View source for Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet

{{Short description|British mathematician and physicist (1819–1903)}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix  = [[Sir]]
| name              = George Stokes
| honorific_suffix  = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|Bt|FRS|size=100%}}
| image             = Ggstokes.jpg
| caption           = Stokes, 1860s
| order             = 35th
| office            = President of the Royal Society
| term_start        = 1885
| term_end          = 1890
| predecessor       = [[Thomas Huxley]]
| successor         = [[Lord Kelvin]]
| birth_name        = George Gabriel Stokes
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1819|08|13|df=yes}}
| birth_place       = [[Skreen]], [[History of Ireland (1801–1923)|Ireland]], [[UKGBI]]
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1903|02|01|1819|08|13|df=yes}}
| death_place       = [[Cambridge]], [[England]], UKGBI
| resting_place     = [[Mill Road Cemetery, Cambridge|Mill Road Cemetery]], Cambridge
| module={{Infobox person|embed=yes
| alma_mater        = [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]]
| known_for         = {{Plain list|
* [[Stokes' law]]
* [[Stokes shift]]
* [[Stokes' theorem]]
* [[Navier–Stokes equations]]
}}
| spouse            = {{Marriage|Mary Robinson|1857}}
| children          = 5
| relatives         = {{Plain list|
* [[John Stokes (Archdeacon of Armagh)|John Stokes]] (brother)
* [[Thomas Romney Robinson]] (father-in-law)
}}
| awards            = {{Plain list|
* [[Smith's Prize]] (1841)
* [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (1851)
* [[Rumford Medal]] (1852)
* [[Copley Medal]] (1893)
}}
| module={{Infobox scientist|embed=yes
| title             = [[Lucasian Professor of Mathematics]] (1849–1903)
| fields            = {{Flat list|
* [[Fluid dynamics]]
* [[optics]]
}}
| work_institutions = [[University of Cambridge]] (1841–1903)
| doctoral_advisor  = <!--there was no PhD at Cambridge until 1919-->
| academic_advisors = [[William Hopkins]]<ref name=E-Tree>{{Cite web|title=George Gabriel Stokes - Engineering Tree|url=https://academictree.org/etree/peopleinfo.php?pid=753931|website=academictree.org|access-date=2025-09-20}}</ref>
| doctoral_students = <!--there was no PhD at Cambridge until 1919-->
| notable_students  = {{Plain list|
* [[Thomas George Bonney]]<ref name=E-Tree/>
* [[Robert Alfred Herman]]<ref name=E-Tree/>
* [[Thomas John I'Anson Bromwich]]<ref name=E-Tree/>
* [[Horace Lamb]]<ref name=E-Tree/>
* [[Osborne Reynolds]]<ref name=E-Tree/>
* [[John William Strutt]]<ref name=E-Tree/>
}}
| signature         = George Stokes signature.svg 
}}
}}
}}

'''Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet''' ({{IPAc-en|s|t|oʊ|k|s}} {{Respell|stohks}};<ref>{{Cite web|title=Stokes|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/stokes|publisher=[[Dictionary.com]]|website=dictionary.com|access-date=2025-09-20}}</ref> 13 August 1819 – 1 February 1903), was a British [[mathematician]] and [[physicist]]. Born in [[County Sligo]], Ireland, Stokes spent his entire career at the [[University of Cambridge]], where he served as the [[Lucasian Professor of Mathematics]] for 54 years, from 1849 until his death in 1903, the longest tenure held by any Lucasian Professor.

As a physicist, Stokes made seminal contributions to [[fluid mechanics]], including the [[Navier–Stokes equations]]; and to [[optics]], with notable works on [[Polarization (waves)|polarisation]] and [[fluorescence]]. As a mathematician, he popularised [[Stokes' theorem]] in [[vector calculus]] and contributed to the theory of [[asymptotic expansion]]s. Stokes, along with [[Felix Hoppe-Seyler]], first demonstrated the oxygen transport function of [[haemoglobin]], and showed colour changes produced by the aeration of haemoglobin solutions.

Stokes was made a [[baronet]] by the British monarch in 1889. In 1893, he received the [[Royal Society]]'s [[Copley Medal]] "for his researches and discoveries in physical science". He represented [[Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)|Cambridge University in the House of Commons]] from 1887 to 1892, sitting as a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]. He also served as [[President of the Royal Society]] from 1885 to 1890, and was briefly [[Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge]]. Stokes's extensive correspondence and his work as Secretary of the Royal Society has led him to be referred to as a gatekeeper of Victorian science, with his contributions surpassing his own published papers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baldwin |first=Melinda |date=2014 |title=Tyndall and Stokes: Correspondence, Referee Reports, and the Physical Sciences in Victorian Britain |journal=The Age of Scientific Naturalism: John Tyndall and His Contemporaries |pages=171–186}}</ref>

== Biography ==
George Gabriel Stokes was born on 13 August 1819 in [[Skreen]], Ireland, the youngest son of the Reverend Gabriel Stokes (died 1834), a clergyman in the [[Church of Ireland]] who served as Rector of Skreen, and Elizabeth Haughton, daughter of the Reverend John Haughton. His home life was strongly influenced by his father's [[evangelical Protestantism]]; three of his brothers entered the Church, of whom the most eminent was [[John Stokes (Archdeacon of Armagh)|John Stokes]], who became [[Archdeacon of Armagh]].<ref>[http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Stokes.html George Gabriel Stokes Biography], history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk. Accessed 28 January 2023.</ref> Alongside a lifelong commitment to his Protestant faith, his childhood in Skreen had a strong influence on his later decision to pursue [[fluid dynamics]] as a research area.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kearins |first=Aoife |date=26 June 2020 |title=Sir George Gabriel Stokes in Skreen: how a childhood by the sea influenced a giant in fluid dynamics |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2019.0516 |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |language=en |volume=378 |issue=2174 |article-number=20190516 |doi=10.1098/rsta.2019.0516 |pmid=32507089 |bibcode=2020RSPTA.37890516K |issn=1364-503X}}</ref> His daughter, Isabella Humphreys, wrote that her father "told me that he was nearly carried away by one of these great waves when bathing as a boy off the coast of Sligo, and this first attracted his attention to waves".<ref>{{Cite book | editor-last=Larmor | editor-first=Joseph |title=Memoir and Scientific Correspondence of the late Sir George Gabriel Stokes Volume 1 |date=1907 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |page=31}}</ref>

John and George were always close, and George lived with John while attending school in [[Dublin]]. Of all his family, he was closest to his sister, Elizabeth. Their mother was remembered in the family as "beautiful but very stern". In 1837, after attending schools in Skreen, Dublin, and [[Bristol]], Stokes matriculated at [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]]. In 1841, he graduated as [[Senior Wrangler]] and [[Smith's Prize]]man, achievements that earned him election as a Fellow of the College that year.<ref>{{acad|id=STKS837GG|name=Stokes, George Gabriel}}</ref>

In accordance with the college statutes, Stokes had to resign from his fellowship when he married in 1857. Twelve years later, under new statutes, he was re-elected to the fellowship and retained that place until 1902, when he was elected Master of Pembroke College. He died the following year on 1 February at the age of 83,{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=951}} and was buried at [[Mill Road Cemetery, Cambridge|Mill Road Cemetery]] in [[Cambridge]]. There is also a memorial to him in the north aisle at [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref>'The Abbey Scientists' Hall, A.R. p. 58: London; Roger & Robert Nicholson (1966).</ref>

== Career ==
In 1849, Stokes was appointed [[Lucasian Professor of Mathematics]] at the [[University of Cambridge]], a position he held until his death in 1903. On 1 June 1899, the golden jubilee of this appointment was celebrated there in a ceremony attended by numerous delegates from European and American universities. A commemorative gold medal was presented to Stokes by the Chancellor of the University, and marble busts of Stokes by [[Hamo Thornycroft]] were formally offered to Pembroke College and to the university by [[William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin|Lord Kelvin]]. At 54 years, Stokes' tenure as Lucasian Professor was the longest in history.

Stokes, who was made a [[baronet]] in 1889, further served his university by representing it in parliament from 1887 to 1892 as one of the two members for the [[Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)|Cambridge University constituency]]. From 1885 to 1890, he was also President of the [[Royal Society]], of which he had been one of the secretaries since 1854. As he was also Lucasian Professor at this time, he was the first person to hold all three positions simultaneously; [[Isaac Newton]] held the same three, although not at the same time.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=951}}

Stokes was the oldest of the trio of natural philosophers, [[James Clerk Maxwell]] and [[William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin|Lord Kelvin]] being the other two, who especially contributed to the fame of the Cambridge school of [[mathematical physics]] in the middle of the 19th century.

Stokes' original work began about 1840, and is distinguished for its quantity and quality. The Royal Society's catalogue of scientific papers gives the titles of over a hundred memoirs by him published down to 1883. Some of these are only brief notes, others are short controversial or corrective statements, but many are long and elaborate treatises.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=951–952}}

== Research ==
[[File:PSM V56 D0031 G G Stokes.png|thumb|Stokes at a later age]]

In scope, Stokes' work covered a wide range of physical inquiry but, as [[Marie Alfred Cornu]] remarked in his [[Rede Lecture]] of 1899,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cornu |first1=Alfred |title=La théorie des ondes lumineuses: son influence sur la physique moderne |journal=Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |date=1899 |volume=18 |pages=xvii–xxviii |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015027059701;view=1up;seq=25 |trans-title=The theory of light waves: its influence on modern physics |language=fr }}</ref> the greater part of it was concerned with waves and the transformations imposed on them during their passage through various media.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=952}}

=== Fluid dynamics ===
Stokes's first published papers, which appeared in 1842 and 1843, were on the steady motion of incompressible [[fluid]]s and some cases of fluid motion.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the steady motion of incompressible fluids |journal=Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |date=1842 |volume=7 |pages=439–453 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015027059651;view=1up;seq=427}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G.G. |title=On some cases of fluid motion |journal=Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |date=1843 |volume=8 |pages=105–137 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951d000213721;view=1up;seq=121}}</ref> These were followed in 1845 by one on the friction of fluids in motion and the equilibrium and motion of elastic solids,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G.G. |title=On the theories of the internal friction of fluids in motion and of the equilibrium and motion of elastic solids |journal=Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |date=1845 |volume=8 |pages=287–319 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951d000213721;view=1up;seq=305}}</ref> and in 1850 by another on the effects of the internal friction of fluids on the motion of [[pendulum]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the effect of internal friction of fluids on the motion of pendulums |journal=Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |date=1851 |volume=9, part ii |pages=8–106 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015012112531;view=1up;seq=208|bibcode=1851TCaPS...9....8S }}</ref> To the theory of sound he made several contributions, including a discussion of the effect of wind on the intensity of sound<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stokes |first1=G.G. |title=Report of the Twenty-seventh Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science; held at Dublin in August and September 1857: Notices and Abstracts of Miscellaneous Communications to the Sections |date=1858 |publisher=John Murray |location=London, England |pages=22–23 |chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101076796224;view=1up;seq=432 |chapter=On the effect of wind on the intensity of sound|series=Report of the ... Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1833) }}</ref> and an explanation of how the intensity is influenced by the nature of the gas in which the sound is produced.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G.G. |title=On the communication of vibration from a vibrating body to a surrounding gas |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London |date=1868 |volume=158 |pages=447–463 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000054593152;view=1up;seq=507 |doi=10.1098/rstl.1868.0017|doi-access= |url-access=subscription }}</ref> These inquiries together put the science of [[fluid dynamics]] on a new footing, and provided a key not only to the explanation of many natural phenomena, such as the suspension of clouds in the air, and the subsidence of ripples and waves in water, but also to the solution of practical problems, such as the flow of water in rivers and channels, and the skin resistance of ships.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=952}}

==== Creeping flow ====
{{Main|Stokes flow}}
[[File:Stokes sphere.svg|thumb|200px|right|Creeping flow past a sphere: [[Streamlines, streaklines, and pathlines|streamline]]s and forces.]]

Stokes' work on fluid motion and [[viscosity]] led to his calculating the terminal velocity for a sphere falling in a viscous medium. This became known as [[Stokes' law]]. He derived an expression for the frictional force (also called [[drag force]]) exerted on spherical objects with very small [[Reynolds number]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the effect of internal friction of fluids on the motion of pendulums |journal=Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |date=1851 |volume=9, part ii |pages=8–106 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015012112531;view=1up;seq=208|bibcode=1851TCaPS...9....8S }}  [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015012112531;view=1up;seq=252 The formula for terminal velocity (''V'')] appears on p. [52], equation (127).</ref>

Stokes' work is the basis of the falling sphere [[viscometer]], in which the fluid is stationary in a vertical glass tube. A sphere of known size and density is allowed to descend through the liquid. If correctly selected, it reaches [[terminal velocity]], which can be measured by the time it takes to pass two marks on the tube. Electronic sensing can be used for opaque fluids. Knowing the terminal velocity, the size and density of the sphere, and the density of the liquid, Stokes' law can be used to calculate the viscosity of the fluid. A series of steel [[ball bearing]]s of different diameters is normally used in the classic experiment to improve the accuracy of the calculation. The school experiment uses [[glycerine]] as the fluid, and the technique is used industrially to check the viscosity of fluids used in processes.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}

The same theory explains why small water droplets (or ice crystals) can remain suspended in air (as clouds) until they grow to a critical size and start falling as rain (or snow and [[hail]]). Similar use of the equation can be made in the settlement of fine particles in water or other fluids.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}

The [[stokes (unit)|stokes]], the [[CGS]] unit of [[kinematic viscosity]], was named in recognition of his work.

=== Optics ===
Perhaps Stokes' best-known researches are those which deal with the wave theory of light. His [[optical]] work began at an early period in his scientific career. His first papers on the [[aberration of light]] appeared in 1845 and 1846,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the aberration of light |journal=Philosophical Magazine |date=1845 |volume=27 |issue=177 |pages=9–15 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.319510006140796;view=1up;seq=23 |series=3rd series |doi=10.1080/14786444508645215|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G.G. |title=On Fresnel's theory of the aberration of light |journal=Philosophical Magazine |date=1846 |volume=28 |issue=184 |pages=76–81 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951000614080l;view=1up;seq=96 |series=3rd series}}</ref> and were followed in 1848 by one on the theory of certain bands seen in the [[electromagnetic spectrum|spectrum]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the theory of certain bands seen in the spectrum |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London |date=1848 |volume=138 |pages=227–242 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015034593387;view=1up;seq=291 |doi=10.1098/rstl.1848.0016|s2cid=110243475 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=952}}

In 1849, Stokes published a long paper on the dynamical theory of [[diffraction]], in which he showed that the plane of [[Polarization (waves)|polarisation]] must be perpendicular to the direction of propagation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the dynamical theory of diffraction |journal=Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |date=1849 |volume=9 |pages=1–62 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015012112531;view=1up;seq=11}}</ref> Two years later, he discussed the colours of thick plates.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G.G. |title=On the colours of thick plates |journal=Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |date=1851 |volume=9 (part ii) |pages=147–176 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015012112531;view=1up;seq=347|bibcode=1851TCaPS...9..147S }}</ref>{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=952}}

Stokes also investigated [[George Biddell Airy|George Airy]]'s mathematical description of [[rainbow]]s.<ref>See:
* G. B. Airy (1838) [https://books.google.com/books?id=-yI8AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA379 "On the intensity of light in the neighbourhood of a caustic,"] ''Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society'' '''6''' (3): 379 – 403.
* G. B. Airy (1849) [https://books.google.com/books?id=2vsIAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA595 "Supplement to a paper, "On the intensity of light in the neighbourhood of a caustic," "] ''Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society'' '''8''': 595–600.</ref> Airy's findings involved an integral that was awkward to evaluate. Stokes expressed the integral as a [[divergent series]], which were little understood. However, by cleverly truncating the series (i.e., ignoring all except the first few terms of the series), He obtained an accurate approximation to the integral that was far easier to evaluate than the integral itself.<ref>See:
* G. G. Stokes (presented: 1850; published: 1856) [https://archive.org/stream/transactionsofca09camb#page/n181/mode/1up "On the numerical calculation of a class of definite integrals and infinite series,"] ''Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society'', vol. 9, part I, pages 166–188.
* G. G. Stokes (presented: 1857; published: 1864) [https://archive.org/stream/transactionsofca10camb#page/105/mode/1up "On the discontinuity of arbitrary constants which appear in divergent developments,"] ''Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society'', vol. 10, part I, pp. 105–124. After its presentation, an Appendix was added to this paper; see pages 125–128.</ref> Stokes' research on asymptotic series led to fundamental insights about such series.<ref>See, for example, Wikipedia's articles "[[Stokes line]]" and "[[asymptotic expansions]]" as well as the [http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/obits_alpha/dingle_robert.pdf obituary of mathematician Robert Balson Dingle] (1926–2010), who investigated asymptotic series.</ref>

==== Fluorescence ====
{{Main|Stokes shift}}
[[File:USDA Mineral Flourite 93c3962.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Fluorspar]]

In 1852, in his famous paper on the change of [[wavelength]] of light, he described the phenomenon of [[fluorescence]], as exhibited by [[fluorspar]] and [[uranium glass]], materials which he viewed as having the power to convert invisible [[ultra-violet radiation]] into radiation of longer wavelengths that are visible.<ref>Stokes, G. G. (1852) [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_CE9FAAAAcAAJ/page/n502 <!-- pg=463 --> "On the change of refrangibility of light,"] ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London'', '''142''': 463–562.</ref> The [[Stokes shift]], which describes this conversion, is named in Stokes's honour. A mechanical model, illustrating the dynamical principle of Stokes's explanation was shown. The offshoot of this, [[Stokes line]], is the basis of [[Raman scattering]]. In 1883, during a lecture at the [[Royal Institution]], Lord Kelvin said he had heard an account of it from Stokes many years before, and had repeatedly but vainly begged him to publish it.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thomson |first1=William |title=The size of atoms |journal=Notices of the Proceedings at the Meetings of the Members of the Royal Institution, with Abstracts of the Discourses |date=2 February 1883 |volume=10 |pages=185–213 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuo.ark:/13960/t7kq0h14t;view=1up;seq=205}} ; [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuo.ark:/13960/t7kq0h14t;view=1up;seq=229 see pp. 207–208.]</ref>

==== Polarisation ====
[[File:Calcite.jpg|right|thumb|150px|A calcite crystal laid upon a paper with some letters showing the double refraction]]

In the same year, 1852, there appeared the paper on the composition and resolution of streams of polarised light from different sources,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the composition and resolution of streams of polarized light from different sources |journal=Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |date=1852 |volume=9 |pages=399–416 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015012112531;view=1up;seq=411|bibcode=1851TCaPS...9..399S }}</ref> and in 1853 an investigation of the metallic [[Reflection (physics)|reflection]] exhibited by certain non-metallic substances.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the metallic reflection exhibited by certain nonmetallic substances |journal=Philosophical Magazine |date=1853 |volume=6 |pages=393–403 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.319510006140958;view=1up;seq=419 |series=4th series |doi=10.1080/14786445308647395|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The research was to highlight the phenomenon of [[polarized light|light polarisation]]. About 1860 he was engaged in an inquiry on the intensity of light reflected from, or transmitted through, a pile of plates;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=George G. |title=On the intensity of the light reflected from or transmitted through a pile of plates |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London |date=1862 |volume=11 |pages=545–556 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044092762061;view=1up;seq=625 |doi=10.1098/rspl.1860.0119|doi-access= |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and in 1862 he prepared for the [[British Association for the Advancement of Science|British Association]] a valuable report on [[double refraction]],{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=952}} a phenomenon where certain crystals show different refractive indices along different axes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=Report of the Thirty-second Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science; held at Cambridge in October 1862. |date=1863 |publisher=John Murray |location=London, England |pages=253–282 |chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.a0001637438;view=1up;seq=325 |chapter=Report on double refraction}}</ref> Perhaps the best known crystal is [[Iceland spar]], transparent [[calcite]] crystals.

A paper on the long spectrum of the electric light bears the same date,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the long spectrum of electric light |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London |date=1862 |volume=152 |pages=599–619 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000054593114;view=1up;seq=665 |doi=10.1098/rstl.1862.0030|doi-access=free }}</ref> and was followed by an inquiry into the [[absorption spectrum]] of blood.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=952}}<ref>In 1862, the German physiologist [[Felix Hoppe-Seyler]] (1825–1895) had examined the absorption spectrum of blood:
*  {{cite journal |last1=Hoppe |first1=Felix |title=Ueber das Verhalten des Blutfarbstoffes im Spectrum des Sonnenlichtes |journal=Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin |date=1862 |volume=23 |issue=3–4 |pages=446–449 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3745202;view=1up;seq=466 |trans-title=On the behavior of the pigment of blood in the spectrum of sunlight |language=de |doi=10.1007/bf01939277|s2cid=39108151 }}
However, Hoppe did not provide an illustration of blood's absorption spectrum, which Stokes did provide:
*  {{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the reduction and oxidation of the colouring matter of the blood |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London |date=1864 |volume=13 |issue=66 |pages=355–364 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x002000775;view=1up;seq=403 |doi=10.1098/rspl.1863.0080|doi-access=free |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Chemical analysis ===
The chemical identification of [[organic compound|organic]] bodies by their optical properties was treated in 1864;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the application of the optical properties of bodies to the detection and discrimination of organic substances |journal=Journal of the Chemical Society |date=1864 |volume=17 |pages=304–318 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015077817487;view=1up;seq=322 |doi=10.1039/js8641700304}}</ref> and later, in conjunction with the Rev. [[William Vernon Harcourt (scientist)|William Vernon Harcourt]], he investigated the relation between the chemical composition and the optical properties of various glasses, with reference to the conditions of [[transparency (optics)|transparency]] and the improvement of [[achromatic lens|achromatic]] [[telescope]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=Report of the Forty-first Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science; held at Edinburgh in August 1871: Notices and Abstracts of Miscellaneous Communications to the Sections. |date=1872 |publisher=John Murray |location=London, England |pages=38–41 |chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101048077034;view=1up;seq=368 |chapter=Notice of the researches of the late Rev. William Vernon Harcourt, on the conditions of transparency in glass, and the connexion between the chemical constitution and optical properties of different glasses|series=Report of the ... Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1833) }}</ref> A still later paper connected with the construction of optical instruments discussed the theoretical limits to the aperture of microscope objectives.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the question of a theoretical limit to the apertures of microscopic objectives |journal=Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society |date=July 1878 |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=139–142 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x030583866;view=1up;seq=171 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2818.1878.tb05472.x|doi-access=free }}</ref>{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=952}}

=== Ophthalmology ===
In 1849, Stokes invented the [[Stokes lens]] to detect [[astigmatism]].<ref name="Ento Key">{{cite web |last1=Wunsh |first1=Stuart E. |title=The Cross Cylinder |url=https://entokey.com/the-cross-cylinder/ |website=Ento Key |date=10 July 2016}}</ref> It is a lens combination consisting of equal but opposite power [[cylindrical lens]]es attached together in such a way so that the lenses can be rotated relative to one another.<ref name="Optics Express">{{cite journal |last1=Ferrer-Altabás |first1=Sara |last2=Thibos |first2=Larry |last3=Micó |first3=Vicente |title=Astigmatic Stokes lens revisited |journal=Optics Express |date=14 March 2022 |volume=30 |issue=6 |pages=8974–8990 |doi=10.1364/OE.450062 |pmid=35299337 |bibcode=2022OExpr..30.8974F |s2cid=245785084 |url=https://opg.optica.org/oe/fulltext.cfm?uri=oe-30-6-8974&id=470070 |language=EN |issn=1094-4087|doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Other work ===
[[File:Crookes radiometer.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Crookes Radiometer]]
In other areas of physics may be mentioned his paper on the [[thermal conductivity|conduction of heat]] in [[crystal]]s (1851)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the conduction of heat in crystals |journal=The Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Journal |date=1851 |volume=6 |pages=215–238 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015069418898;view=1up;seq=227}}</ref> and his inquiries in connection with [[Crookes radiometer]];<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On certain movements of radiometers |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London |date=1877 |volume=26 |issue=179–184 |pages=546–555 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044106280530;view=1up;seq=604 |doi=10.1098/rspl.1877.0076|bibcode=1877RSPS...26..546S |doi-access= |url-access=subscription }}</ref> his explanation of the light border frequently noticed in photographs just outside the outline of a dark body seen against the sky (1882);<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the cause of the light border frequently noticed in photographs just outside the outline of a dark body seen against the sky; with some introductory remarks on phosphorescence |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London |date=25 May 1882 |volume=34 |issue=220–223 |pages=63–68 |doi=10.1098/rspl.1882.0012 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044106280613;view=1up;seq=81|bibcode=1882RSPS...34...63S |s2cid=140690553 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and, still later, his theory of the [[x-ray]]s, which he suggested might be transverse waves travelling as innumerable solitary waves, not in regular trains.<ref>See:
*  {{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the nature of Röntgen rays |journal=Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |date=1896 |volume=9 |pages=215–216 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101028455515;view=1up;seq=237}}
*  {{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the Röntgen rays |journal=Nature |date=3 September 1896 |volume=54 |issue=1401 |pages=427–430 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015038750892;view=1up;seq=471 |doi=10.1038/054427b0|bibcode=1896Natur..54R.427. |doi-access=free }} ; see especially p. 430.
*  {{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=The Wilde Lecture: On the nature of the Röntgen rays |journal=Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society |date=1897 |volume=41 |issue=15 |pages=1–28 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015035427023;view=1up;seq=371}} ; see especially pp. 24–25.</ref> Two long papers published in 1849 – one on attractions and [[Clairaut's theorem]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On attractions, and on Clairaut's theorem |journal=The Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Journal |date=1849 |volume=4 |pages=194–219 |url=https://archive.org/stream/cambridgeanddub03unkngoog#page/n201/mode/2up}}</ref> and the other on the variation of [[gravity]] at the surface of the Earth (1849) – [[Stokes' formula (gravity)|Stokes's gravity formula]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=On the variation of gravity at the surface of the Earth |journal=Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |date=1849 |volume=8 |pages=672–695 |url=https://archive.org/stream/transactionsofca08camb#page/672/mode/2up}}</ref>—also demand notice, as do his mathematical memoirs on the critical values of sums of periodic series (1847)<ref>G. G. Stokes (presented: 1847; published: 1849) [https://books.google.com/books?id=2vsIAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA533 "On the critical values of the sums of periodic series,"] ''Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society'', '''8''' : 533–583.</ref> and on the numerical calculation of a class of definite [[integral]]s and [[infinite series]] (1850)<ref>G. G. Stokes (presented: 1850; published: 1856) [https://books.google.com/books?id=L_NYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA166 "On the numerical calculation of a class of definite integrals and infinite series,"] ''Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society'', '''9''' (part 1): 166–188.</ref> and his discussion of a [[differential equation]] relating to the breaking of railway bridges (1849),<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokes |first1=G. G. |title=Discussion of a differential equation relating to the breaking of railway bridges |journal=Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society |date=1849 |volume=8 |pages=707–735 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2vsIAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA533}}</ref>{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=952}} research related to his evidence given to the ''Royal Commission on the Use of Iron in Railway structures'' after the [[Dee Bridge disaster]] of 1847.

=== Unpublished research ===
Many of Stokes's discoveries were not published, or were only touched upon in the course of his oral lectures. One such example is his work in the theory of [[spectroscopy]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=952}}
[[File:Baron Kelvin 1906.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Lord Kelvin]]
In his presidential address to the [[British Association]] in 1871, [[Lord Kelvin]] stated his belief that the application of the prismatic analysis of light to solar and stellar chemistry had never been suggested directly or indirectly by anyone else when Stokes taught it to him at Cambridge University some time prior to the summer of 1852, and he set forth the conclusions, theoretical and practical, which he learnt from Stokes at that time, and which he afterwards gave regularly in his public lectures at [[Glasgow]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thomson |first1=William |title=Report of the Forty-first Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science; held at Edinburgh in August 1871 |date=1871 |publisher=John Murray |location=London, England |pages=lxxxiv–cv |chapter=Address of Sir William Thomson, Knt., LL.D., F.R.S., President|chapter-url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015010796491;view=1up;seq=90 }}; [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015010796491;view=1up;seq=101 see pp. xcv–xcvi.]</ref>[[File:Gustav R. Kirchhoff.jpg|thumb|150px|Kirchhoff]] These statements, containing as they do the physical basis on which spectroscopy rests, and the way in which it is applicable to the identification of substances existing in the sun and stars, make it appear that Stokes anticipated [[Gustav Kirchhoff]] by at least seven or eight years. Stokes, however, in a letter published some years after the delivery of this address, stated that he had failed to take one essential step in the argument—not perceiving that emission of light of definite wavelength not merely permitted, but necessitated, absorption of light of the same wavelength. He modestly disclaimed "any part of Kirchhoff's admirable discovery," adding that he felt some of his friends had been over-zealous in his cause.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Whitmell |first1=C.T.L. |last2=Stokes |first2=G. G. |title=Prof. Stokes on the early history of spectrum analysis |journal=Nature |date=6 January 1876 |volume=13 |issue=323 |pages=188–189 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951d003349840;view=1up;seq=206 |doi=10.1038/013188c0|bibcode=1876Natur..13..188W |doi-access=free }}</ref> It must be said, however, that English scientists have not accepted this disclaimer in all its fullness, and still attribute to Stokes the credit of having first enunciated the fundamental principles of [[spectroscopy]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=952}}

In another way, too, Stokes did much for the progress of mathematical physics. Soon after he was elected to the Lucasian chair he announced that he regarded it as part of his professional duties to help any member of the university with difficulties he might encounter in his mathematical studies, and the assistance rendered was so real that pupils were glad to consult him, even after they had become colleagues, on mathematical and physical problems in which they found themselves at a loss. Then during the thirty years he acted as secretary of the Royal Society, he exercised an enormous if inconspicuous influence on the advancement of mathematical and physical science, not only directly by his own investigations, but indirectly by suggesting problems for inquiry and inciting men to attack them, and by his readiness to give encouragement and help.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=952}}

=== Contributions to engineering ===
[[File:Dee bridge disaster.jpg|thumb|The Dee Bridge after its collapse]]

Stokes was involved in several investigations into railway accidents, especially the [[Dee Bridge disaster]] in [[Chester]] in May 1847, and he served as a member of the subsequent Royal Commission into the use of cast iron in railway structures. He contributed to the calculation of the forces exerted by moving engines on bridges. The bridge failed because a cast iron beam was used to support the loads of passing trains. [[Cast iron]] is [[brittle]] in [[Tension (physics)|tension]] or [[bending]], and many other similar bridges had to be demolished or reinforced.

[[File:Tay bridge down.JPG|thumb|left|Fallen [[Tay Bridge]] from the north]]

He appeared as an expert witness at the [[Tay Bridge disaster]], where he gave evidence about the effects of wind loads on the bridge. The centre section of the bridge (known as the High Girders) was completely destroyed during a storm on 28 December 1879, while an express train was in the section, and everyone aboard died (more than 75 victims). The Board of Inquiry listened to many [[expert witness]]es, and concluded that the bridge was "badly designed, badly built and badly maintained".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/BoT_TayInquiry1880.pdf#page=45 |last=Rothery |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Cadogan Rothery |title=Report of the Court of Inquiry and Report of Mr Rothery Upon the Circumstances attending the Fall of a Portion of the Tay Bridge on the 28th December 1879 |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |year=1880 |page=44}}</ref>

As a result of his evidence, he was appointed a member of the subsequent [[Royal Commission]] into the effect of wind pressure on structures. The effects of high winds on large structures had been neglected at that time, and the commission conducted a series of measurements across Britain to gain an appreciation of wind speeds during storms, and the pressures they exerted on exposed surfaces.

=== Work on religion ===
[[File:Skreen_Church_-_geograph.org.uk_-_307483.jpg|thumb|[[Skreen]], [[Church of Ireland]] in [[County Sligo]]]]

Stokes generally held conservative religious values and beliefs. In 1886, he became president of the [[Victoria Institute]], which had been founded to defend evangelical Christian principles against challenges from the new sciences, especially the [[Charles Darwin|Darwinian]] theory of biological [[evolution]]. He gave the 1891 [[Gifford Lectures|Gifford lecture]] on [[natural theology]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lucasianchair.org/19/stokes.html| title= Lucasian Chair.org | access-date=8 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016193150/http://lucasianchair.org/19/stokes.html|archive-date=16 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Natural Theology|first=Sir G. G.|last=Stokes|year=1891|publisher=Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh|url=https://archive.org/details/naturaltheology02stokgoog}}</ref> He was also the vice-president of the [[British and Foreign Bible Society]] and was actively involved in doctrinal debates concerning missionary work.<ref>{{Cite book | last1 = Schlossberg | first1 = Herbert. | title = Conflict and crisis in the religious life of late victorian England |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=IRf3knel_P4C&pg=PA46 | year = 2009 | publisher = Transaction Publishers | location = New Brunswick, NJ | isbn = 978-1-4128-1027-2 | page = 46 }}</ref> However, although his religious views were mostly orthodox, he was unusual among Victorian evangelicals in rejecting eternal punishment in hell, and instead was a proponent of [[Christian conditionalism]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mathieson |first1=Stuart |title=Stokes: Victorian Britain's Most Important Religious Scientist |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A |date=8 June 2020 |volume=378 |issue=2174 |pages=7–8 |doi=10.1098/rsta.2019.0518|pmid=32507092 |bibcode=2020RSPTA.37890518M |doi-access=free }}</ref>

As President of the Victoria Institute, Stokes wrote: ''"We all admit that the book of Nature and the book of Revelation come alike from God, and that consequently there can be no real discrepancy between the two if rightly interpreted. The provisions of Science and Revelation are, for the most part, so distinct that there is little chance of collision. But if an apparent discrepancy should arise, we have no right on principle, to exclude either in favour of the other. For however firmly convinced we may be of the truth of revelation, we must admit our liability to err as to the extent or interpretation of what is revealed; and however strong the scientific evidence in favour of a theory may be, we must remember that we are dealing with evidence which, in its nature, is probable only, and it is conceivable that wider scientific knowledge might lead us to alter our opinion".''<ref>''Notes by the President on the Origin of the Books of Revelation and of Nature'': Journal of Transactions of the Victoria Institute 22 (1888–1889).</ref>

== Family ==
On 4 July 1857, Stokes married Mary Susanna Robinson, the only daughter of Irish astronomer [[Thomas Romney Robinson]], at [[St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh (Church of Ireland)|St Patrick's Cathedral]] in [[Armagh]]. They had five children: Arthur Romney, who inherited the [[Stokes baronets|Stokes Baronetcy]]; Susanna Elizabeth, who died in infancy; Isabella Lucy (Mrs Laurence Humphry), who contributed the personal memoir of her father in "Memoir and Scientific Correspondence of the Late George Gabriel Stokes, Bart"; Dr William George Gabriel, physician, a troubled man who committed suicide aged 30 while temporarily insane; and Dora Susanna, who died in infancy. His male line and hence his baronetcy have since become extinct.

== Awards and honours ==
{{further|List of things named after George Gabriel Stokes}}
[[File:Stokes George G.jpg|right|200px]]

* 1849–1903: [[Lucasian Professor of Mathematics]] at the [[University of Cambridge]]
* 1851: elected an Honorary Member of the [[Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society]]<ref>Memoirs and proceedings of the Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society FOURTH SERIES  Eighth  VOLUME   1894</ref> 
* 1851: elected a Fellow of the [[Royal Society]], and received its [[Rumford Medal|Rumford]] and [[Copley Medal|Copley]] medals in 1852 and 1893, respectively.
* 1869: presided over the [[Exeter, England|Exeter]] meeting of the [[British Association]]
* 1874: elected an International Honorary Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 February 2023 |title=George Gabriel Stokes {{!}} American Academy of Arts and Sciences |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/george-gabriel-stokes |access-date=10 April 2024 |website=www.amacad.org |language=en}}</ref>
* 1879: elected a Member of the [[Prussia]]n [[Order Pour le Mérite]]
* 1883: elected an International Member of the [[National Academy of Sciences]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=George G. Stokes |url=https://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001220.html |access-date=10 April 2024 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref>
* 1883–1885: Burnett Lecturer at the [[University of Aberdeen]]; his lectures on light, which were published in 1884–1887, dealt with its nature, its use as a means of investigation, and its beneficial effects.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=952}}
* 18 April 1888: admitted a [[Freeman of the City of London]]<ref>London Metropolitan Archive; Reference Number: COL/CHD/FR/02/2275-2278</ref>
* 6 July 1889: Queen [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]] made him a [[baronet]] as Sir George Gabriel Stokes of Lensfield Cottage in the [[Baronetage of the United Kingdom]]; the title became extinct in 1916.<ref>http://www.hereditarytitles.com {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041213144833/http://hereditarytitles.com/ |date=13 December 2004 }}</ref>
* 1889: elected an International Member of the [[American Philosophical Society]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=George+G.+Stokes&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=10 April 2024 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
* 1891: as [[Gifford Lecturer]], he published a volume on Natural Theology.
* His academic distinctions included [[honorary degree]]s from many universities, including:
** ''Doctor mathematicae ([[honoris causa]])'' from the [[Royal Frederick University]] on 6 September 1902, when they celebrated the centennial of the birth of mathematician [[Niels Henrik Abel]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Foreign degrees for British men of Science |date=8 September 1902 |page=4 |issue=36867}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uio.no/om/tall-og-fakta/aresdoktorer/tidligere-aresdoktorer/1902-1910/ |title=Honorary doctorates from the University of Oslo 1902–1910}} ''(in Norwegian)''</ref>
* The [[Viscosity#Kinematic viscosity .CE.BD|stokes]], a unit of [[kinematic viscosity]], is named after him.
* 1909: the Stokes Society at [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]], was founded as an academic hub for undergraduate scientists across the University. It remains active as of 2023.<ref>{{cite web|title=Stokes Society|url=https://stokes.soc.srcf.net|date=Feb 2023|publisher=Student Run Computing Facility, Cambridge University}}</ref>
* 1964: the lunar crater [[Stokes (lunar crater)|Stokes]] was named in his honor.<ref>[https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5711 Stokes], Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, [[USGS]]/[[IAU]]/[[NASA]]</ref>
* 1973: the Martian crater [[Stokes (Martian crater)|Stokes]] was named in his honor.<ref>[https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5712 Stokes], Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, [[USGS]]/[[IAU]]/[[NASA]]</ref>
* July 2017: [[Dublin City University]] named a building after Stokes in recognition of his contributions to physics and mathematics<ref>[https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0705/888002-dcu-women/ DCU names three buildings after inspiring women scientists] [[Raidió Teilifís Éireann]], 5 July 2017</ref>

== Publications ==
Stokes' mathematical and physical papers (see external links) were published in a collected form in five volumes; the first three (Cambridge, 1880, 1883, and 1901) under his own editorship, and the two last (Cambridge, 1904 and 1905) under that of Sir [[Joseph Larmor]], who also selected and arranged the ''Memoir and Scientific Correspondence of Stokes'' published at Cambridge in 1907.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=953}}<gallery>
File:Stokes-1.jpg| Volumes I-V of ''Mathematical and Physical Papers'' (1880-1905)
File:Stokes-2.jpg|Title page to Volume I of ''Mathematical and Physical Papers'' (1880)
File:Stokes-6.jpg|Table of contents to Volume I of ''Mathematical and Physical Papers'' (1880)
File:Stokes-8.jpg|First page of Volume I of ''Mathematical and Physical Papers'' (1880)
</gallery>

== See also ==
*[[Stokes flow]]
* [[List of presidents of the Royal Society]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Stokes, Sir George Gabriel|volume=25|pages=951–953}}

== Further reading ==
*Wilson, David B., ''Kelvin and Stokes A Comparative Study in Victorian Physics'', (1987) {{isbn|0-85274-526-5}}
**{{cite journal|author=Roche, John|title=Review of ''Kelvin and Stokes'' by David Wilson|journal=New Scientist|date=26 May 1988|page=73|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5CVlXaRItT0C&pg=PA73}}
*{{citation | first= A.D.D. | last=Craik | year=2005 | title=George Gabriel Stokes on water wave theory | journal=Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics | volume=37 | issue=1 | pages= 23–42 | doi=10.1146/annurev.fluid.37.061903.175836 |bibcode = 2005AnRFM..37...23C }}
*Peter R Lewis, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5esSDQAAQBAJ ''Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay: Reinvestigating the Tay Bridge Disaster of 1879''], Tempus (2004). {{isbn|0-7524-3160-9}}
*{{cite journal|title=Aesthetics versus function: the fall of the Dee bridge, 1847|journal=Interdisciplinary Science Reviews|volume=29|issue=2|year=2004|pages=177–191|doi=10.1179/030801804225012563|last1=Lewis|first1=Peter R.|last2=Gagg|first2=Colin|bibcode=2004ISRv...29..177L |s2cid=17907426}}
*PR Lewis, ''Disaster on the Dee: Robert Stephenson's Nemesis of 1847'', Tempus Publishing (2007) {{isbn|978-0-7524-4266-2}}
* ''[https://global.oup.com/academic/product/george-gabriel-stokes-9780198822868?cc=gb&lang=en& George Gabriel Stokes: Life, Science and Faith]'' Edited by Mark McCartney, Andrew Whitaker, and Alastair Wood, Oxford University Press, 2019. {{ISBN|0-19-882286-3}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
* {{MathGenealogy|id=102483}}
* {{MacTutor Biography|id=Stokes}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060208033233/http://www.cmde.dcu.ie/Stokes/GGStokes.html Biography on Dublin City University Web site]
* {{cite book
|title=Memoir and Scientific Correspondence of the Late Sir George Gabriel Stokes ...
|author=George Gabriel Stokes
|year=1907
|publisher=University press
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x_04AAAAMAAJ&q=george+stokes&pg=RA1-PA277
}} (1907), ed. by J. Larmor
* Mathematical and physical papers [https://archive.org/details/mathphyspapers01stokrich volume 1] and [https://archive.org/details/mathphyspapers02stokrich volume 2] from the [[Internet Archive]]
* Mathematical and physical papers, [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=umhistmath&amp;idno=AAT0146 volumes 1 to 5] from the University of Michigan Digital Collection.
* [http://www.giffordlectures.org/Author.asp?AuthorID=160 Life and work of Stokes]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080417014345/http://www.giffordlectures.org/Browse.asp?PubID=TPNATT&Cover=TRUE ''Natural Theology''] (1891), Adam and Charles Black. (1891–93 [[Gifford Lectures]])
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=George Gabriel Stokes |sopt=t}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | sir-george-stokes | Sir George Stokes }}

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{{succession box
 | title  = Member of Parliament for [[Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)|Cambridge University]]
 | years  = [[November 1887 Cambridge University by-election|1887]] – [[1892 United Kingdom general election|1892]]
 | with   = [[Henry Cecil Raikes]] to 1891
 | with2  = [[Richard Claverhouse Jebb|Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb]] from 1891
 | before = [[Henry Cecil Raikes]]<br />[[Alexander Beresford Hope]]
 | after  = [[Richard Claverhouse Jebb|Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb]]<br />[[John Eldon Gorst|Sir John Eldon Gorst]]
}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Stokes baronets|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Lensfield Cottage)''' | years=1889–1903}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Thomas Henry Huxley]]}}
{{s-ttl|order=35th|title=[[Royal Society|President of the Royal Society]]|years=1885–1890}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin|William Thomson]]}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Charles Edward Searle]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Masters of Pembroke College, Cambridge|Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge]]|years=1902–1903}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Arthur James Mason]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Copley Medallists 1851-1900}}
{{Lucasian Professors of Mathematics}}
{{Royal Society presidents 1800s}}
{{Scientists whose names are used as non SI units}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, George Gabriel}}
[[Category:1819 births]]
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[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:Senior Wranglers]]
[[Category:International members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Cambridge Philosophical Society]]