Cauchy–Binet formula]]
* [[Cauchy boundary condition]]
* [[Cauchy's convergence test]]
* [[Cauchy (crater)]]
* [[Cauchy determinant]]
* [[Cauchy distribution]]
* [[Cauchy's equation]]
* [[Cauchy–Euler equation]]
* [[Cauchy's functional equation]]
* [[Cauchy horizon]]
* [[Cauchy formula for repeated integration]]
* [[Cauchy–Frobenius lemma]]
* [[Cauchy–Hadamard theorem]]
* [[Cauchy–Kovalevskaya theorem]]
* [[Cauchy momentum equation]]
* [[Cauchy–Peano theorem]]
* [[Cauchy principal value]]
* [[Cauchy problem]]
* [[Cauchy product]]
* [[Cauchy's radical test]]
* [[Cauchy–Rassias stability]]
* [[Cauchy–Riemann equations]]
* [[Cauchy–Schwarz inequality]]
* [[Cauchy sequence]]
* [[Cauchy surface]]
* [[Cauchy's theorem (geometry)]]
* [[Cauchy's theorem (group theory)]]
* [[Maclaurin–Cauchy test]]

{{div col end}}

==References==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|2|indent=yes}}
*{{Cite book | last = Belhoste | first = Bruno | translator= Frank Ragland | title = Augustin-Louis Cauchy: A Biography | place = Ann Arbor, Michigan | publisher = Springer | year = 1991 | page = 134 | isbn = 3-540-97220-X}}
*{{cite book|title=Men of Mathematics|first=E. T.|last= Bell|author-link=Eric Temple Bell|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1986|isbn= 9780671628185|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BLFL3coT5i4C&pg=PA273}}
*{{cite journal | last1 = Borovik | first1 = Alexandre | author1-link = Alexandre Borovik | last2 = Katz | first2 = Mikhail G. | author2-link = Mikhail Katz| arxiv = 1108.2885 | doi = 10.1007/s10699-011-9235-x | issue = 3 | journal = [[Foundations of Science]] | pages = 245–276 | title = Who gave you the Cauchy--Weierstrass tale? The dual history of rigorous calculus | volume = 17 | year = 2012| s2cid = 119320059 }}
*{{cite book | author1-first=Robert E. | author1-last=Bradley | author2-first=Charles Edward | author2-last=Sandifer | editor1-first=J. Z. | editor1-last=Buchwald | others=Cauchy, Augustin-Louis | title=Cauchy's Cours d'analyse: An Annotated Translation | series=Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences | date=2010 | publisher=Springer | isbn=978-1-4419-0548-2 | doi=10.1007/978-1-4419-0549-9 | lccn=2009932254 |pages=10, 285 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M0or-HGe7D0C}}
*{{cite CE1913|first=Henry Matthias |last=Brock|wstitle=Augustin-Louis Cauchy|volume=3}}
*{{Cite book|title=Math and mathematicians : the history of math discoveries around the world|last1=Bruno|first1=Leonard C.|date=2003|orig-year=1999|publisher=U X L|last2=Baker|first2=Lawrence W.|isbn=0787638137|location=Detroit, Mich.|oclc=41497065|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/mathmathematicia00brun}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Cauchy, Augustin Louis|volume=5|pages=555–556}}
*{{Cite encyclopedia| first = Hans| last = Freudenthal| title = Cauchy, Augustin-Louis| url = http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Augustin-Louis_Cauchy.aspx#1| publisher = Scribner |via= American Council of Learned Societies| isbn = 978-0-684-10114-9| editor-last = Gillispie| editor-first = Charles| encyclopedia = [[Dictionary of Scientific Biography]]| location = New York| year = 2008}}
*{{cite book|last=Kline|first=Morris |title=Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RNwnUL33epsC|year=1982|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-503085-3}}
*{{cite book|last=Valson|first=Claude-Alphonse |title=La vie et les travaux du baron Cauchy: membre de l'académie des sciences|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vQ7tw0rVKPsC|year=1868|publisher=Gauthier-Villars|language=fr|trans-title=The Life and Works of Baron Cauchy: Member of the Academy of Scinces}}
*{{Citizendium|title=Augustin-Louis Cauchy}}
{{refend}}

===Further reading===
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation|last=Barany|first=Michael|title=Stuck in the Middle: Cauchy's Intermediate Value Theorem and the History of Analytic Rigor|journal=Notices of the American Mathematical Society|volume=60|number=10|pages=1334–1338|year=2013|doi=10.1090/noti1049|doi-access=free}}
* {{citation|last=Barany|first=Michael|title=God, king, and geometry: revisiting the introduction to Cauchy's ''Cours d'analyse''|journal=Historia Mathematica|volume=38|issue=3|pages=368–388|year=2011|doi=10.1016/j.hm.2010.12.001 |doi-access=free}}
* Boyer, C.: The concepts of the calculus. Hafner Publishing Company, 1949.
* {{cite journal |doi=10.3406/rhs.1973.3315|title=Cauchy et Bolzano |year=1973 |last1=Benis-Sinaceur |first1=Hourya |journal=Revue d'Histoire des Sciences |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=97–112 |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01119625/file/1973_RHS_vol26_n2_p97_CauchyBolzano.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01119625/file/1973_RHS_vol26_n2_p97_CauchyBolzano.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live }}
* {{citation|author-link=Detlef Laugwitz|last=Laugwitz|first=D.|year=1989|title=Definite values of infinite sums: aspects of the foundations of infinitesimal analysis around 1820|journal=Arch. Hist. Exact Sci.|volume=39|issue=3|pages=195–245|doi=10.1007/BF00329867|s2cid=120890300}}.
* {{citation|last=Gilain|first=C.|title=Cauchy et le Course d'Analyse de l'École Polytechnique|journal=Bulletin de la Société des amis de la Bibliothèque de l'École polytechnique|volume=5|pages=3–145|year=1989}}
* {{cite book |first=Judith V. |last=Grabiner |title=The Origins of Cauchy's Rigorous Calculus |url=https://archive.org/details/originsofcauchys00judi |url-access=registration |location=Cambridge |publisher=MIT Press |year=1981 |isbn=0-387-90527-8 }}
* {{cite book|author-link= Themistocles M. Rassias|first= Th. M.|last= Rassias|url= http://www.worldscibooks.com/mathematics/0659.html|title= Topics in Mathematical Analysis, A Volume Dedicated to the Memory of A. L. Cauchy|publisher= World Scientific Co.|location= Singapore, New Jersey, London|date= 1989|access-date= 2011-01-27|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120325032416/http://www.worldscibooks.com/mathematics/0659.html|archive-date= 2012-03-25|url-status= dead}}
*{{cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41133794|jstor=41133794 |title=Cauchy's Conception of Rigour in Analysis |last1=Smithies |first1=F. |journal=Archive for History of Exact Sciences |year=1986 |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=41–61 |doi=10.1007/BF00357440 |s2cid=120781880 }}
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Cauchy, Augustin Louis|year=1905 |short=x}}

{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Augustin Louis Cauchy}}
{{Commons category|Augustin Louis Cauchy}}
* {{MacTutor Biography|id=Cauchy}}
* {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050617084840/http://planetmath.org/encyclopedia/CauchyCriterionForConvergence.html|date=June 17, 2005|title= Cauchy criterion for convergence}}
* [http://portail.mathdoc.fr/cgi-bin/oetoc?id=OE_CAUCHY_1_1 Augustin-Louis Cauchy – Œuvres complètes] (in 2 series) Gallica-Math
* {{MathGenealogy |id=55177}}
* [http://math.berkeley.edu/~robin/Cauchy/ Augustin-Louis Cauchy – Cauchy's Life] by [[Robin Hartshorne]]

{{Infinitesimals}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cauchy, Augustin Louis}}
[[Category:Augustin-Louis Cauchy| ]]
[[Category:1789 births]]
[[Category:1857 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century French mathematicians]]
[[Category:Corps des ponts]]
[[Category:École des Ponts ParisTech alumni]]
[[Category:École Polytechnique alumni]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:French Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:French geometers]]
[[Category:History of calculus]]
[[Category:French mathematical analysts]]
[[Category:Linear algebraists]]
[[Category:Members of the French Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:French textbook writers]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Turin]]
[[Category:International members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh]]

E. T. Whittaker

2025-10-25T03:33:22Z

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:C458:2D74:DC9E:3992: /* Death */Added comma

{{short description|British mathematician and historian of science (1873–1956)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2020}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix = [[Sir]]
| name = Edmund Whittaker
| honorific_suffix = [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] [[FRSE]]
| image = File:Edmund Taylor Whitakker by Arthur Trevor Haddon.jpg
| caption = A 1933 portrait of Whittaker by [[Arthur Trevor Haddon]] titled ''Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker''
| birth_date = {{birth date|1873|10|24|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Southport]], [[Lancashire]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|1956|03|24|1873|10|24|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[George Square, Edinburgh]], Scotland
| nationality = English
| field = {{Plainlist|
* [[Mathematics]]
* [[Astronomy]]
* [[Mathematical physics]]
* [[History of science]]}}
| work_institutions = {{Plainlist|
* [[University of Edinburgh]]
* [[Trinity College Dublin]]}}
| alma_mater = [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
| academic_advisors = {{Plainlist|
*[[Andrew Russell Forsyth]]<ref name="mathgene"/>
*[[George Howard Darwin]]<ref name="mathgene"/>}}
| doctoral_students = {{Plainlist|
*[[Alexander Aitken]]<ref name="mathgene"/>
*[[G. H. Hardy]]<ref name="mathgene"/><ref name=MartinStudents>{{harvnb|Martin|1958|pp=2–3}}</ref>
*[[George C. McVittie]]<ref name="mathgene"/>
*[[Ramaswamy S. Vaidyanathaswamy|R. S. Vaidyanathaswamy]]<ref name="mathgene"/>
*[[G. N. Watson]]<ref name="mathgene"/><ref name=MartinStudents />}}
| notable_students = {{Plainlist|
*[[Harry Bateman]]<ref name=MartinStudents />
*[[Freeman Dyson]]
*[[Arthur Eddington]]<ref name=MartinStudents /><ref name="mathgene"/>
*[[Marion Cameron Gray]]
*[[W. V. D. Hodge]]<ref name="mathgene"/>
*[[James Jeans]]<ref name=MartinStudents /><ref name="mathgene"/>
*[[John Edensor Littlewood]]<ref name=MartinStudents />
*[[G. I. Taylor]]<ref name=MartinStudents />
*[[Herbert Turnbull]]<ref name=MartinStudents />
*[[Éamon de Valera]]<ref name=Temple300>{{harvnb|Temple|1956|p=300}}</ref><ref name=MartinStudents />
*[[Arthur Geoffrey Walker|Arthur Walker]]<ref name=MartinStudents />}}
| known_for = {{Plainlist|
* Reference books ''([[Bibliography of E. T. Whittaker|see list]])''
* [[Whittaker function]]
* [[Whittaker model]]
* [[Whittaker–Nyquist–Kotelnikov–Shannon|Whittaker–Nyquist–Kotelnikov–Shannon theorem]]
* [[Whittaker–Shannon interpolation formula]]
* [[Rapidity]]}}
| spouse = Mary Ferguson Macnaghten Boyd
| influences =
| influenced =
| prizes = {{Plainlist|
*[[Smith's Prize]] (1897)<ref name=Temple299 />
*[[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (1905)<ref name=Temple300 />
*[[Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh|FRSE]] (1912)<ref name=bioIndexFomerEdinburgh />
*[[Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize Lectureship|Gunning Prize]] (1929)<ref name=Temple301 />
*[[Sylvester Medal]] (1931)<ref name=Temple301 />
*[[De Morgan Medal]] (1935)<ref name=Temple301 />
*''[[Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice]]'' (1935)<ref name=MartinRetire>{{harvnb|Martin|1958|pp=6–9}}</ref>
*[[Copley Medal]] (1954)<ref name=Temple301 />}}
| footnotes =
| signature =
}}

'''Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker''' (24 October 1873 – 24 March 1956) was a British mathematician, physicist, and historian of science. Whittaker was a leading mathematical scholar of the early 20th century who contributed widely to [[applied mathematics]] and was renowned for his research in [[mathematical physics]] and [[numerical analysis]], including the theory of [[special functions]], along with his contributions to astronomy, [[celestial mechanics]], the [[history of physics]], and [[digital signal processing]].

Among the most influential publications in [[Bibliography of E. T. Whittaker|Whittaker's bibliography]], he authored several popular reference works in mathematics, physics, and the history of science, including ''[[A Course of Modern Analysis]]'' (better known as ''Whittaker and Watson''), ''[[Analytical Dynamics of Particles and Rigid Bodies]]'', and ''[[A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity]]''. Whittaker is also remembered for his role in the [[relativity priority dispute]], as he credited [[Henri Poincaré]] and [[Hendrik Lorentz]] with developing [[special relativity]] in the second volume of his ''History'', a dispute which has lasted several decades, though scientific consensus has remained with Einstein.

Whittaker served as the [[Royal Astronomer of Ireland]] early in his career, a position he held from 1906 through 1912, before moving on to the chair of mathematics at the [[University of Edinburgh]] for the next three decades and, towards the end of his career, received the [[Copley Medal]] and was knighted. The School of Mathematics of the University of Edinburgh holds The Whittaker Colloquium, a yearly lecture, in his honour and the [[Edinburgh Mathematical Society]] promotes an outstanding young Scottish mathematician once every four years with the [[Sir Edmund Whittaker Memorial Prize]], also given in his honour.

==Life==

===Early life and education===
Edmund Taylor Whittaker was born in [[Southport]], in [[Lancashire]], the son of Selina Septima (''née'' Taylor) and John Whittaker.<ref name=bioIndexFomerEdinburgh /> He was described as an "extremely delicate child", necessitating his mother to home school him until he was 11 years old, when he was sent off to [[Manchester Grammar School]].<ref name=infinite179>{{harvnb|Maidment|McCartney|2019|p=179}}</ref> [[Ernest Barker]], a classmate of Whittaker's at the Grammar School with whom he shared the office of [[prefect#Academic|prefect]], later recalled his personality: "He had a gay, lively, bubbling spirit: he was ready for every prank: he survives in my memory as a natural actor; and I think he could also, on occasion, produce a merry poem."<ref>[[Ernest Barker]] (1953) ''Age and Youth'', p 280, [[Oxford University Press]]</ref> While at the school, Whittaker studied on the "classical side", devoting three-fifths of his time to Latin and Greek.<ref name=infinite179 /> Whittaker struggled with the poetry and drama which was required by the upper school, and expressed gratitude for being allowed to leave these studies behind and specialise in mathematics.<ref name=infinite179 />

In December 1891 Whittaker received an entrance scholarship to [[Trinity College, Cambridge]].<ref name=Temple299 /><ref name=infinite179 /> After completing his education at the Manchester Grammar School he went on to study mathematics and physics there from 1892 to 1895.<ref>{{acad|id=WHTR892ET|name=Whittaker, Edmund Taylor}}</ref> He entered Trinity College as a minor scholar in October 1892 to study mathematics.<ref name=infinite180>{{harvnb|Maidment|McCartney|2019|p=180}}</ref> Whittaker was the pupil of [[Andrew Russell Forsyth]] and [[George Howard Darwin]] while at Trinity College and received tutoring throughout his first two years.<ref name=Coutinho2>{{harvnb|Coutinho|2014|pp= 357–358}}</ref> With an interest more in applied than pure mathematics, Whittaker won the Sheepshanks Astronomical Exhibition in 1894 as an undergraduate.<ref name=Coutinho2 /> He graduated as [[Wrangler (University of Cambridge)|Second Wrangler]] in the [[Cambridge Tripos]] examination in 1895.<ref name=infinite181>{{harvnb|Maidment|McCartney|2019|p=181}}</ref> The [[Senior Wrangler]] that year was [[Thomas John I'Anson Bromwich]] and Whittaker tied [[John Hilton Grace]] for second, all three along with three other participants, including [[Bertram Hopkinson]], went on to be elected Fellows of the Royal Society.<ref name=Temple299>{{harvnb|Temple|1956|p=299}}</ref> He also received the [[Tyson Medal]] for Mathematics and Astronomy in 1896.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~morrison/mayhew.html#tyson | title=Mayhew Prize winners list | publisher= University of Leeds | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727021628/http://www.maths.leeds.ac.uk/~morrison/mayhew.html#tyson | archive-date=2011-07-27 }}</ref>

===Career===
Whittaker was a fellow of [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] from 1896 to 1906 when he was appointed [[Andrews Professor of Astronomy]] at [[Trinity College Dublin]] and Royal Astronomer of Ireland. He held these posts until 1912, when he was appointed chair of mathematics at the [[University of Edinburgh]], a role he went on to hold for just over a third of a century. Throughout his career, he wrote papers on automorphic functions and special functions in pure mathematics as well as on electromagnetism, general relativity, numerical analysis and astronomy in applied mathematics and physics, and was also interested in topics in biography, history, philosophy and theology.<ref name=infinite179 /> He also made several important innovations in Edinburgh that had a large impact on mathematical education and societies there.<ref name=infinite187 />

====Trinity College, Cambridge====
In 1896, Whittaker was elected as a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and remained at Cambridge as a teacher until 1906. In 1897, Whittaker was awarded the [[Smith Prize]] for his work on the paper "On the connexion of algebraic functions with automorphic functions", published in 1888.<ref name=infinite181 />

In 1902, Whittaker found a general solution to [[Laplace's equation]], which received popular news coverage as a "remarkable discovery", though the mathematician [[Horace Lamb]] noted that it did not offer any new features.<ref name=infiniteSolution>{{harvnb|Maidment|McCartney|2019|pp=183–184}}</ref> He also wrote several celebrated books in his early career, publishing ''[[A Course of Modern Analysis]]'' in 1902 and following it up with ''[[A Treatise on the Analytical Dynamics of Particles and Rigid Bodies]]'' just two years later in 1904. In September of that year, Whittaker was forced to sell six [[Household silver|silver fork]]s at an auction to pay back taxes which he had previously refused to pay due to the [[Education Act 1902]] requiring citizens to pay taxes to fund local Christian schools, such as the [[Roman Catholic Church]] and the [[Church of England]].<ref name=infiniteIncident>{{harvnb|Maidment|McCartney|2019|pp=184–185}}</ref>

Prior to being compelled by a magistrate to repay the tax burden, Whittaker was one of several activists who engaged in [[Nonviolent resistance|passive resistance]] by refusing to pay the taxes.<ref name=infiniteIncident /> In 1905, Whittaker was elected as a [[fellow of the Royal Society]] in recognition of his achievements.<ref name=Temple300 />

====Trinity College Dublin====
In 1906, Whittaker was appointed [[Andrews Professor of Astronomy]] at [[Trinity College Dublin]], which came with the title [[Royal Astronomer of Ireland]].<ref name=Temple300 /> He succeeded [[Charles Jasper Joly]] at the post and was appointed upon recommendation from the astronomer [[Robert Stawell Ball]].<ref name=infinite185 />

Ball's recommendation, which was published in a collection of his letters in 1915, stated that Whittaker was the only person he knew who could "properly succeed Joly" and that the role would "suit him in every way".<ref name=BallLetters>{{Cite book|last=Ball |first=Robert S. |author-link=Robert Stawell Ball |title=Reminiscences and letters of Sir Robert Ball|date=7 November 2016|isbn=978-1-4400-5668-0|oclc=958101932|page=152|publisher=1kg Limited }}</ref><ref name=infinite185 /> He then describes Whittaker as "modest" and "charming" and as "a man who has infinite capacity for making things go". Ball said Whittaker was a world-leading expert in theoretical astronomy and that, in relation to Whittaker's discovery of a general solution to [[Laplace's equation]], notes that he "has already made one discovery which the greatest mathematician of the last two centuries would be proud to have placed to his credit".<ref name=BallLetters /><ref name=infinite185 />

The Royal Astronomers acted as directors for the [[Dunsink Observatory]], which used outdated astronomy equipment; it was understood that the primary responsibility of the role was to teach mathematical physics at Trinity College.<ref name=Temple300 /><ref name=AitkenMem /> During this time, the relative leisure of his post allowed him to complete the reading required to write his third major book ''[[A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity#First edition: From the age of Descartes to the close of the nineteenth century|A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity, from the age of Descartes to the close of the nineteenth century]]''.<ref name=Temple319>{{harvnb|Temple|1956|p=319}}</ref> Also during this time, he wrote the book ''The Theory of Optical Instruments'', published six astronomy papers, and published collected astronomical observations.<ref name=infinite185 />

====University of Edinburgh====
[[File:St. Andrews colloquium 1913.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|The 1913 Colloquium for the [[Edinburgh Mathematical Society]]. Whittaker is featured sitting at the far left end of the front row.]]
Whittaker became Professor of Mathematics at the [[University of Edinburgh]] in January 1912, where he remained for the rest of his career.<ref name=Temple300 /><ref name=AitkenMem /> The role was left vacant by the death of his predecessor, [[George Chrystal]] in 1911.<ref name=AitkenMem /> He was elected as a Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] in 1912, after being nominated by [[Cargill Gilston Knott]], [[Ralph Allan Sampson]], [[James Gordon MacGregor]] and [[William Turner (anatomist)|Sir William Turner]]. He served as Secretary to the Society from 1916 to 1922, the Vice President from 1925 to 1928 and from 1937 to 1939, and was President of the Society from 1939 to 1944, through the war years.<ref name=bioIndexFomerEdinburgh>{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|page=990|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=978-0-902198-84-5|url=https://www.rse.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf}}</ref> Whittaker began holding "research lectures" in mathematics at the university, typically given twice a week.<ref name=Martin34 /> He was said to be a great lecturer by one of his previous attendees, who stated that his "clear diction, his felicity of language and his enthusiasm could not fail to evoke a response" and that he was very good with illustrations.<ref name=kkObit>{{Cite journal|last=Weatherhead|first=Kenneth Kilpatrick|date=1956|title=The Late Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker, M.A., Hon.F.F.A., F.R.S., Sc.D., LL.D.|journal=Transactions of the Faculty of Actuaries|volume=23|issue=189|pages=454–456|doi=10.1017/S0071368600006601|jstor=41218460|issn=0071-3686|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=McCrea|first=W. H.|author-link=William Hunter McCrea|date=1952|title=Review of History of Theories of the Aether and Electricity. I|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3610345|journal=The Mathematical Gazette|volume=36|issue=316|pages=138–141|doi=10.2307/3610345|jstor=3610345|issn=0025-5572}}</ref>

[[Freeman Dyson]] commented on Whittaker's lecture style by saying that students were "warmed, not only by the physical presence of a big crowd packed together, but by the mental vigour and enthusiasm of the old man".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dyson|first=Freeman J.|author-link=Freeman Dyson|date=1954|title=Review of A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity, Vol. II, Edmund Whittaker|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24944499|journal=Scientific American|volume=190|issue=3|pages=92–94|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0354-92|jstor=24944499|issn=0036-8733}}</ref> Whittaker's efforts helped transform the [[Edinburgh Mathematical Society]] from a teachers society to an academic research society and was a major driving force in introducing [[computational mathematics]] education to the UK and America.<ref name=infinite187>{{harvnb|Maidment|McCartney|2019|p=187}}</ref>

Shortly after coming to [[Edinburgh]], Whittaker established the Edinburgh Mathematical Laboratory, one of the UK's first mathematical laboratories.<ref name=infinite186>{{harvnb|Maidment|McCartney|2019|p=186}}</ref> The laboratory was the first attempt of a systematic treatment of [[numerical analysis]] in Great Britain and friends of Whittaker have said he believes it his most notable contribution to the education of mathematics.<ref name=infinite186 /> Subjects taught at the laboratory included [[interpolation]], the [[method of least squares]], [[systems of linear equations]], [[determinants]], [[Zero of a function|roots]] of [[transcendental equation]]s, practical [[Fourier analysis]], [[definite integral]]s, and [[Numerical methods for ordinary differential equations|numerical solution of differential equations]].<ref name=Martin34>{{harvnb|Martin|1958|pp=3–4}}</ref> The laboratory program was so successful, it resulted in many requests for an extra summer course to allow others to attend who previously were unable, ultimately leading to the establishment of a colloquium through the [[Edinburgh Mathematical Society]]. In 1913, Whittaker established the [[Edinburgh Mathematical Society|Edinburgh Mathematical Society Colloquium]] and the first was held over five days in August of that year.<ref name=Martin34 />

The textbook ''The calculus of observations'' was compiled from courses given at the Laboratory over a ten-year period; the book was well received and ultimately went through four editions.<ref name=infinite188>{{harvnb|Maidment|McCartney|2019|p=188}}</ref>

===Fellowships and academic positions===
Outside of the Royal Astronomer of Ireland and his roles in the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Whittaker held several notable academic posts, including president of the [[Mathematical Association]] from 1920 through 1921, president of the Mathematical and Physical Section (Section A) of the [[British Science Association]] in 1927, and was president of the [[London Mathematical Society]] from 1928 through 1929.<ref name=infinite190 /> Whittaker also held the [[Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize Lectureship]] for "his service to mathematics" with the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] from 1924 through 1928.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize Lectureship|url=https://www.rse.org.uk/cms/files/research_awards/prizes/prize_lists/gunning_victoria_winners.pdf|access-date=23 October 2020|website=Royal Society of Edinburgh}}</ref>

He was elected either Honorary Fellow or Foreign Member in a number of academic organisations, including the {{lang|it|[[Accademia dei Lincei]]|italic=no}} in 1922, the Societa Reale di Napoli in 1936, the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1944, the [[Académie royale de Belgique]] in 1946, the [[Faculty of Actuaries]] in 1918, the Benares Mathematical Society in 1920, the [[Indian Mathematical Society]] in 1924, and the [[Mathematical Association]] in 1935. In 1956, he was elected as a corresponding member of the Geometry section of the [[French Academy of Sciences]] a few days before his death.<ref name=Temple301>{{harvnb|Temple|1956|p=301}}</ref> Whittaker was also awarded honorary doctorates from several universities, including two [[LL.D.|LLD]]s from the [[University of St Andrews]] in 1926 and the [[University of California]] in 1934, an [[Sc.D.|ScD]] from the [[Trinity College Dublin]] in 1906, and two [[D.Sc.]]s from the [[National University of Ireland]] in 1939 and [[University of Manchester]] in 1944.<ref name=Temple300 />

===Later life===
Whittaker published many works on philosophy and theism in the last years of his career and during his retirement in addition to his work on the second edition of ''[[A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity]]''. He released two books on Christianity and published several books and papers on the philosophy of [[Arthur Eddington]].<ref name=McConnellEdd />

====Christianity====
Whittaker was a [[Christians|Christian]] and became a convert to the [[Roman Catholic Church]] in 1930.<ref name=infinite185>{{harvnb|Maidment|McCartney|2019|p=185}}</ref> In relation to that, [[Pope Pius XI]] awarded him with the ''[[Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice]]'' in 1935 and appointed him to the [[Pontifical Academy of Sciences]] in 1936.<ref name=MartinRetire /> He was a member of the academy from 1936 onward and served as Honorary President of the [[John Henry Newman|Newman Society]] from 1943 to 1945.<ref name=Temple301 /> Whittaker published two book-length works on the topic of Christianity, including ''The beginning and end of the world'' and ''Space and spirit''.<ref name=infinite189 /> The first of which was the result of the 1942 Riddell Memorial Lectures at Durham while the second is based on his 1946 [[Donnellan Lecture]] at [[Trinity College Dublin]].<ref name=Whitrow /> It has been remarked by physics historian [[Helge Kragh]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kragh|first=Helge|author-link=Helge Kragh |title=Entropic creation: religious contexts of thermodynamics and cosmology|date=2008|publisher=Ashgate|isbn=978-0-7546-8256-1|edition=1st|page=215|location=Aldershot, Hampshire, England|oclc=646740256}}</ref> that in these books, Whittaker was "the only physical scientist of the first rank" who defended the strong entropic creation argument, which holds that as [[entropy]] always increases, the Universe must have started at a point of minimum entropy, which they argue implies the existence of a god.<ref name=infinite189>{{harvnb|Maidment|McCartney|2019|p=189}}</ref> Whittaker published several articles which draw connections between science, philosophy and theism between 1947 and 1952 in the BBC magazine ''The Listener'', one of which ''Religion and the nature of the universe'' was republished in [[American Vogue|American ''Vogue'']], making him "a rare, if not unique, example of a man whose published work not only crossed disciplinary boundaries, but was published everywhere from ''Nature'' to ''Vogue''."<ref name=infinite190>{{harvnb|Maidment|McCartney|2019|p=190}}</ref>

====Retirement====
Whittaker retired from his position as chair of the mathematics department at the [[University of Edinburgh]] in September 1946, a role he held for over 33 years.<ref name=retire>{{Cite journal|last=Aitken|first=A. C.|author-link=Alexander Aitken|date=August 1946|title=Mathematics at Edinburgh: Sir Edmund Whittaker, F.R.S.E|journal=Nature|volume=158|issue=4008|pages=264|doi=10.1038/158264b0|bibcode=1946Natur.158R.264.|s2cid=4083544|issn=0028-0836|doi-access=free}}</ref> He was awarded [[emeritus professor]] status at the university which he retained until his death.<ref name=AitkenMem /> In retirement, Whittaker worked tirelessly on the second edition of his ''[[A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity]]'', releasing ''The Classical Theories'' just a few years later.<ref name=MartinRetire /> He also continued publishing works in philosophy and theism. [[James Robert McConnell]] noted that Whittaker's research in the connection between physics and philosophy spanned nearly forty publications written over his last 15 years.<ref name=McConnell /> During the three years prior to the publication of second volume of his ''History'', Whittaker had already determined that he was going to give priority for the discovery of special relativity to [[Henri Poincaré]] and [[Hendrik Lorentz]] in the new book.<ref name=BornToEinstein>{{Cite book |last1=Born |first1=Max |author-link1=Max Born |last2=Einstein |first2=Albert |author-link2=Albert Einstein |title=The Born-Einstein Letters: Correspondence between Albert Einstein and Max and Hedwig Born from 1916–1955, with commentaries by Max Born |date=1971 |publisher=[[Walker (publisher)|Walker]] |isbn=978-0-333-11267-0 |oclc=243246354|section=Letter from [[Max Born]] to [[Albert Einstein]] 26 September 1953|pages=197–198}}</ref> [[Max Born]], a friend of Whittaker's, wrote a letter to Einstein in September 1953 explaining that he had done all he could over the previous three years to convince Whittaker to change his mind about Einstein's role, but Whittaker was resolved in the idea and, according to Born, he "cherished" and "loved to talk" about it.<ref name=BornToEinstein /> Born told Einstein that Whittaker insists that all the important features were developed by Poincaré while Lorentz "quite plainly had the physical interpretation", which annoyed Born as Whittaker was a "great authority in the English speaking countries" and he was worried that Whittaker's view would influence others.<ref name=BornToEinstein />

====Death====
Whittaker died at his home, 48 [[George Square, Edinburgh]], on 24 March 1956.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Oxford DNB article: Whittaker|url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/DNB/Whittaker.html|access-date=23 October 2020|website=mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk}}</ref> He was buried at Mount Vernon Cemetery in Edinburgh, with "mathematical precision at a depth of 6 ft. 6 inches", according to the cemetery register.<ref name=infinite190 /> His entry in the [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] was written by [[George Frederick James Temple]] in November 1956.<ref name=Temple300 /> He received published obituaries from [[Alexander Aitken]],<ref name=Aitken1956>{{harvnb|Aitken|1956}}</ref> [[Herbert Dingle]],<ref name=dingle>{{harvnb|Dingle|1956}}</ref> [[Gerald James Whitrow]],<ref name=Whitrow>{{harvnb|Whitrow|1956}}</ref> and [[William Hunter McCrea]],<ref name=McCrea1957>{{harvnb|McCrea|1957}}</ref> among others.<ref name=MartinObit>{{harvnb|Martin|1958}}</ref><ref name=kkObit /> His house was owned by the University of Edinburgh and was demolished in the 1960s to expand the campus, and now holds the William Robertson Building.<ref>{{Historic Environment Scotland|cat=PLA|num=122911|num2=NT27SE 1819|desc=Edinburgh, 48 George Square|access-date=21 June 2025}}</ref>

===Personal life===
In 1901, while at Cambridge, he married Mary Ferguson Macnaghten Boyd, the daughter of a [[Presbyterian]] minister and granddaughter of [[Thomas Jamieson Boyd]].<ref name=Temple300>{{harvnb|Temple|1956|p=300}}</ref> They had five children, two daughters and three sons including the mathematician [[John Macnaghten Whittaker]] (1905–1984).<ref name=MartinRetire /> His elder daughter, Beatrice, married [[Edward Copson|Edward Taylor Copson]], who would later become Professor of Mathematics at the [[University of St Andrews]].<ref name="Httpwwwlmsacuknewsletter_html">{{cite web |url=http://www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter/322/322_03.html |title=National News |access-date=22 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050215045321/http://www.lms.ac.uk/newsletter/322/322_03.html |archive-date=15 February 2005}}</ref>

[[George Frederick James Temple]] noted that Whittaker's home in [[Edinburgh]] was "a great centre of social and intellectual activity where liberal hospitality was dispensed to students of all ages",<ref name=Temple300 /> and went on to note that Whittaker had a happy home life and was well loved by his family.<ref name=Temple300 /> Whittaker kept a piano in his home which he did not know how to play, but enjoyed listening to friends play when they would come to visit.<ref name=MartinRetire /> Whittaker was also known to take a personal interest in his students and would invite them to social gatherings at his house.<ref name=MartinRetire /><ref name=kkObit /> He also continued to keep track of his Honours students over the years.<ref name=MartinRetire /> His home was also the location of many unofficial interviews that would have a large impact on a student's future career.<ref name=kkObit /> After his death, [[William Hunter McCrea]] described Whittaker as having a "quick wit" with an "ever-present sense of humour" and being "the most unselfish of men with a delicate sense of what would give help or pleasure to others".<ref name=McCrea1957 /> He notes that Whittaker had a "vast number of friends" and that he "never missed an opportunity to do or say something on behalf of any one of them".<ref name=McCrea1957 />

==Legacy==
In addition to his textbooks and other works, several of which remain in print, Whittaker is remembered for his research in [[automorphic function]]s, [[numerical analysis]], [[harmonic analysis]], and [[general relativity]]. He has several theorems and functions named in his honour. In June 1958, two years after his death, an entire issue of the [[Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society]] was dedicated to his life and works.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=August 1958|title=Work of Sir Edmund Whittaker|journal=Nature|volume=182|issue=4635|pages=562|doi=10.1038/182562a0|bibcode=1958Natur.182Q.562.|s2cid=29384754|issn=0028-0836|doi-access=free}}</ref> The volume included an article by [[Robert Alexander Rankin]] on Whittaker's work on [[automorphic function]]s,<ref name=Rankin>{{harvnb|Rankin|1958}}</ref> an article on Whittaker's work on [[numerical analysis]] by [[Alexander Aitken]],<ref name=AitkenMem>{{harvnb|Aitken|1958}}</ref> his work on [[Harmonic function]]s was covered in an article by Temple,<ref name=Temple1958>{{harvnb|Temple|1958}}</ref> [[John Lighton Synge]] wrote about his contributions to the [[theory of relativity]],<ref name=Synge>{{harvnb|Synge|1958}}</ref> and [[James Robert McConnell]] wrote about Whittaker's philosophy.<ref name=McConnell>{{harvnb|McConnell|1958}}</ref> Among others, Whittaker coined the terms [[cardinal function]] and [[Mathieu function]].<ref name=TempleBib /> The School of Mathematics of the [[University of Edinburgh]] holds the annual Whittaker Colloquium in his honour.<ref name="mathgene">{{MathGenealogy|id=18571}}</ref><ref name="mactutor">{{MacTutor Biography|id=Whittaker|mode=cs1}}</ref> Funded by a donation from his family in 1958, the [[Edinburgh Mathematical Society]] promotes an outstanding young Scottish mathematician once every four years with the [[Sir Edmund Whittaker Memorial Prize]], also given in his honour.<ref>{{harvnb|Fulton|1958}}</ref>

===Namesakes and notable research===
Whittaker is the [[eponym]] of the [[Whittaker function]] or Whittaker integral, in the theory of [[confluent hypergeometric function]]s.<ref name=McCrea244>{{harvnb|McCrea|1957|p=244}}</ref> This makes him also the eponym of the [[Whittaker model]] in the local theory of [[automorphic representation]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Jacquet|first1=Hervé|author1-link=Hervé Jacquet|last2=Shalika|first2=Joseph|author2-link=Joseph Shalika|date=1983|title=The Whittaker models of induced representations.|url=https://projecteuclid.org/euclid.pjm/1102720206|journal=Pacific Journal of Mathematics|volume=109|issue=1|pages=107–120|doi=10.2140/pjm.1983.109.107|issn=0030-8730|doi-access=free}}</ref> He published also on [[algebraic function]]s, though they were typically limited to special cases.<ref name=AitkenMem>{{harvnb|Aitken|1958}}</ref> Whittaker had a lifelong interest in [[automorphic function]]s and he published three papers on the topic throughout his career.<ref>{{harvnb|Rankin|1958|p=25}}</ref> Among other contributions, he found the general [[Expression (mathematics)|expression]] for the [[Bessel function]]s as [[integral]]s involving [[Legendre function]]s.<ref name=McCrea244 />

Whittaker also made contributions to the theory of [[partial differential equation]]s, [[harmonic functions]] and other special functions of mathematical physics, including finding a general solution to [[Laplace's equation]] that became a standard part of [[potential theory]].<ref>{{harvnb|Temple|1958|p=11}}</ref> Whittaker developed a general solution of the [[Laplace equation]] in [[dimension|three dimension]]s and the solution of the [[wave equation]].<ref name=infinite183>{{harvnb|Maidment|McCartney|2019|p=183}}</ref>

===Notable works===
{{main|Bibliography of E. T. Whittaker}}
Whittaker wrote three scientific [[treatise]]s which were highly influential, ''[[A Course of Modern Analysis]]'', ''[[Analytical Dynamics of Particles and Rigid Bodies]]'', and ''The Calculus of Observations''.<ref name=Temple318>{{harvnb|Temple|1956|pp=318}}</ref> In 1956, [[Gerald James Whitrow]] stated that two of them not only were required reading for British mathematicians, but were regarded as fundamental components of their personal libraries.<ref name=Whitrow /> Despite the success of these books and his other researchers and their influence in mathematics and physics, the second edition of Whittaker's ''[[A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity]]'' has been called his "magnum opus".<ref name=MartinRetire /><ref name=Whitrow /><ref name=AitkenMem /> In reference to the title's popularity, [[William Hunter McCrea]] predicted that future readers would have a hard time acknowledging it was the result of just "a few years at both ends of a career of the highest distinction in other pursuits."<ref name=McCrea251>{{harvnb|McCrea|1957|p=251}}</ref>

Whittaker also wrote ''The theory of optical instruments'' during his time as [[Royal Astronomer of Ireland]] as well as several books on philosophy and theism.<ref name=Temple318 /> Whittaker's bibliography in the ''[[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]]'' includes 11 books and monographs, 56 mathematics and physics articles, 35 philosophy and history articles, and 21 biographical articles, excluding popular and semi-popular articles published in magazines such as ''[[Scientific American]]''.<ref name=TempleBib>{{harvnb|Temple|1956|pp=321–325}}</ref> In the bibliography compiled by McCrea in 1957, there are 13 books and monographs and the same journal articles, also excluding popular articles.<ref name=McCreaBib>{{harvnb|McCrea|1957|pp=253–256}}</ref> Among other topics, Whittaker wrote a total of ten papers on [[electromagnetism]] and [[general relativity]].<ref name=Synge />

====''Whittaker & Watson''====
{{main|A Course of Modern Analysis}}
Whittaker was the original author of the classic textbook ''[[A Course of Modern Analysis]]'', first published in 1902.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1904-01123-4|title=Book Review: ''A Course of Modern Analysis''|journal=Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society|volume=10|issue=7|pages=351–355|year=1904|last1=Bôcher|first1=Maxime|author-link=Maxime Bôcher|doi-access=free}}</ref> There were three more editions of the book all in collaboration with [[George Neville Watson]], resulting in the famous colloquial name ''Whittaker & Watson''. The work is subtitled ''an introduction to the general theory of infinite processes and of analytic functions; with an account of the principal transcendental functions'' and is a classic textbook in [[mathematical analysis]], remaining in print continuously since its release over a hundred years ago.<ref name=Httpwwwlmsacuknewsletter_html/> It covered topics previously unavailable in English, such as [[complex analysis]], [[mathematical analysis]], and the [[Special functions]] used in [[mathematical physics]].<ref name=Temple318 /> [[George Frederick James Temple]] noted that it was unmatched in these aspects "for many years".<ref name=Temple318 /> The book was an edited set of lecture notes from the [[Cambridge Tripos]] courses Whittaker taught and contained results from mathematicians such as [[Augustin-Louis Cauchy]] and [[Karl Weierstrass]] which were relatively unknown to English speaking countries.<ref name=MartinIntro>{{harvnb|Martin|1958|pp=1–2}}</ref> [[Alexander Aitken|A. C. Aitken]] noted the books have been widely influential in the study of [[special function]]s and their associated [[differential equation]]s as well as in the study of functions of [[complex analysis|complex variables]].<ref name=AitkenMem />

====''Analytical Dynamics of Particles and Rigid Bodies''====
{{main|Analytical Dynamics of Particles and Rigid Bodies}}
Whittaker's second major work, ''A Treatise on the Analytical Dynamics of Particles and Rigid Bodies'' was first published in 1904, and quickly became a classic textbook in [[mathematical physics]] and [[analytical dynamics]], a branch of [[classical mechanics]].<ref name=Coutinho1>{{harvnb|Coutinho|2014|pp= 356–357}}</ref> It has remained in print for most of its lifetime, over more than a hundred years, and has been said to have "remarkable longevity".<ref name=Coutinho1 /> The book represented the forefront of development at the time of publication, where many reviewers noted it contained material otherwise non-existent in the English language.<ref name=Coutinho1 /> The book was a landmark textbook, providing the first systematic treatment in English for the theory of [[Hamiltonian dynamics]], which played a fundamental role in the development of [[quantum mechanics]].<ref name=MartinIntro /> [[Alexander Aitken|A. C. Aitken]] called the book "epoch making in a very precise sense", noting that just before the development of the [[theory of relativity]], the book provided a detailed summary of classical dynamics and the progress that had been made in [[Lagrangian mechanics]] and [[Hamiltonian mechanics]], including work from [[Henri Poincaré]] and [[Tullio Levi-Civita]].<ref name=AitkenMem /> The book has received many recommendations, including from [[Victor Lenzen]] in 1952, nearly 50 years after its initial publication, who said the book was still the "best exposition of the subject on the highest possible level".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lenzen|first=V. F.|author-link=Victor Lenzen|date=September 1952|title=A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity. Edmund Whittaker|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/348142|journal=Isis|volume=43|issue=3|pages=293–294|doi=10.1086/348142|issn=0021-1753|url-access=subscription}}</ref> It was noted in a 2014 article covering the book's development, published in the ''[[Archive for History of Exact Sciences]]'', that the book was used for more than just a historical book, where it was pointed out that of the 114 books and papers that cited the book between 2000 and 2012, "only three are of a historical nature".<ref name=Coutinho1 /> In that same period, the book was said to be "highly recommended to advanced readers" in the 2006 engineering textbook ''Principles of Engineering Mechanics''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Beatty|first=Millard F.|chapter=Introduction to Advanced Dynamics|date=2006|chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-31255-2_7|title=Principles of Engineering Mechanics |volume=2 Dynamics—The Analysis of Motion|pages=495–584|series=Mathematical Concepts and Methods in Science and Engineering|place=Boston|publisher=Springer US|doi=10.1007/978-0-387-31255-2_7|isbn=978-0-387-31255-2|access-date=3 October 2020}}</ref>

====''A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity''====
{{main|A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity}}
In 1910, Whittaker wrote ''[[A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity]]'',<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1913-02381-4|title=Book Review: ''A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity from the Age of Descartes to the Close of the Nineteenth Century''|journal=Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society|volume=19|issue=8|pages=423–428|year=1913|last1=Wilson|first1=Edwin Bidwell|author-link=Edwin Bidwell Wilson|doi-access=free}}</ref> which gave a detailed account of the [[aether theories]] from [[René Descartes]] to [[Hendrik Lorentz]] and [[Albert Einstein]], including the contributions of [[Hermann Minkowski]]. The book was well received and established Whittaker as a respected historian of science.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=McCrea|first1=W. H.|last2=Whittaker|first2=Edmund|date=May 1952|title=History of Theories of the Aether and Electricity. I|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3610345|journal=The Mathematical Gazette|volume=36|issue=316|pages=138|doi=10.2307/3610345|jstor=3610345}}</ref> A second, revised and extended edition was later released. The first volume, subtitled ''the classical theories'', was published in 1951<ref name=Lenzen1952>{{cite journal|last1=Lenzen|first1=V. F.|author-link=Victor Lenzen|title=A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity. Edmund Whittaker|journal=Isis|volume=43|issue=3|year=1952|pages=293–294|issn=0021-1753|doi=10.1086/348142}} [https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/348143 p. 294]</ref> and served as a revised and updated edition of the first book. The second volume, published in 1953,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Whittaker, E. T.|year=1989|orig-year=1953 |title=A history of the theories of aether & electricity|publisher=Dover Publications|volume=2|edition=2|isbn=0-486-26126-3|location=New York|oclc=20357018}}</ref> extended this work covering the years 1900–1926. Notwithstanding a notorious controversy on Whittaker's views on the history of [[special relativity]], covered in volume two of the second edition, the books are considered authoritative references on the history of classical electromagnetism<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jackson|first=John David|author-link=John David Jackson (physicist)|title=[[Classical Electrodynamics (book)|Classical Electrodynamics]]|date=1999|publisher=Wiley|isbn=0-471-30932-X|edition=3rd|location=New York|oclc=38073290|page=1|quote=The story of the development of our understanding of electricity and magnetism is, of course, much longer and richer than the mention of a few names from one century would indicate. For a detailed account of the fascinating history, the reader should consult the authoritative volumes by ''Whittaker''}}</ref> and are considered [[classic book]]s in the [[history of physics]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Arthur I.|author1-link=Arthur I. Miller|last2=Cushing|first2=James T.|author2-link=James T. Cushing|date=4 June 1998|title=Albert Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity: Emergence (1905) and Early Interpretation (1905–1911)|url=https://aapt.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1119/1.13068|journal=American Journal of Physics|volume=50|issue=5|pages=476|doi=10.1119/1.13068|issn=0002-9505|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Due to the book's role in the [[relativity priority dispute]], however, the second volume is cited far less than the first volume and first edition, except in connection with the controversy.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hunt|first=Bruce J.|date=1988|title=Review of A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/234708|journal=Isis|volume=79|issue=3|pages=515–516|doi=10.1086/354809|jstor=234708|issn=0021-1753}}</ref>

{{anchor|Special relativity}}

===Relativity priority dispute===
{{main|A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity#Special relativity controversy}}
{{further||Relativity priority dispute}}
Whittaker is also remembered for his role in the [[relativity priority dispute]], a historical controversy over credit for the development of [[special relativity]]. In a chapter named "The Relativity Theory of Poincaré and Lorentz" in the second volume of the second edition of ''[[A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity]]'', Whittaker credited [[Henri Poincaré]] and [[Hendrik Lorentz]] for developing the theory; he attributed relatively little importance to Einstein's [[Annus Mirabilis papers#Special relativity|special relativity paper]], saying it "set forth the relativity theory of Poincaré and Lorentz with some amplifications, and which attracted much attention".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Whittaker|first=E. T.|title=A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity: The Modern Theories |edition=2nd|volume=2|publisher=Thomas Nelson and Sons|year=1953|page=40}}</ref> [[Max Born]], a friend of Whittaker's, wrote to Einstein expressing his concern about the book's publication and wrote a rebuttal in his 1956 book.<ref name=BornToEinstein /><ref name=PhysicsMyGen>{{Cite book |last=Born |first=Max |author-link=Max Born |title=Physics in my Generation |date=1956 |publisher=[[Pergamon Press]] |oclc=427382550|pages=194–195}}</ref> The controversy was also mentioned in one of Whittaker's obituaries by [[Gerald James Whitrow]], who said that he had written Whittaker a letter explaining how the latter's views "did not do justice to the ''originality'' of Einstein's philosophy", but remarked that he understood why Whittaker felt the need to correct the popular misconception that Einstein's contribution was unique.<ref name=Whitrow /> Max Born's rebuttal, published in his 1956 book, also argues that while the contributions of Lorentz and Poincaré should not be overlooked, it was the postulates and philosophy of Einstein's theory that "distinguishes Einstein’s work from his predecessors and gives us the right to speak of Einstein’s theory of relativity, in spite of Whittaker’s different opinion".<ref name=PhysicsMyGen /> Though the dispute has lasted decades, most scholars have rejected Whittaker's arguments and scientific consensus has continued to hold that special relativity was Einstein's development.<ref name=torretti>{{Cite book|last=Torretti|first=Roberto|author-link=Roberto Torretti|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i6xqDwAAQBAJ|title=Relativity and Geometry|date=1 January 1996|publisher=Courier Corporation|isbn=978-0-486-69046-9|quote=Whittaker's views on the origin of special relativity have been rejected by the great majority of scholars}}</ref>

==Philosophy==
Whittaker's views on philosophy was analysed by [[James Robert McConnell]] for the ''Whittaker Memorial Volume'' of the ''[[Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society]]''.<ref name=McConnell/> McConnell noted that Whittaker's research into the connections between physics and philosophy were spread across approximately forty publications.<ref name=McConnell57>{{harvnb|McConnell|1958|p=57}}</ref> Whittaker's worldview was classified as [[Cartesianism|neo-Cartesianism]] in the volume, a philosophy described as being "founded on the principle that the search for a universal science should be modelled on the procedure of physicomathematicians."<ref name=McConnell58>{{harvnb|McConnell|1958|p=58}}</ref> McConnell notes several of Whittaker's original contributions to [[René Descartes]]' philosophical system, but goes on to sum up the work by saying that while he admired Whittaker's attempt at the problem, he was not satisfied with the many transitions between mathematics, [[aesthetics]], [[ethics]]. He stated that "If the transitions from mathematics to moral values are not firmly established, Whittaker's attempt does not succeed in remedying the defects of Descartes' solution."<ref name=McConnell59>{{harvnb|McConnell|1958|p=59}}</ref> Whittaker published work in several other areas of philosophy, including research on Eddington's principle, a conjecture by [[Arthur Eddington]] that all quantitative propositions in physics can be derived from qualitative assertions.<ref name=McConnellEdd>{{harvnb|McConnell|1958|pp=59–60}}</ref> In addition to publishing Eddington's ''[[Fundamental Theory]]'', Whittaker wrote two other books pertaining to Eddington's philosophy.<ref name=McConnellEdd /> Whittaker also wrote at length about the impacts of then-recent discoveries in astronomy on religion and theology,<ref name=McConnellCosmo>{{harvnb|McConnell|1958|pp=62–66}}</ref> [[determinism]] and [[free will]],<ref name=McConnellDet>{{harvnb|McConnell|1958|pp=60–62}}</ref> and [[natural theology]].<ref name=McConnellNat>{{harvnb|McConnell|1958|pp=66–68}}</ref> In the conclusion of his article, McConnell sums up Whittaker's philosophic works as appearing as though it came from "that of the scholarly Christian layman".<ref name=McConnellNat /> On metaphysics, he goes on to note that there are few scholars who are competent in both physics and metaphysics and states that future work could benefit and draw inspiration from Whittaker's research in the area.<ref name=McConnellNat />

==Awards and honours==
In 1931, Whittaker received the [[Sylvester Medal]] from the [[Royal Society]] for "his original contributions to both pure and applied mathematics".<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Grattan-Guinness|first1=Ivor|author1-link=Ivor Grattan-Guinness|last2=King-Hele|first2=Desmond George|author2-link=Desmond King-Hele|date=1 July 1993|title=The Sylvester Medal: origins, and recipients 1901–1949|url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsnr.1993.0009|journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London|volume=47|issue=1|pages=105–108|doi=10.1098/rsnr.1993.0009|s2cid=144823754|url-access=subscription}}</ref> He then received the [[De Morgan Medal]] from the [[London Mathematical Society]] in 1935, an award given once every three years for outstanding contributions to mathematics.<ref>{{Cite web|title=List of LMS prize winners {{!}} London Mathematical Society|url=https://www.lms.ac.uk/prizes/list-lms-prize-winners|access-date=24 October 2020|website=www.lms.ac.uk}}</ref> He received several honours in his 70s, including being knighted in 1945 by [[King George VI]],<ref>{{London Gazette |date=29 December 1944 |issue=36866 |supp=1 |page=2}}</ref> and in 1954, receiving the [[Royal Society]]'s [[Copley Medal]], its highest award, "for his distinguished contributions to both pure and applied mathematics and to theoretical physics".<ref name="infinite185" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Copley Medal {{!}} Royal Society|url=https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/awards/copley-medal/|access-date=11 October 2020|website=royalsociety.org}}</ref> In the opening remarks of the 1954 address of President [[Edgar Adrian]] to the Royal Society, Adrian announces Whittaker as that years Copley medallist saying he is probably the most well-known British mathematician at the time, due to "his numerous, varied and important contributions" as well as the offices he had held.<ref name=adrain>{{Cite journal|last=Adrian|first=E. D.|author-link=Edgar Adrian|date=15 March 1955|title=Address of the President Dr E. D. Adrian, O. M., at the Anniversary Meeting, 30 November 1954|url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.1955.0012|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences|volume=143|issue=912|pages=293–301|doi=10.1098/rspb.1955.0012|bibcode=1955RSPSB.143..293.|s2cid=166174780|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Noting contributions to nearly all fields of applied mathematics and then-recent contributions to pure mathematics, relativity, electromagnetism, and quantum mechanics, Adrian goes on to say that the "astonishing quantity and quality of his work is probably unparalleled in modern mathematics and it is most appropriate that the Royal Society should confer on Whittaker its most distinguished award."<ref name=adrain />

Whittaker also gave several distinguished lectures, some of which formed the base of books he would later write.<ref name=Temple300 /> He held the Rouse Ball lectureship at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] in 1926, the [[Charles Preller#Bruce-Preller Lectures|Bruce-Preller lectureship]] of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] in 1931, and the Selby lectureship at the [[University of Cardiff]] in 1933. He also held the Hitchcock professorship at the [[University of California]] in 1934, the Riddell lectureship at the [[Newcastle University|University at Durham (Newcastle)]] in 1942, the Guthrie lectureship of the [[Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh]] in 1943, and the [[Donnellan Lecture|Donnellan lectureship]] at the [[Trinity College Dublin]] in 1946.<ref name=Temple300 /> He gave the [[Tarner Lecture]] at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] in 1947 and held the Larmor lectureship of the [[Royal Irish Academy]] and the Herbert Spencer lectureship at the [[University of Oxford]], both in 1948.<ref name=Temple300 />

==See also==
{{wikisource|works=or}}
{{Commons category}}
* [[List of fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1905]]
* [[List of Cambridge mathematicians]]
* [[List of mathematicians born in the 19th century]]
* [[List of theoretical physicists]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
[[File:Whittaker Memorial Volume Edinburgh Mathematical Society 1957.jpg|thumb|Front cover of the ''Whittaker Memorial Volume'' published in the ''[[Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society]]'' in June 1958. The ''Proceedings'' is a [[delayed open-access journal]], where the contents are free to read one year after publication.]]
{{Refbegin}}

* {{Cite journal|last1=Maidment|first1=Alison|last2=McCartney|first2=Mark|date=2 September 2019|title='A man who has infinite capacity for making things go': Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker (1873–1956)|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26375451.2019.1619410|journal=[[British Journal for the History of Mathematics]]|volume=34|issue=3|pages=179–193|doi=10.1080/26375451.2019.1619410|s2cid=186939363|issn=2637-5451|url-access=subscription}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Coutinho|first=S. C.|date=1 May 2014|title=Whittaker's analytical dynamics: a biography|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s00407-013-0133-1|journal=[[Archive for History of Exact Sciences]]|volume=68|issue=3|pages=355–407|doi=10.1007/s00407-013-0133-1|s2cid=122266762|issn=1432-0657|url-access=subscription}}

===Obituaries===
* {{Cite journal|last=Aitken|first=A. C.|author-link=Alexander Aitken|date=April 1956|title=Sir Edmund Whittaker, F.R.S.|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume= 177 |issue=4512|pages=730–731|doi=10.1038/177730a0|bibcode=1956Natur.177..730A|s2cid=39973666|issn=0028-0836 | doi-access = free}}
* {{Cite journal|last1 = Dingle | first1 = H. |author-link=Herbert Dingle|title = Edmund T. Whittaker, Mathematician and Historian |doi = 10.1126/science.124.3214.208 |journal = [[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume = 124 |issue = 3214 |pages = 208–209 |date = August 1956 |pmid = 17838072 | bibcode = 1956Sci...124..208D|s2cid=786277}}
* {{Cite journal|last=McCrea|first=W. H.|author-link=William Hunter McCrea|date=April 1957|title=Edmund Taylor Whittaker|url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1112/jlms/s1-32.2.234|journal=[[Journal of the London Mathematical Society]]|volume=s1-32|issue=2|pages=234–256|doi=10.1112/jlms/s1-32.2.234|s2cid= 121820396|url-access=subscription}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Temple|first=G. F. J.|author-link=George Frederick James Temple|date=1 November 1956|title=Edmund Taylor Whittaker, 1873-1956|journal=[[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]]|volume=2|pages=299–325|doi=10.1098/rsbm.1956.0021|s2cid=121968984 | doi-access = }}
* {{Cite journal|last=Whitrow|first=G. J.|author-link=Gerald James Whitrow|date=1956|title=Obituary: Professor Sir Edmund Whittaker, F. R. S|url=https://academic.oup.com/bjps/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/bjps/VII.26.180|journal=The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science|volume=VII|issue=26|pages=180–181|doi=10.1093/bjps/VII.26.180|issn=0007-0882|url-access=subscription}}

===''Whittaker Memorial Volume'': ''Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society'', June 1958===
* {{Cite journal|last=Martin|first=Daniel|date=June 1958|title=Sir Edmund Whittaker, F.R.S. |journal=Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society|volume=11|issue=1|pages=1–9|doi=10.1017/S0013091500014334 |issn=0013-0915| doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite journal|last=Temple|first=G.|author-link=George Frederick James Temple|date=June 1958|title=Whittaker's Work on the Integral Representation of Harmonic Functions*|journal=[[Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society]]|volume=11|issue=1|pages=11–24|doi=10.1017/S0013091500014346|issn=1464-3839 | doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite journal|last=Rankin|first=R. A.|author-link=Robert Alexander Rankin|date=June 1958|title=Sir Edmund Whittaker's Work on Automorphic Functions|journal=[[Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society]]|volume=11|issue=1|pages=25–30|doi=10.1017/S0013091500014358|issn=0013-0915 | doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite journal | last1 = Aitken | first1 = A. C.|author-link=Alexander Aitken | doi = 10.1017/S001309150001436X | title = The Contributions of E. T. Whittaker to Algebra and Numerical Analysis | journal = [[Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society]] | volume = 11 | pages = 31–38 | date = June 1958 | doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite journal|last=Synge|first=J. L.|author-link=John Lighton Synge|date=June 1958|title=Whittaker's Contributions to the Theory of Relativity|journal=[[Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society]]|volume=11|issue=1|pages=39–55|doi=10.1017/S0013091500014371|issn=1464-3839 | doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite journal|last=McConnell|first=James|author-link=James Robert McConnell|date=June 1958|title=Whittaker's Correlation of Physics and Philosophy|journal=[[Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society]]|volume=11|issue=1|pages=57–68|doi=10.1017/S0013091500014383|issn=0013-0915 | doi-access = free }}
* {{Cite journal|last=Fulton|first=James|date=June 1958|title=The Sir Edmund Whittaker Memorial Prize|journal=[[Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society]]|volume=11|issue=1|pages=69–70|doi=10.1017/S0013091500014395|issn=1464-3839 | doi-access = free }}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last=Watson|first=G. Alistair|title=The Birth of Numerical Analysis |chapter=The history and development of numerical analysis in Scotland: a personal perspective|date=1 November 2009|chapter-url=https://www.maths.dundee.ac.uk/nasc/na-reports/NA227.pdf|pages=161–177|publisher=[[World Scientific]]|doi=10.1142/9789812836267_0010|isbn=978-981-283-625-0|access-date=26 October 2020 |ref=none}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Rankin|first=R. A.|author-link=Robert Alexander Rankin|date=June 1983|title=The first hundred years (1883–1983)|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/23AAB4A7D96568FC8E9003DE64AA8EF3/S0013091500016849a.pdf/first_hundred_years_18831983.pdf|journal=[[Proceedings of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society]]|volume=26|issue=2|pages=135–150|doi=10.1017/S0013091500016849|issn=1464-3839|ref=none|doi-access=free}}
* {{Cite journal|last1=Butzer|first1=P. L.|last2=Ferreira|first2=P. J. S. G.|last3=Higgins|first3=J. R.|last4=Saitoh|first4=S.|last5=Schmeisser|first5=G.|last6=Stens|first6=R. L.|date=1 April 2011|title=Interpolation and Sampling: E.T. Whittaker, K. Ogura and Their Followers|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s00041-010-9131-8|journal=Journal of Fourier Analysis and Applications |volume=17|issue=2|pages=320–354|doi=10.1007/s00041-010-9131-8|bibcode=2011JFAA...17..320B |s2cid=122954185|issn=1531-5851 |ref=none|url-access=subscription}}

==External links==
{{Archival records|title=Edmund Taylor Whittaker papers}}
* {{MacTutor|id=Whittaker|title=Edmund Taylor Whittaker|date=October 2003|ref=none}}
* {{MathPages|id=home/kmath571/kmath571|title=Whittaker and the Aether}}
* {{Cite web|title=Sir Edmund Taylor Whittaker {{!}} British mathematician|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edmund-Taylor-Whittaker|access-date=27 October 2020|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}
* {{Cite web|title=Whittaker, Edmund Taylor|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/whittaker-edmund-taylor|access-date=27 October 2020|website=encyclopedia.com}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-aca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Charles Jasper Joly]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Royal Astronomer of Ireland|Andrews Professor of Astronomy, Royal Astronomer of Ireland]]|years = 1906–1912}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Henry Crozier Keating Plummer]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[George Chrystal]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Academic ranks in the United Kingdom|Chair]] of Mathematics, [[University of Edinburgh]]|years = 1912–1946}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Alexander Aitken]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Percy Nunn]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Mathematical Association|President of the Mathematical Association]]|years = 1920–1921}}
{{s-aft|after=[[James Wilson (Archdeacon of Manchester)|James Wilson]]}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[London Mathematical Society|President of the London Mathematical Society]]|years = 1928–1929}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sydney Chapman (mathematician)|Sydney Chapman]]}}
{{s-bef|before=Sir [[D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Royal Society of Edinburgh|President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]|years = 1939–1944}}
{{s-aft|after=Professor Sir [[William Wright Smith]]}}
{{S-ach|aw}}
{{s-bef|before=Sir [[Joseph John Thomson]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize]]|years = 1924–1928}}
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{{S-ttl|title=[[Sylvester Medal]]|years=1931}}
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{{S-ttl|title=[[De Morgan Medal]]|years=1935}}
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{{S-bef|before=[[Albert Kluyver]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Copley Medal]]|years=1954}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Ronald Fisher]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{E. T. Whittaker|state=expanded}}
{{Copley Medallists 1951-2000}}
{{De Morgan Medallists}}
{{Royal Astronomer of Ireland}}
{{FRS 1905}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittaker, Edmund Taylor}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1956 deaths]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Academics of Trinity College Dublin]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:British applied mathematicians]]
[[Category:British textbook writers]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism]]
[[Category:De Morgan Medallists]]
[[Category:Directors of Dunsink Observatory]]
[[Category:English historians]]
[[Category:English Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Historians of physics]]
[[Category:20th-century Irish astronomers]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:British mathematical physicists]]
[[Category:Mathematics education in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Numerical analysts]]
[[Category:People educated at Manchester Grammar School]]
[[Category:People from Southport]]
[[Category:Presidents of the London Mathematical Society]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Copley Medal]]
[[Category:Second Wranglers]]
[[Category:British theoretical physicists]]
[[Category:E. T. Whittaker| ]]
[[Category:Writers about religion and science]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:20th-century British physicists]]
[[Category:International members of the American Philosophical Society]]

G. N. Watson

2025-10-25T03:30:21Z

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:C458:2D74:DC9E:3992: /* Honours and awards */Removed link

{{Short description|English mathematician (1886–1965)}}
{{Other people|George Neville}}
{{Other people|George Watson}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| birth_name = George Neville Watson
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1886|01|31}}
| birth_place = [[Westward Ho!]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1965|02|02|1886|01|31}}
| death_place = [[Leamington Spa]], Warwickshire, England
| residence =
| citizenship =
| nationality = British
| ethnicity =
| field = [[Mathematics]]
| doctoral_advisor = [[E. T. Whittaker]]<ref name="mathgene">{{MathGenealogy|id=23724}}</ref>
| work_institutions = [[University of Birmingham]] [[University of Cambridge]]
| alma_mater = [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
| doctoral_students =
| academic_advisors =
| known_for = [[Whittaker and Watson]] text [[Quintuple product identity|Watson's quintuple product identity]]
| author_abbrev_bot =
| author_abbrev_zoo =
| influences =
| influenced =
| prizes = [[Smith's Prize]] (1909) [[Sylvester Medal]] (1946) [[De Morgan Medal]] (1947) [[Fellow of the Royal Society]]<ref name="frs">{{Cite journal | last1 = Whittaker | first1 = J. M. | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1966.0026 | title = George Neville Watson 1886-1965 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 12 | pages = 520–526 | year = 1966 | s2cid = 129103196 }}</ref>
| footnotes =
| signature =
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|FRS|size=100%}} {{postnominals|country=GBR|FRSE|size=100%}}
{{postnominals|country=GBR|LDD|size=100%}}
}}
'''George Neville Watson {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS}}''' '''{{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRSE}}''' (31 January 1886 – 2 February 1965) was an English mathematician, who applied [[complex analysis]] to the theory of [[special function]]s. His collaboration on the 1915 second edition of [[E. T. Whittaker]]'s ''[[A Course of Modern Analysis]]'' (1902) produced the classic "[[Whittaker and Watson]]" text. In 1918 he proved a significant result known as [[Watson's lemma]], that has many applications in the theory on the asymptotic behaviour of [[exponential integral]]s.<ref name="frs"/><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Rankin | first1 = R. A. | title = George Neville Watson | doi = 10.1112/jlms/s1-41.1.551 | journal = Journal of the London Mathematical Society | pages = 551–565 | year = 1966 | volume=s1-41}}</ref><ref name="mactutor">{{MacTutor Biography|id=Watson}}</ref>

==Life==
He was born in [[Westward Ho!]] in [[Devon]] the son of George Wentworth Watson, a schoolmaster and genealogist, and his wife, Mary Justina Griffith.<ref>{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=978-0-902198-84-5|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|access-date=28 March 2019|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074135/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He was educated at [[St Paul's School (London)|St Paul's School]] in [[London]], as a pupil of [[F. S. Macaulay]]. He then studied Mathematics at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]. There he encountered [[E. T. Whittaker]], though their overlap was only two years.

From 1914 to 1918 he lectured in Mathematics at [[University College, London]]. He became Professor of Pure Mathematics at the [[University of Birmingham]] in 1918, replacing Prof R S Heath, and remained in this role until 1951.<ref>{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=978-0-902198-84-5|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|access-date=28 March 2019|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074135/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He was awarded an [[honorary degree|honorary]] MSc Pure Science in 1919 by Birmingham University.<ref>{{cite web|title=University campus Blue Plaque Trail|url=http://bhamalumni.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1111&frcrld=1|publisher=Birmingham University|access-date=12 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006065509/http://bhamalumni.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1111&frcrld=1|archive-date=6 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He was President of the [[London Mathematical Society]] 1933/35.

He died at [[Leamington Spa]] on 2 February 1965.

==Works==
His ''Treatise on the theory of Bessel functions'' (1922)<ref>{{cite journal|author=Carmichael, R. D.|authorlink=Robert Daniel Carmichael|title=Review: ''A Treatise on the Theory of Bessel Functions'', by G. N. Watson|journal=Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.|year=1924|volume=30|issue=7|pages=362–364|url=https://www.ams.org/journals/bull/1924-30-07/S0002-9904-1924-03906-8/|doi=10.1090/s0002-9904-1924-03906-8|doi-access=free}}</ref> also became a classic, in particular in regard to the [[asymptotic expansion]]s of [[Bessel function]]s.

He subsequently spent many years on [[Ramanujan]]'s formulae in the area of [[Modular form#Modular functions|modular equations]], [[mock theta function]]s<ref>{{cite journal|author=Watson, G. N.|title=The mock theta functions (2)|journal=Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society|year=1937|volume=2|issue=1|pages=274–304|doi=10.1112/plms/s2-42.1.274}}</ref> and [[Q-Pochhammer symbol#q-series|q-series]], and for some time looked after [[Ramanujan's lost notebook]].

{{blockquote|Sometime in the late 1920s, G. N. Watson and [[Bertram Martin Wilson|B. M. Wilson]] began the task of editing Ramanujan's notebooks. The second notebook, being a revised, enlarged edition of the first, was their primary focus. Wilson was assigned Chapters 2–14, and Watson was to examine Chapters 15–21. Wilson devoted his efforts to this task until 1935, when he died from an infection at the early age of 38. Watson wrote over 30 papers inspired by the notebooks before his interest evidently waned in the late 1930s.<ref name="RamanujanEssays">{{cite book | editor1-first=Bruce C. | editor2-last=Rankin | editor2-first=Robert A. | editor1-last=Berndt | last=Rankin | title=Ramanujan: Essays and Surveys | publisher=American Mathematical Soc. | publication-place=Providence, Rhode Island | date=2001 | isbn=978-0-8218-2624-9 | doi=10.1090/hmath/022 | url=http://www.ams.org/hmath/022 }}</ref><ref name="Charlemagne">{{cite book | last1=Butzer | first1=Paul Leo | last2=Oberschelp | first2=Walter | title=Karl der Grosse und sein Nachwirken: Mathematisches Wissen | publisher=Brepols | publication-place=Turnhout | date=1998 | isbn=978-2-503-50674-6 | language=de | pages= 119–146}}</ref>}}

Ramanujan discovered many more modular equations than all of his mathematical predecessors combined. Watson provided proofs for most of Ramanujan's modular equations. [[Bruce C. Berndt]] completed the project begun by Watson and Wilson. Much of Berndt's book ''Ramanujan's Notebooks, Part 3'' (1998) is based upon the prior work of Watson.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://eprints.uni-mysore.ac.in/9771/|author=Adiga, B.|author2=Berndt, B. C.|author3=Bhargava, S.|author4=Watson, G. N.|title=Ramanujan's second notebook: Theta-functions and q-series Chap. 16|publisher=Amer. Math. Soc.|location=Providence, Rhode Island|year=1985|volume=53|issue=315|pages=1–85|access-date=22 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704121045/http://eprints.uni-mysore.ac.in/9771/|archive-date=4 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Watson's interests included solvable cases of the [[quintic equation]]. He introduced [[Watson's quintuple product identity]].

==Honours and awards==
In 1919 Watson was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]],<ref name="frs"/> and in 1946, he received the [[Sylvester Medal]] from the Society. He was president of the [[London Mathematical Society]] from 1933 to 1935.

He is sometimes confused with the mathematician [[George Leo Watson|G. L. Watson]], who worked on quadratic forms, and G. Watson, a statistician.

==Family==

In 1925 he married Elfrida Gwenfil Lane daughter of Thomas Wright Lane.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Obits2/Watson_RSE_Obituary.html|title = George Neville Watson, Sc.D. (Cantab.), Hon.LL.D. (Edin.), Hon.Sc.D. (Dub.), F.R.S., Hon.F.R.S.E. - RSE Obituary}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{De Morgan Medallists}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, George Neville}}
[[Category:1886 births]]
[[Category:1965 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Bideford]]
[[Category:20th-century English mathematicians]]
[[Category:Mathematical analysts]]
[[Category:Mathematics education in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:People educated at St Paul's School, London]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Birmingham]]
[[Category:Senior Wranglers]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:De Morgan Medallists]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]

Pembroke College, Cambridge

2025-10-25T02:24:26Z

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:C458:2D74:DC9E:3992: /* Foundation */Enlarged image

{{Short description|Constituent college of the University of Cambridge}}{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2019}}
{{distinguish|Pembroke College, Oxford}}
{{Infobox residential college
| name = Pembroke College
| university = [[University of Cambridge]]
| image = Graduation Day, Pembroke College, Cambridge.jpg
| alt = Old Court, Pembroke College
| caption = Old Court, Pembroke College
| shield = Arms PembrokeCollege Cambridge.svg
| shield_alt = Pembroke College heraldic shield
| shield_caption = Arms of Pembroke College
| blazon = [[#Coat of arms|see below]]
| scarf = {{Scarf/University of Cambridge |Pembroke}}
| full_name = The College or Hall of Valence Mary (commonly called Pembroke College) in the University of Cambridge
| abbreviation = PEM<ref>{{cite journal |author=University of Cambridge |author-link=University of Cambridge |date=6 March 2019 |title=Notice by the Editor |url=https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/2018-19/special/05/section1.shtml |journal=[[Cambridge University Reporter]] |volume=149 |issue=Special No 5 |pages=1 |access-date=20 March 2019 }}</ref>
| name_Latin =
| motto_Latin =
| motto_English =
| founder = [[Marie de St Pol|Marie de St Pol, Countess of Pembroke]]
| named_after = [[Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke]]
| established = {{start date and age|1347}}
| previous_names = {{ubl|Marie Valence Hall (1347–?)|Pembroke Hall (?–1856)}}
| location = [[Trumpington Street]] ([https://map.cam.ac.uk/Pembroke+College map])
| head_label = Master
| head = [[Rosalind Polly Blakesley]]
| undergraduates = 484 (2022-23)
| graduates = 282 (2022-23)
| sister_college = [[The Queen's College, Oxford]]
| homepage = {{URL|https://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/}}
| jcr_label = {{abbr|JP|Junior Parlour}}
| jcr = {{URL|http://pemjp.soc.srcf.net}}
| mcr_label = {{abbr|GP|Graduate Parlour}}
| mcr = {{URL|http://pemgp.soc.srcf.net}}
| boat_club = {{URL|http://www.pembrokecollegeboatclub.com/}}
| endowment = [[Pound sterling|£]]139.0m {{small|(2023)}}<ref name="pem-accounts">{{Cite web |title=Annual Report and Accounts 2023 |url=https://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/2022-23_pembroke_college_rcca_signed.pdf |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=June 17, 2024 |website=Pembroke College, Cambridge}}</ref>
| coordinates = {{coord|52.202|0.120|region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| location_map = United Kingdom Cambridge Central
| location_map2 = United Kingdom Cambridge
}}

'''Pembroke College''' is a [[Colleges of the University of Cambridge|constituent college]] of the [[University of Cambridge]], England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and [[fellow]]s. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its founding, as well as extensive gardens. Its members are termed "Valencians".<ref name=":0" /> The college's Master is the art historian [[Rosalind Polly Blakesley]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Mastership of Pembroke College Cambridge|url=https://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/college/news/mastership-pembroke-college-cambridge|publisher=[[Pembroke College Cambridge]]|year=2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Professor Polly Blakesley is admitted as Master|url=https://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/college/news/professor-polly-blakesley-admitted-master|date=October 2025|publisher=[[Pembroke College, Cambridge]]}}</ref>

Pembroke has a level of academic performance among the highest of all the Cambridge colleges; in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2018 Pembroke was placed second in the [[Tompkins Table]]. Pembroke contains the first chapel designed by Sir [[Christopher Wren]] and is one of only [[List of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom by education|six]] Cambridge colleges to have educated a British prime minister, in Pembroke's case [[William Pitt the Younger]]. The college library, with a Victorian neo-gothic clock tower, has an original copy of the first encyclopaedia to contain printed diagrams.{{which|date=May 2025}}

==History==
===Foundation===
[[File:Portrait of Mary Countess of Pembroke (4672101).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|Coloured engraving of [[Marie de St Pol]], foundress of Pembroke College, Cambridge]]
[[Marie de St Pol]], Countess of Pembroke (1303–1377), a member of the de Châtillon family of France, founded Pembroke College, Cambridge. On Christmas Eve 1347, [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] granted Marie de St Pol, widow of the [[Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke|Earl of Pembroke]], the licence for the foundation of a new educational establishment in the young university at Cambridge. The ''Hall of Valence Mary'' ("Custos & Scolares Aule Valence Marie in Cantebrigg'"), as it was originally known, was thus founded to house a body of students and fellows.<ref>{{cite web|title=Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP 40/555; dated 1399, first year of King Henry IV; sixth entry|url=http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H4/CP40no555/aCP40no555fronts/IMG_0163.htm}}</ref> The statutes were notable in that they both gave preference to students born in France who had already studied elsewhere in England, and that they required students to report fellow students if they indulged in excessive drinking or visited disreputable houses.

The college was later renamed Pembroke Hall, and finally became Pembroke College in 1856.

Marie was closely involved with College affairs in the 30 years until her death and burial at [[Denny Abbey]], to the north of Cambridge, in 1377. She seems to have been something of a disciplinarian: the original Foundation documents had strict penalties for drunkenness and lechery, required that all students' debts were settled within two weeks of the end of term, and gave strict limits on numbers at graduation parties.

===Legacies===
[[Richard Buckenham]] ([[Archdeacon of Lewes]]) himself a book collector<ref name="BOO Richard Buckenham">{{cite web |last1=Pearson |first1=David |title=Richard Buckenham d. 1628 - Book Owners Online |url=https://bookowners.online/Richard_Buckenham_d.1628 |website=bookowners.online |publisher=David |access-date=18 May 2025}}</ref> ensured in 1599 before [[William Smarte]]'s death, that over 100 manuscripts in Smarte's possession were donated to Pembroke College library.<ref name="Blatchly 1989">{{cite book |last1=Blatchly |first1=John |title=The Town Library of Ipswich |date=1989 |publisher=Boydell Press |location=Woodbridge, GB; Wolfeboro, N.H. |isbn=0-85115-517-0}}</ref>

[[Sir Robert Hitcham]], a lawyer and MP who was an alumnus of[Pembroke College left [[Framlingham castle]] in Suffolk and its [[Honour of Framlingham|associated lands]] to the College in 1636, a year after he bought it. Hitcham's Cloister in Pembroke College built in 1666 was named after him.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cambridgeonline.co.uk/articles/Pembroke_College/ |title=Pembroke College, Cambridge |website=www.cambridgeonline.co.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214020852/http://www.cambridgeonline.co.uk/articles/Pembroke_College/ |archive-date=2007-12-14}} </ref> The College still owns much of the estate.

In 2015, the college received a bequest of £34 million from the estate of American inventor and Pembroke alumnus [[Ray Dolby]], thought to be the largest single donation to a college in the history of Cambridge University.<ref>{{cite news|title=American inventor bequeaths largest-ever donation to Cambridge's Pembroke College|url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/American-inventor-bequeaths-largest-donation/story-28292778-detail/story.html|access-date=4 December 2015|work=Cambridge News|date=3 December 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208094749/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/American-inventor-bequeaths-largest-donation/story-28292778-detail/story.html|archive-date=8 December 2015}}</ref>

==Buildings==

===Old Court===
[[File:Pembroke College, Cambridge by Loggan 1690 - gbooks prG KpObd3UC PA80-IA1.png|thumb|left|Bird's eye view of Pembroke College, Cambridge by [[David Loggan]], published in 1690.]]
The first buildings comprised a single [[courtyard|court]] (now called Old Court) containing all the component parts of a college – chapel, hall, kitchen and buttery, master's lodgings, students' rooms – and the statutes provided for a [[manciple]], a cook, a barber and a laundress. Both the founding of the college and the building of the city's first college Chapel (1355) required the grant of a [[papal bull]].

The original court was the university's smallest at only {{convert|95|ft|m}} by {{convert|55|ft|m}}, but was enlarged to its current size in the nineteenth century by demolishing the south range.

The college's gatehouse is the oldest in Cambridge.

===Chapel===
[[File:cmglee_Cambridge_Pembroke_College_chapel.jpg|thumb|upright|Pembroke College chapel interior in September 2014]]

The original Chapel now forms the Old Library and has a striking seventeenth-century plaster ceiling, designed by Henry Doogood, showing birds flying overhead. Around the [[English Civil War|Civil War]], one of Pembroke's fellows and Chaplain to [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] before he was king, [[Matthew Wren]], was imprisoned by [[Oliver Cromwell]]. On his release after eighteen years, he fulfilled a promise by hiring his nephew [[Christopher Wren]] to build a great Chapel in his former college. The resulting Chapel was consecrated on St Matthew's Day, 1665, and the eastern end was extended by [[George Gilbert Scott]] in 1880, when it was consecrated on the Feast of the Annunciation.

===Expansion===
An increase in membership over the last 150 years saw a corresponding increase in building activity. The Hall was rebuilt in 1875–1876 to designs by [[Alfred Waterhouse]] after he had declared the medieval Hall unsafe. As well as the Hall, Waterhouse designed a new range of rooms, Red Buildings (1871–1872), in French Renaissance style, designed a new Master's Lodge on the site of Paschal Yard (1873, later to become N staircase), pulled down the old Lodge and the south range of Old Court to open a vista to the chapel, and finally designed a new Library (1877–1878) in the continental Gothic style. The construction of the new library was undertaken by [[Rattee and Kett]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.capturingcambridge.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/0035d.pdf|title=Rattee and Kett|publisher=Capturing Cambridge|access-date=6 October 2017}}</ref>

Waterhouse was dismissed as architect in 1878 and succeeded by [[George Gilbert Scott]], who, after extending the chapel, provided additional accommodation with the construction of New Court in 1881, with letters on a series of shields along the string course above the first floor spelling out the text from Psalm 127:1, {{lang|LA|"Nisi Dominus aedificat domum…"}} ("Except the Lord build the house, their labour is but vain that build it").

Building work continued into the 20th century with [[W. D. Caroe|W. D. Caröe]] as architect. He added Pitt Building (M staircase) between Ivy Court and Waterhouse's Lodge, and extended New Court with the construction of O staircase on the other side of the Lodge. He linked his two buildings with an arched stone screen, Caröe Bridge, along [[Pembroke Street, Cambridge|Pembroke Street]] in a late [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] style, the principal function of which was to act as a bridge by which undergraduates might cross the Master's forecourt at first-floor level from Pitt Building to New Court without leaving the college or trespassing in what was then the Fellows' Garden.

In 1926, as the Fellows had become increasingly disenchanted with Waterhouse's Hall, [[Maurice Webb (architect)|Maurice Webb]] was brought in to remove the open roof, put in a flat ceiling and add two storeys of sets above. The wall between the Hall and the Fellows' Parlour was taken down, and the latter made into a High Table dais. A new Senior Parlour was then created on the ground floor of [[Robert Hitcham|Hitcham]] Building. The remodelling work was completed in 1949 when Murray Easton replaced the Gothic tracery of the windows with a simpler design in the style of the medieval Hall.

In 1933 [[Maurice Webb (architect)|Maurice Webb]] built a new Master's Lodge in the south-east corner of the College gardens, on land acquired from [[Peterhouse, Cambridge|Peterhouse]] in 1861. Following the war, further accommodation was created with the construction in 1957 of Orchard Building, so called because it stands on part of the Foundress's orchard. Finally, in a move to accommodate the majority of junior members on the College site rather than in hostels in the town, in the 1990s [[Eric Parry]] designed a new range of buildings on the site of the Master's Lodge, with a new Lodge at the west end. "Foundress Court" was opened in 1997 in celebration of the college's 650th Anniversary. In 2001 the Library was extended to the east and modified internally.

In 2017, Pembroke College launched a new campaign of extension called the "Time and The Place"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimeandtheplace.org.uk|title=The Time and The Place: A campaign for Pembroke|author=Pembroke College, Cambridge|date=2019}}</ref> (or the Mill Lane project), on the other side of Trumpington Street. The project is to enlarge the size of the college by a third, with new social spaces, rooms and offices.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/public-spaces-and-art-gallery-included-in-plans-for-major-redesign-of-pembroke-college-9060908|title=Mill Lane development|work=Cambridge Independent|date=2 February 2019 }}</ref>

===Gardens===

Pembroke's enclosed grounds include garden areas. Highlights include "The Orchard" (a patch of semi-wild ground in the centre of the college), an impressive row of [[Platanus|Plane Trees]] and a [[bowling green]], re-turfed in 1996, which is reputed to be among the oldest in continual use in Europe.

===Gallery===
<gallery class="center" mode="packed" classes="center">
File:New Court Pembroke College Cambridge.jpg|The Croquet Lawn in New Court, designed by [[Sir George Gilbert Scott]]
File:Pembroke College Façade and Chapel.jpg|The [[Trumpington Street]] Façade with the College Chapel on the right
File:Pembroke College, Cambridge.jpg|The Gatehouse is the oldest in Cambridge, dating from the 14th century
File:Dining Hall, Pembroke College, Cambridge.jpg|Dining Hall
File:Pembroke College Gardens.jpg|Library Court
File:War Memorial at Pembroke College, Cambridge.jpg|World War I Memorial
</gallery>

== Traditions ==
Pembroke holds [[Formal (university)|Formal Hall]] four evenings a week depending on the student's qualifications: a separate Hall is held for BA students. Students of the college must wear gowns and arrive on time for [[Grace (prayer)|Latin Grace]], which starts the dinner. Like many Cambridge colleges, Pembroke also has an annual [[May Ball]].

According to popular legends, Pembroke is inhabited by ghosts occupying the Ivy Court.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/kit-smarts-blog/little-pembroke-history-exploring-college-treasures|title=Pembroke College website}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===

The arms of Pembroke College were officially recorded in 1684. The formal [[blazon]] combines the arms of De Valence (bars), dimidiated with the arms of St. Pol (vair). It is described as :
:''Barry of ten argent and azure, an orle of five martlets gules dimidiated with paly vair and gules, on a chief Or a label of five points throughout azure.''<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url= https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Pembroke_College_(Cambridge_University)|title=Pembroke College coat of arms|date=18 January 2019 }}</ref>

== Student life ==
[[File:Pembroke College boathouse - geograph.org.uk - 991199.jpg|thumb|Pembroke's boathouse on the [[River Cam]]]]
Pembroke College has both graduate and undergraduate students, termed Valencians,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/the-college/news/2014/11/valencians-return-for-inaugural-careers-event/|title=Valencians return for inaugural careers event|access-date=12 November 2017|language=en|archive-date=12 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112131951/http://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/the-college/news/2014/11/valencians-return-for-inaugural-careers-event/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/kit-smarts-blog/a-valencian-to-do-list/|title=A Valencian to-do list|access-date=12 November 2017|language=en}}</ref> after the college's original name, and its recreational rooms named as "parlours" rather than the more standard "combination room". The undergraduate student body is represented by the Junior Parlour Committee (JPC). The graduate community is represented by the Graduate Parlour Committee (GPC). In March 2016, the Junior Parlour Committee was featured in national newspapers after it cancelled the theme of an "Around The World in 80 Days" dance party.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/mar/11/cambridge-students-cancel-fancy-dress-party-fearing-potential-for-offence|title=Cambridge students cancel fancy dress party fearing 'potential for offence'|newspaper=The Guardian |date=11 March 2016 |access-date=14 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/12190238/Cambridge-University-college-cancels-racist-Around-the-World-in-80-Days-party.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/12190238/Cambridge-University-college-cancels-racist-Around-the-World-in-80-Days-party.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Cambridge University college cancels 'racist' Around the World in 80 Days party '|access-date=14 March 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

There are many sports and societies organised by members of the college. Amongst the most established are [[Pembroke College Boat Club (Cambridge)|Pembroke College Boat Club]] and the [[Pembroke Players]], the college's dramatic society which has been made famous by alumni including [[Peter Cook]], [[Eric Idle]], [[Tim Brooke-Taylor]], [[Clive James]] and [[Bill Oddie]], and is now in its 67th year. Pembroke College Association Football Club (PCAFC) and Women's Association Football Club (PCWAFC) compete separately in collegiate competitions. Chrembroke Hockey Club (PCHC) compete jointly with [[Christ's College, Cambridge|Christ's College]], and Pirton RUFC, the rugby union team, are merged with [[Girton College, Cambridge|Girton College]].

Female undergraduates were first admitted to the college in 1984.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Difference does Diversity Make? {{!}} Pembroke |url=https://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/kit-smarts-blog/what-difference-does-diversity-make |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=www.pem.cam.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref>

==International Programmes==

Pembroke is the only Cambridge College to have an International Programmes Department, providing opportunities for nearly fifty years for international students to spend a semester or the summer in Cambridge.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/international-programmes|title=International Programmes|date=14 March 2025|author=Pembroke College, Cambridge}}</ref>

The Semester Programmes run from September to December as the Fall Semester Programme and from January to June as the Spring Semester Programme, with around forty students on each programme. In addition, a small number of students stay for the whole academic year on both programmes, known as the Combined Semester Programme. The Semester Programmes are highly competitive programmes for academically outstanding students who wish to follow a regular Cambridge degree course as fully matriculated members of the University.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/international-programmes/fall-and-spring-semester-programmes|title=Semester Programmes|date=14 March 2025|author=Pembroke College, Cambridge}}</ref>

In the summer the College offers the six-week Pembroke Cambridge Summer Programme.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/international-programmes/pembroke-cambridge-summer-programme|title=Pembroke Cambridge Summer Programme|date=14 March 2025|author=Pembroke College, Cambridge}}</ref> Around 250 students from around the world attend the programme and take three courses from a broad range of disciplines. The programme offers students the chance to take courses from outside their major as well as experience the Cambridge model of teaching through the additional Independent Supervision Research Project option.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/international-programmes/pembroke-cambridge-summer-programme/teaching-and-learning/independent-supervision-research-project|title=Independent Supervision Research Project|date=14 March 2025|author=Pembroke College, Cambridge}}</ref> Students attend Formal Halls, where three-course candlelit meals are served in Pembroke’s historic dining hall. Students also attend a series of plenary lectures lead by "eminent figures of University and public life, on a diverse range of topics”.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/international-programmes/pembroke-cambridge-summer-programme/teaching-and-learning/plenary-lectures|title=Plenary Lectures|date=14 March 2025|author=Pembroke College, Cambridge}}</ref> Social activities such as punting and museum visits are organised in and around Cambridge by Programme Assistants, who are current Cambridge undergraduates.

Students can also study and conduct research at Pembroke remotely on the Online Summer Research Programme<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/international-programmes/online-summer-research-programme|title=Online Summer Research Programme|date=14 March 2025|author=Pembroke College, Cambridge}}</ref> and Online Capstone Programme.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/international-programmes/online-capstone-programme|title=Online Capstone Programme|date=14 March 2025|author=Pembroke College, Cambridge}}</ref> The International Programmes Department also runs programmes for Japanese partners as well as language and internship opportunities in Japan for Pembroke undergraduates.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pem.cam.ac.uk/international-programmes/opportunities-japan-pembroke-students|title=Opportunities in Japan for Pembroke Students|date=14 March 2025|author=Pembroke College, Cambridge}}</ref>

== People associated with Pembroke ==
{{Category see also|Fellows of Pembroke College, Cambridge|Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge}}
{{Main list|List of alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge|List of Masters of Pembroke College, Cambridge|List of Honorary Fellows of Pembroke College, Cambridge}}

<gallery class="center">
File:Nicholas Ridley from NPG.jpg|[[Nicholas Ridley (martyr)|Nicholas Ridley]], English Protestant cleric and martyr
File:EdmundSpenser.jpg|[[Edmund Spenser]], the Elizabethan poet remembered for his epic poem ''[[The Faerie Queene]]''
File:Launcelot Andrews (1555-1626), English School circa 1660 (cropped).jpg|[[Lancelot Andrewes]], English bishop and translator
File:Roger Williams statue by Franklin Simmons (cropped).jpg|[[Roger Williams]], Baptist theologian, founder of [[Rhode Island]]
File:Thomas Gainsborough - William Pitt - Google Art Project (cropped).jpg|[[William Pitt the Younger]], the youngest ever British Prime Minister (aged 24)
File:SS-stokes.jpg|[[Sir George Gabriel Stokes]], Lucasian Professor, a mathematician and physicist
File:Richard-Austen-Rab-Butler-1st-Baron-Butler-of-Saffron-Walden.jpg|[[Rab Butler]], British Politician
File:AbbaEban1951.jpg|[[Abba Eban]], Israeli Foreign Minister and VP of the United Nations General Assembly
File:Harold Bloom, literary critic, author, teacher at Yale (cropped).jpg|[[Harold Bloom]], literary critic
File:Peter Cook Dudley Moore Kraft Music Hall.jpg|[[Peter Cook]], British comedian
File:John Sulston (2008).jpg|[[John Sulston]], British biologist and Nobel Prize Winner
File:Eric Idle 2014 (cropped).jpg|[[Eric Idle]], British comedian and writer, Monty Python member
File:Naomie Harris 2014.jpg|[[Naomie Harris]], British actress
File:Tom Hiddleston (36109110291) (cropped).jpg|[[Tom Hiddleston]], British actor
</gallery>

==Institutions named after the college==
[[File:Pembroke College Campus, Providence, R.I (61959).jpg|thumb|[[Pembroke College in Brown University]], located in [[Providence, Rhode Island]]]]
[[Pembroke College in Brown University]], the former [[women's college]] at [[Brown University]] in the United States, was named for the principal building on the women's campus, Pembroke Hall, which was itself named in honour of the Pembroke College (Cambridge) alumnus [[Roger Williams]], a co-founder of [[Rhode Island]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Brown's History: A Timeline |url=https://www.brown.edu/about/history/timeline/ |website=Brown University}}</ref>

In 1865 Pembroke College, Cambridge donated land for the formation of the Suffolk memorial to [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]]. The land at Framlingham in the county of Suffolk was used to build a school, The Albert Memorial College. The school today is known as [[Framlingham College]] and one of its seven houses is named Pembroke House in recognition of the contribution Pembroke College has made to the school.

In 1981, a decade after the merger of Pembroke College into Brown University, the [[Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women]] there was named in honour of Pembroke College and the history of women's efforts to gain access to higher education.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.brown.edu/research/pembroke-center/about/history|title=History {{!}} Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women|website=www.brown.edu|access-date=2020-02-04}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of Organ Scholars at British Universities and Colleges#Pembroke College, Cambridge|List of organ scholars]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Pembroke_College_Cambridge/sb7R0AEACAAJ?hl=en |title=Pembroke College, Cambridge: The Buildings and Gardens |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Chris |isbn=9781785515330 |year=2025 |pages=1–160}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.pem.cam.ac.uk Pembroke College website]

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[[Category:Pembroke College, Cambridge| ]]
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