From Newton to Hawking: a History of Cambridge University’S Lucasian Professors of Mathematics Edited by Kevin C

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Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-66310-6 - From Newton to Hawking: A History of Cambridge University’s Lucasian Professors of Mathematics Edited by Kevin C. Knox and Richard Noakes Index More information

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aberration, stellar 309, 352–5 analysis, mathematical 13, 27–8, 245, acoustics 3, 442, 453 249–53, 256, 258–61, 266, 279, 288, Adams Prize 355, 438 304–5, 394, 414 Addison, Joseph 162 ‘Analytical Revolution’ 233–6, 249–50 aerodynamics 3, 442 Analytical Society 35, 233–6, 249–50, aesthetics, in mathematics 38, 412, 414–17 258–61, 270, 287 Aether and Matter 355, 363, 369–73 Anglicanism 86–8, 100–4, 196–8, 221–34, æther 246–7, 8 and British tradition 308–9, 361 Anne, Queen 151, 153 and earth’s motion 40, 309, 352–9, 373, antiparticles 395–6, 399, 418 375–8, 380 Arago, Dominique-François-Jean, and and force 367–72 electromagnetism 251, 265, 276, 285 and matter 40, 92, 309, 349–60, 371, Arianism see also Newton and Whiston 377–8, 381 85–6, 102–4, 119–21, 136, 148–55 and unification of physics 362–9, 380–1 Aristotle 10, 104–5 theories of 22–3, 37, 274, 282, 308–9, 344, artificial intelligence 36, 243, 259–62, 267, 349–73, 375–83 272, 278, 285–6, 453–7 Agnesi, Donna Maria Gaetana 16, 199 artisanal skill 242–3, 267 agnosticism 316 astronomical observatories 246, 256, 262–3, Airy, George Biddell 1, 4, 14, 29, 36, 246–9, 276, 288 251–7, 261–2, 264–7, 270–7, 285, 287, Astronomical Society 245, 249, 259, 263, 266 298–9 astronomy and Babbage 247–8, 251, 268, 270–1, 275, in Cambridge curriculum 9, 250, 297–8 277, 284, 287 observational 16, 247, 258, 276, 288, and Lucasian chair 246–7, 257, 268, 270–5 297–8, 436 and machine semiotics 265, 267 atheism 285–7 and machines 246–7, 265–6 Atiyah, Michael 440 and mathematical analysis 266 atomic physics 329, 347, 382, 390–1, 394 and mathematical teaching 266, 272–4 atomic weapons 410–11 and observatory management 272–3, attraction see gravity 275–6, 288 Atwood, George 226 and optical researches 2–3, 264, 274 Atwood’s machine 15, 19, 223, 266 and treadmills 272–3, 288 and Whewell 248, 254, 261, 266, 275, 282 Babbage, Charles 1, 4, 6, 9, 16, 20, 28, 35–6, as Astronomer Royal 246–7, 287 210, 234–5, 241–89, 302, 304, 323, 451, education and early career 253–4, 257 457 Airy’s criterion 2 and Airy 6, 247–8, 251, 268, 270–1, 275, alchemy 87–92, 119, 123 277, 284 algebraic analysis see analysis, mathematical and calculating engines 1, 6, 19, 36, 241–3, Allin, Richard 157 248, 259–60, 262, 266, 271, 276, 278–9, Ampere,` Andre-Marie´ 251, 265 281, 285, 287, 457

© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-66310-6 - From Newton to Hawking: A History of Cambridge University’s Lucasian Professors of Mathematics Edited by Kevin C. Knox and Richard Noakes Index More information

476 index

and factory system 36, 242–3, 248, 267–8, Bohr, Niels 329, 387, 390, 394, 399–400, 278–82, 286 419 and Herschel 234–5, 241–2, 257–8, 279 Boldero, Edward 60 and Lucasian chair 4, 6, 242–7, 252, 256, Born, Max 41, 391 268, 270–2, 277–83, 304, 452 Boswell, William 48–9, 190 and machinery 36, 242–3, 251, 253, 259, Boyle, Robert 74–5, 90, 147 265, 270, 280–2, 285, 287 Bradley, James 179 and mathematical analysis 6, 28, 231–4, Brewster, David 278, 283 249–50, 253, 256, 258–9, 266–7, 276, Bridgewater Treatises 22, 282, 285 278–9, 281, 284–5 Brief History of Time A 40, 433, 445–6, 452 and mental mechanisms 36, 243, 251, 259, Briggs, Henry 48, 54 262, 267, 272, 278, 285–6 Bristol College 299–300 and machine semiotics 36, 259, 265–8, 272 Bristol University 391, 398 and politics 30, 243, 282 British Association for the Advancement of and religion 19, 22, 231–4, 285–6 Science 278, 287, 320, 323, 350, 363, and tours 241–2, 251, 265, 268, 271, 277, 368 281, 285, 287 Bromhead, Edward 259, 261, 269–70 and Whewell 248, 253, 260, 282–6 Brougham, Henry 324–5 early career 245, 256–7 Brouncker, Lord William 62 Babington, Humphrey 73, 113 Browning, Bishop Ralph 60 Banks, Joseph 217 Bruce, Jacob 191 Barrow, Isaac 25, 27, 29, 31, 49–63, 79–83, Buck, Thomas 49–50, 56, 62, 465–6, 470 145–6, 171, 175–6, 252, 277, 463, 470 Burke, Edmund 179, 189–90 and mathematics 53–4, 56–60 Burnet, Thomas 19–20, 96–8 and Newton 61–3 Byron, Lady see Lovelace, Lady Ada Augusta and publishing 63–5 and Royalist sympathies 53 calculating engine, Babbage’s 36, 241–3, 248, education of 50–3 259–60, 266, 271, 276, 278–9, 285–8, 457 Geometrical Lectures 60 calculus, Newtonian 79–80, 83, 89, 194–200, Mathematical Lectures 64 209, 219, 230–7, 245, 249–51, 260–1 optical lectures of 60, 63–5, 80–1 Cambridge Centre of Mathematical Studies religious commitments 61–2, 64 17 Barrow’s Proof 2 Cambridge City Council 451 Batchelor, George 426, 440 Cambridge Philosophical Society 256, 259, Belfast Academical Institution 345–6 261–2, 265, 267, 298–9 Bentley, Richard 18, 118, 140–1, 149, 175–6, Cambridge University 222 Acts 253, 255 Berkeley, Bishop George 196–7, 228 and endowments 257, 452 biblical exegesis 147–51, 315–16 and women 15–16, 331–2 Big Bang 21, 38, 396, 412, 436, 439, 444, 449 colleges 10–11, 16, 174–5, 245–8, 250, ‘big science’ 16, 396, 437, 442 262–3, 268–70, 283, 285, 288 Biographia Britannica 177 curriculum 8–12, 15, 174–5, 179–85, Biot, Jean-Baptiste 251, 252, 258–9 196–9, 218–31, 245, 247, 250, 254, black holes 436–40 260–1, 266, 287–8, 297–9, 304–5, 331, Blake, William 32 333–4 Board of Longitude 246, 252, 259, 266, 275, Elizabethan 9 278 examinations 10–11, 249–50, 253–6, body, the 23–6, 227–8, 316–18, 404, 425–34, 260–1, 279, 283–4, 297–8, 300, 302–5, 449–56 307, 314 Bohm, David 411, 420 experimental and theoretical physics 393

index 477

mathematical traditions 35, 245–58, Colson, Nathaniel 191 268–88, 304–5, 314, 331, 349, 357, comets 4, 18, 33, 98–100, 105, 110, 139–40, 360–1, 372, 381, 383, 397–8 155–7 mixed mathematics 249, 256, 262 communism, and British science 408, 411, religion at 9, 112–8, 148–55, 196–8, 420 222–35, 245–8, 252, 255–6, 268, 287, complementarity 400 300, 315, 322 computers see also artiﬁcial intelligence and Cambridge University Library 5, 455, 467 calculating engines 1, 40–1, 430–1, 448, Cambridge University Observatory 246, 256, 451–6 262–3, 265, 276 Concorde 442 Carlyle, Thomas 6 conditional immortality 316–17, 334 cathode rays 326, 329 Conduitt, John 73 Catholicism 27, 100–4, 112–14, 119–22, contraction hypothesis 353–8, 362, 376–8 412–13, 444–5 Cooper, Samuel 226 Catton, Thomas 263, 276 Copenhagen interpretation 400, 419–20 Cauchy, Augstin 250, 259–60 cosmology see also Newton and Cavendish Laboratory 16–17, 288, 314, 329, Newtonianism 396–7, 403, 408–9, 331, 334, 347, 382, 393 412–13, 418, 435–40, 442 celestial mechanics 78, 92–100, 104–12, 125, Cotes, Roger 145, 162–3, 182–3, 185 222, 246, 260–1, 263–4, 266, 285 Creation, the see also Creationism 96–9 centrifugal force see force Creationism 37, 318–19, 322, 412, 444–5, 447 centripetal force see force Cromwell, Oliver 53 Challis, James 301–2, 307–8, 312 Crookes, William 325–6 Charles II 461, 470 Crucial experiment, Newton’s see Charterhouse school 117 experimentum crucis chemistry 39, 87–92, 119, 123, 217–18, 224, Cubitt, William 265, 272–3 325, 421 Cumberland, Duke of (William) 194 Christ’s College, Cambridge 223 Cunningham, Ebenezer 382 Church of England see Anglicanism curriculum see Cambridge University, Civil War, English 19, 27, 49, 53 curriculum Clarke, Samuel 148, 153, 221 current, electric 350–2 Classical Tripos 255, 298, 305 Cygnus X-1 437 Clement, Joseph 267, 277, 279 Clinton, Bill 431, 448 d’Alembert, Jean le Rond 206, 215, 220 coaching system 12, 253–5, 288, 302, 357 Darwin, Charles Robert 22, 286, 316, 327–8, Colby, Thomas 262, 270 333 Cole, William 190 Darwinism 22, 36–7, 318–23 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor 231 Davies, Richard 184 colleges see Cambridge University colleges Davy, Humphry 217 Collins, John 57, 59–65, 79–82, 87 de Broglie, Louis 391 Colson, John 21, 29, 34, 171–200, 216, 220 deduction, philosophical 247, 255, 261, 274, and Bishop Berkeley 197–8 285–6 education of 191–2 de Duillier, Nicholas Fatio 117–18, 123, 160 Historical, Critical and Etymological de Moivre, Abraham 118 Dictionary of the Bible 193–4 De Morgan, Augustus 228–9, 237, 286 Lady’s System of Analyticks 199 De Quincey, Thomas 214 mathematical work 194–200 Dee, John 45 Method of Fluxions 194–8 Defoe, Daniel 160 translations by 193–4, 198–9 Department of Applied Mathematics and Colson, John Sr 190–1 Theoretical Physics 17, 405, 430

478 index

Department of Pure Mathematics and Duport, James 53 Mathematical Statistics 17 Dyer, George 177 Desaguliers, John Theophilus 27 dynamical theory, Newtonian 40, 247, 255, Descartes, Rene´ 74, 233 265, 307–11, 350, 357–65, 369–73, design argument 222–32, 300, 315, 322 379–83, 387, 390, 397 determinism 320, 322, 420 Diderot, Denis 185–9, 206 earth, age of 319 diffraction 310 economics see also political economy 281, Dingle, Herbert 408–9 285, 406 Dirac, Paul 1, 4, 6, 16, 19–20, 24, 29, 37–8, Economy of Machinery and Manufacture 40, 383, 387–422, 426, 435, 442 279–81, 283–5 abstract approach of 6, 37, 401, 408–9, 414 Eddington, Arthur Stanley 343, 372, 382, 383 and antiparticles 395–6, 399, 418 n. 2 and 3, 396–7, 402, 408–9, 412 and atomic bomb 410–11 Einstein, Albert 23, 40, 343–4, 355–6, 380–3, and beauty 38, 415–18 387, 396–7, 418–19, 435–7, 446, 457 and completeness of physics 421–2 electricity, in examinations 13, 304–5, 314, and cosmology 396–7, 412–13 331 and Fock 399, 406, 419–20 electrodynamics 343–69, 395–6, 406, 410, and foreign physicists 394, 398–9, 405–7, 417–18, 421 419–20 electromagnetism 288, 307, 311, 313, 331, and Hawking 404–5, 422, 435 334, 343, 349–52, 358–9, 361 and Lucasian chair 392–4, 397, 398 electronic theory of matter 343, 349–60, 370, and philosophical debate 409, 419–20 377–8, 381 and politics 38, 400, 405–11, 420 electrons 40, 343, 347, 350–1, 354–5, 368, and quantum electrodynamics 395–6, 410, 395–6, 415 417 Elizabeth I 45–6 and rationalism 38, 388–90, 411–12 Ellys, John 176 and religion 19–20, 412–13, 417 Elsasser, Walther 388 and Soviet Union 405–8, 411, 419–20 Emerson, William 211 and teaching 392, 399, 401–3 Empire, British 262 early career 391–2 energy physics see thermodynamics legacy of 388, 397, 402–3, 415 engineering 218, 265, 305, 414, 442–3 quantum mechanics 16, 382, 387–92, engineers 254–68, 265, 267, 272–8, 282 394–6, 399–402, 414, 413–20, 436, epistemology 222–3, 231–4, 308, 367–80, 419 439–40 Essays and Reviews 22, 316 students 393–4, 402 eternal damnation 316–18 taciturnity of 388, 392–3, 397–9, 402–3 ether see æther working practices of 24, 37, 398–9, 404–5, evangelicalism 232–4, 245, 300, 315 413–41 Evelyn, John 128 Dirac δ-function 1, 415 event horizon 438–9 Dirac equation 395 evolutionary biology 23, 36, 307, 318–21, 448 disability, physical 176, 184–90, 426–35, examinations 10–12, 249–50, 252–6, 260–1, 450–1 279, 283–4, 297–8, 300, 302–5, 307, 314 disputations see examinations Euclid 11, 13, 304 Dollond, George 262–3 Exclusion Crisis 100–1 D’Oyley, Samuel 193 experimentum crucis 76 Drake, Colonel 54 dualism 23–5, 222–3, 318, 429 factory system 35–6, 242–3, 248, 267–8, 278, Dunn, Joshua 178 280–2 Dupin, Charles 267–8, 282 Faraday, Michael 311, 313, 322, 325, 377

index 479

Fermilab 16 Green, George 361 Fitzgerald, George Francis 350, 353, 359, Greene, Robert 181–2 361 Gregory, David 118, 138, 182, 192 Flamsteed, John 93, 98–100, 107, 125, 191 Gregory, James 80, 82 fluid dynamics see hydrodynamics Gribbin, John 439, 455–6 fluorescence 310–11 fluxions see calculus, Newtonian and Haldane, John Burdon Sanderson 408–9 Colson, John Method of Fluxions Hales, Stephen 145 Fock, Vladimir 399, 406, 420 Halley, Edmund 99, 106, 112, 117, 136, 144, Folkes, Martin 171 159, 163, 176–7, 191 force 251, 369–72, 381 Hamilton, William 256, 272 Foundations of Morals 76–8, 300 Hartle, Jim 436, 440 Fourier, Jean-Baptiste 251, 284–5 Hartley, David 206, 228, 230 Fowler, Ralph Howard 391, 393–4 Hartlib, Samuel 48–9, 53–4 France, Revolutionary 28, 205–7, 230–1, 241, Hastings, Theophilus, 7th Earl of 250–1 Huntington 472 Francis, Alban 113 Hawking, Jane 447–8, 452 French, William 269–70 Hawking, Stephen 1, 5, 21, 24–5, 136, 404–5, Frend, William 206–7, 209, 212, 228–9, 422, 425–57 231–2, 235, 237, 286 and black holes 436–40 Fresnel, Augustin Jean 251–2, 265, 274, 299, and Cambridge University 430–5, 450–1 367 and cosmology 435–40, 444 friction, mechanical 281–2, 284 and end of physics 38, 40–1, 422, 447–8 and fame 38, 427–8, 434, 446–56 Galilei, Galileo 79, 154, 158, 444–5, 453–5 and Lucasian chair 5, 38, 404–5, 426–7, Garrick, David 194 435, 440–2, 452, 456–7 Gates, Bill 452 and Penrose 435–9 General Strike 405 and physical disability 38, 426–35, 450–1 Genesis 319, 322 and religion 21, 430, 443–50 geodesy 265–6, 274, 308 and singularities 435–40 geology 285–6, 319 and students 435, 445 geometry 9, 252, 256, 304–5, 357, 375, 438 and technology 28, 38, 41, 430–3, 448, Geometry no Friend to Infidelity 196–7 451–6 George II 194 and unified theories 436–7, 439, 450 Germany 326, 409–10 as prophet 26, 38, 447–50 Girton College, Cambridge 331 working practices 26, 430–5 Gladstone, William Ewart 328 Hawking radiation 1, 436, 438–9 Glaisher, James 276 heat see also thermodynamics 251, 273, Glyd, Michael 470 284–5, 288, 304–5, 311, 313–14, 331, 334 God, existence of 21, 222–37, 282, 284–7, Heaviside, Oliver 359 300, 316, 322, 413, 444 Heberden, William 179 Godolphin, Lord 152–3 Heisenberg, Werner 391, 399, 412, 414 Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge 276, Hellins, Jon 184, 189 426 Henslow, John Stevens 298 Grantham 72 Herschel, John 242, 245, 249, 251, 256–63, Grand Unified Theory 437 269–70, 274, 276–9, 284, 286, 299 gravitational theory see gravity and Babbage 234–5, 241–2, 256, 258, 279 gravity 4, 18, 22, 78, 93–5, 99–100, 104–12, and Lucasian chair 258–9, 269–70, 276–8 118, 221–2, 261, 263–4, 275, 320–1, 325, and mathematical analysis 234–5, 259 396–7, 418, 436–40 Hill, Abraham 50

480 index

Hill, Thomas 49–52 Kennet, White 152 Hobbes, Thomas 23, 56, 74 Kepler’s laws see celestial mechanics Hogarth, William 164–5, 220 King, Joshua 29, 37, 269, 288, 297, 302–6 Hood, Thomas 45, 54 and Lucasian chair 269, 302–5 Hooke, Robert 84–5, 90–5, 111 and Smith’s Prize 304, 338 n. 13 Hˆopital, Marquis de l’ 24 and Mathematical Tripos 304 and 338 n. Hopkins, Frederick Gowland 16 11 Hopkins, William 257, 288, 302–4 and Stokes 304, 305, 335–6 Hubble, Edwin 436 and Queens’ College presidency 269, 302, Hubble space telescope 16 306 Hume, David 22 education of 302 Hunt, Bruce 361 King’s College, Cambridge 29, 256 Hussey, Christopher 175–6, 192 Kuhn, Thomas 365 Hutchinsonianism 220–1 Huxley, Thomas Henry 22, 316, 320, 327–8 Lacroix, Sylvestre 234–5, 249, 254, 258, 260 Huygens, Christian 53, 84, 117 Lady’s System of Analyticks, Plan of the 15, hydrodynamics 3, 274, 307–10, 367, 383, 199 442–3 Lagrange, Joseph-Louis 215, 235, 249–52, 256, 258, 260, 365 induction, philosophical 283, 286 Laplace, Pierre Simon 211, 235, 251, 258, instrument makers 246, 262–3, 265, 275, 288 260–1, 265, 285 instruments, astronomical 76–7, 83, 262–3, Laplacian physics 250–2, 260–1, 265, 285 264, 276, 278, 298, 436 ‘Larmor frequency’ 3, 346 integration, mathematical see also calculus Larmor, Joseph 5, 12, 23–5, 16, 37, 250, 79–80 343–83, 392 Intel Corporation 452–3 and æther 23, 344, 349–73, 375–83 internet 28, 427, 431 and dynamical theory 357–65, 369–73, inverse-square law see gravity 379–83 Ireland 23, 28, 262–3, 299, 328, 344–5, 348 and education 344–6 Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical and Einstein 381–2 Studies 4 and electrodynamics 343–61 Isaac Newton’s Method of Fluxions see and electronic theory of matter 343, Colson, John 349–61, 370, 376–8, 381 Jacobinism 205–7, 231 and epistemology 368–80 James II 100–1, 112–13, 120 and ‘evolution’ of physics 364–73, 378–80 Jesus College, Cambridge 226–7, 268, 270 and intellectual isolation of 343–4, 382 Johnson, Samuel 190, 194 and Ireland 28, 344–5, 348 Jones, Richard 269, 282–4 and Lucasian chair 5, 347, 360–1, 382 Jones, Thomas 212 and ‘Maxwellians’ 350, 353, 358–9, 361 Jones, William 181–2, 196 and Michelson-Morley experiment 352–5, Joule, James Prescott 311, 322 358 Jurin, James 196–7, 220 and Poincare´ 373–81, 386n and politics 347–8 Kantorowicz, Ernst 425–6, 432, 457 and quantum mechanics 383 Kapitza, Peter 399, 404, 407 and relativity theories 344, 381–2 Keill, John 192 and theoretical mechanics 364–73, 379 Kelsall, Charles 237 classiﬁcation of physical science 364–5 Kelvin, Lord (William Thomson) 13, 40, 250, legacies of 346–7, 359–60, 382–3 295–6, 302, 307, 311, 322, 329–30, 334, students 359, 382 343, 361 Laughton, Richard 153

index 481

Lax, William 235 267, 276, 334–6, 382–3, 425–6, 435, lecturing see Lucasian Professors, lecturing 442–3, 452 Lemaˆıtre,Georges 413 discontinuity between 7, 211–18, 247, 258, Library, Betty and Gordon Moore 452 270–1, 287, 297, 335–6, 392, 403, 441–3 Light see also optics legacies of 1–5, 287–8, 313–14, 329, 333–4, electromagnetic theory of 313, 352–3, 361, 335–6, 382, 399–403 367 obituaries of 3, 326–7 wave theory of 248, 252, 265, 282, 299, statistics of 29–30 308–10, 324–6, 350, 352–6, 358, 367 students of 313–14, 332–3, 382, 402–5, Lighthill, James 5, 16–17, 29, 32, 410, 426, 431–2, 434–5 441–3, 456 tributes to 3–4, 252, 276, 435, 452 and big science 16–17 Lucasian professorship see Lucasian chair and hydrodynamics 442–3 Ludlam, William 216, 219, 232 and religion 442–3 Lyell, Charles 284, 287 career 441–3 Locke, John 15, 117, 121–4, 211 MacCullagh, James 350, 361 Lodge, Oliver 349 machine philosophy 242–53, 264–8, 278–89 Logarithmotechnia 62 magnetism 304–5, 311, 313–14, 325, 331, Lorentz, Hendrik Anton 343, 376, 381 334, 351, 355–6 Lorentz transformations 347, 355 man, antiquity of 319 Lovelace, Lady Ada Augusta 16 Manchester, University of 392, 399, 442 Lowndean professorship 254 Manhattan Project 410 Lucas, Henry 8, 41, 49, 452, 466, 470–1 Marsh, Richard 18, 232–3 Lucasian chair Marxism, and science 408 and colleges 10–11, 253, 399 Maseres, Baron Francis 199, 216–17, 228–9 election contests 216–17, 253, 257–8, 260, Maskelyne, Nevil 215 268–72, 276–7, 302, 306, 392–3, 468–9 materialism 23–5, 226–30, 250, 261, 283–4 foundation of 8, 30, 40–5, 465–72 materialism, dialectical 400 future of 39–41, 456–7 mathematical analysis see analysis, income of 257, 274, 276, 304, 312–13 mathematical Statutes 14–15, 50, 59–61, 63, 253, 461–72 mathematical notation 249–52, 259, 266–8 tradition of 252, 261, 276–7, 283, 304, Mathematical Tracts 266, 271, 274, 282, 287 316–17, 382–3, 392–3, 403, 408–9, 421, Mathematical Tripos see also Cambridge 427, 432, 435, 440, 452, 457, 434, 440 University, curriculum 12–13, 15, 28, Lucasian professors 255, 287–8, 297–9, 304–5, 312–13, 331, and awards 29–30, 329, 387, 394–5, 398 333, 397 and bodies of 24–6, 404, 425–35, 449, mathematics 453–6 and religion 1, 6, 12, 17, 19–23, 245, 247, and deiﬁcation of 1–3 250, 255, 268, 416–17 and dualism 24–6, 221–3, 317, 429 methods of see also analysis, and eponymity 1–3, 308, 311, 346, 439 mathematical 26, 78, 245, 247, 249, and examinations see examinations 255–6, 259, 261, 307–10, 312, 347, and failure 6, 248, 253, 256, 258, 279, 281 349–73, 394–5, 401–2, 414–19, 439–40 and holy orders 246, 463–5, 470–2 pure 250, 415, 440 and lecturing 254, 271, 274, 278, 283–4, Mathias, T. J. 226 287, 304, 306, 312–15, 321, 330–2, 382, matter see also electronic theory of matter 395–6, 399, 402–3, 431, 443 221–2, 226–30 and politics 258, 328, 347–8, 405–11, 450–1 Maxwell, James Clerk 13, 40, 250, 252, 288, and popular culture 394, 446, 450 302, 307, 310, 313, 322, 334, 349, 352–3, continuity between 7, 252, 222, 261, 265, 361, 367, 383

482 index

‘Maxwellian’ electromagnetic theory 331, Moore, James 58 334, 349–59, 361, 383 Moral and Political Philosophy 254, 300 McCarthyism 411 moral philosophy 254, 283–4, 300–1, 315, Mecanique´ Celeste´ 211 321–2 mechanical models 370, 372 Moral Sciences Tripos 305 mechanics More, Henry 27, 104 and Mathematical Tripos 13, 246, 255, Moses’ Principia 221 272–4, 297–8, 304 Mott, Nevill Francis 393, 399, 404 celestial see celestial mechanics museums see Science Museum, London classical see also celestial mechanics 13, 241, 246, 248–50, 254–5, 259, 264, 266, National Physical Laboratory 442 268, 268, 272–4, 281–2, 285, 288, 297–8, Natural Sciences Tripos 13, 15, 305, 331, 304, 351, 357, 363–72, 379–80, 390 333, 397 theoretical, history of 364–9, 379–80 Natural Theology 300 Meditationes Algebraicae 215 natural theology 221–3, 300, 321–2 Mercator, Nicholas 62 Nautical Almanac 28, 259, 265, 275 Method of Fluxions 34, 194–8 nebular hypothesis 263, 319–20 metrology 265, 281, 287–8 Neo-Platonism 104, 318 Michelson-Morley experiment 37, 352–5, New Theory of the Earth 19, 138–41, 155–6 358 Newnham College, Cambridge 16, 331 Microsoft Corporation 23, 452 Newton, Humphrey 110 millennium 28, 448, 452–3 Newton, Isaac 1–8, 10, 15–17, 24–5, 31–2, 53, Millennium Mathematics Project 28–9 61–5, 69–134, 135–6, 138, 140–6, 153, Milne, Edward Arthur 392, 396, 408–9, 412 165, 205, 209, 211, 218–21, 226, 228, Milner, Isaac 5, 10, 19–20, 23, 29, 34–5, 230, 236, 252, 269, 275–7, 298–9, 302, 206–37, 245, 250, 252, 258, 261, 269, 316, 318, 365, 370, 390, 392–3, 409, 421, 302–4 427, 452, 455, 457, 462–4 accomplishments of 213–18 and æther 92 and Cartesianism 220, 223, 233–4 and alchemy 87–92, 119, 123 and Jacobins 207–8, 226–34 and calculus 78–80, 82, 89 and lecturing 224–6 and comets 4, 18–19, 98–100, 105 and Newton 4, 218–35 and corruption 71, 100–4, 120–1 and religious views 213, 222–3, 231–7 and Flamsteed 98–100, 107, 125–6 and the British and Foreign Bible Society and gravity 78, 93–5, 99–100, 104–12, 232–5 118 and Tory politics 207–8, 228–34 and ﬂuxions see calculus criticisms of 213–18, 231–3 and heterodoxy 69, 85–6, 102–4, 113, Essay on Human Liberty 222 119–21 History of the Church of Christ 218 and Hooke 84–5, 90–5, 99, 111–12 mathematical analysis 233–6 and King’s College provostship 116–17 papers for Philosophical Transactions 217 and laws of motion 77–8, 108 Strictures on Marsh 233 and Lucasian chair 71, 127–8, 252, 277, Milner, Joseph 215, 218 393, 302, 421, 427 mind 24–6, 184, 221–2, 227–30, 250–1, 259, and mechanics 77, 93–100, 104–12, 125 262, 267, 285 and mechanism 74 Ministry of Aircraft Production 442 and mental collapse 123–5 miracles 19, 21–2, 284–6 and publishing 81–3 monopoles, magnetic 395, 418–19 and Puritanism 73 Montague, Charles 126 and religion 27, 69, 72–3, 85–7, 96–106, Moore, Betty and Gordon 452–3 112–16, 297–8, 316, 318

index 483

and Royal Society 83 Philosophicae Naturalis Principia and sins 72–3, 103–4 Mathematica 4, 11, 71, 98, 104–12, and telescope, reflecting 76–7, 83 117–18, 129, 142, 146, 155, 158, 171, and the Royal Mint 126–9 221, 297–8, 365 and Trinity College 72–4 Philosophical Principles of Natural and women 15, 403–4 Philosophy see Philosophicae Naturalis biblical studies 316, 318 Principia Mathematica birth of 72 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal childhood of 72 Society 323–5 Lucasian professors’ criticisms of 5 physics, completeness of 38–41, 421–2, 437, optics of 75–85, 116–18, 299 445, 447–8, 456–7 students of 115 classification of 364–5 Newtonianism 9, 11, 13, 27, 33, 116, 171–6, development of 249, 287–8, 307, 179–82, 185, 194–200, 218–37, 247–50, 363–80 252, 274, 297–9, 302, 304–5, 307–10, particle 19, 396, 419, 437 350, 357, 359–62, 370–3, 379–83, 387 Pitt, William (the Younger) 218–19, 227 Ninth Bridgewater Treatise 22, 286–7 Planck, Max 40, 390 Nobel prize 29, 394–5, 398 Player, William 470 no-boundary proposal 436, 440, 444 Plumian professorship 263, 275–6, 302 Nollet, Abbe´ 199 Poincaré, Henri 373–81, 386n Poisson, Simeon-Denis 251, 252 Observations on Deism 222 polarisation of light 274, 310–11 Observations on Gravitation 222 political economy see also economics 1, 35, Observations on Man 228 267, 279–84 Of Colours 75–6, 81 politics, parliamentary 243, 267–8, 328, Oldenburg, Henry 81, 83, 86, 90–2 347–8, 405–11, 450–1 Omerod, Richard 229 Pontifical Academy of Sciences 412–13, Oppenheimer, J. Robert 399, 401, 411 444–5 Opticks, or a Treatise on Light (Optice) 118, Pope, Alexander 226 129, 221 Portsmouth, Earl of 5 optics see also light 60, 63–5, 74–7, 81–5, positrons 395, 399 143, 248, 254, 258–9, 262, 265, 272–4, Powell, William 216 287, 297–8, 302–4, 306, 308–10, 313–14, Preliminary Discourse on the Study of 331, 352–5, 359 Natural Philosophy 278, 284 Ordnance Survey 262 Priestley, Joseph 206, 209, 227–30 Origin of Species 318, 327 Principia see Philosophicae Naturalis Oughtred, William 18 Principia Mathematica principle of least action 349–50, 365 Paley, William 222, 254, 300, 315, 322 Principles of Analytical Calculation 235 Parkinson, Thomas 221–2 Principles of Quantum Mechanics 401–2, Parr, Samuel 175, 224 415, 419 patronage, government 271 Prony, Gaspard François de 259–60 Pauli, Wolfgang 391, 415 Proofs of a Conspiracy 205–6 Peacock, George 234–5, 251, 254, 258, 263, Pulleyn, Benjamin 73 269–70, 275, 277, 285 Peel, Robert 248, 276 quantum electrodynamics see Pembroke College, Cambridge 14, 223, 300, electrodynamics, quantum 304 quantum mechanics 1, 40, 344, 382, 387–92, Penrose, Roger 435–9 394–6, 400, 413–22, 436–40 Pepys, Samuel 123–5, 128 quantum theory of radiation 40, 390–1

484 index

Queens’ College, Cambridge 11, 26, 216–17, mathematics and the mind of God 1, 184 231–2, 269, 302, 306 physical disability of 176, 184–90 Queen’s College, Galway 346 Savile, Henry 46–7, 49, 56 School of Divinity, Cambridge 17 radioactivity 36, 40, 329–30, 347, 410 Schrodinger,¨ Erwin 391, 394–5 railways 6, 271, 278 Sciama, Dennis 403, 435, 438 Ramus, Petrus 45–6 Science and Hypothesis 373–80 Raworth, Richard 49, 62, 465–6, 470 science and religion see also Newtonianism reform, parliamentary 226–31, 243, 283 6, 18–23, 138–41, 147–51, 155–61, 184, Relativity, General Theory of 19, 21, 40, 381, 194–8, 221–37, 247–8, 282–3, 288, 296, 396–7, 418, 435–40 299–301, 315–24, 332–3, 412–13, 417, Relativity, Special Theory of 40, 343, 360, 430, 443–50 380–1 Science Museum, London 453–5 religion, and mathematics 1–2, 12, 18, 61–2, Scotland, educational tradition of 311, 315, 64, 172, 184, 194–8, 229–37, 247, 250 323, 334 religion, heterodoxy 69, 85–6, 102–4, 113, Sedgwick, Adam 298 119–21, 136, 148–55, 226–30, 246, 253, Senate House Examination 10–11, 253–6, 316 261 Robins, Benjamin 184 Shanmugadhasan, Subrahmaniyan 402–3 Robison, John 205–6, 210, 226, 230 Sheepshanks, Richard 257, 271, 275–6 Roentgen, Wilhelm Conrad 329, 347 Simon, Richard 121 Roman Catholic Church see Catholicism Simpsons, The 431 Rouse Ball, Walter William 210–11, 235 singularities 435–40 Routh, Edward John 346, 357, 372 Sizars 11 Rowning, John 183 Slegg, Michael 234 Royal Aircrafr Factory 442 Smart, Christopher 183 Royal Mint 126–9 Smith, John 49 Royal Observatory, Greenwich 17, 261, 287 Smith, Robert 145, 183, 194 Royal Society 29, 36, 81, 83, 252, 262, 266, Smith’s Prize Examination 11, 254, 256, 260, 268, 275, 278, 311, 323–9, 348, 360, 392 284, 299, 304–5, 314–15, 330–1 Russell, Bertrand 419 Snow, C. P. 388, 406, 421 Russia see Soviet Union Society for Cultural Relations 407 Rutherford, Ernest 16, 329, 382, 398, 407, Solvay Conference 392, 412, 419 409 Soviet Union 400, 405–8, 419–20 space–time 354–8, 383, 435–40 Sacheverell, Henry 152–7 spectroscopy 319, 390 Sacred Theory of the Earth 19–20, 96–8, speech synthesis 432–3, 453–5 138 spirit, nature of 317–18 Saunderson, Abigail 177 spiritualism 36, 325–6 Saunderson Board 2, 25–6, 34 Star Trek 457 Saunderson, John 177 Statistical Society of London 278 Saunderson, Nicholas 151, 171–90, 198, 220 Statutes see Lucasian chair, statutes Algebra 177 Steele, Richard 162 and Cartesianism 180–1 Stephen, James 213 and Diderot’s Letter on the Blind 185–90 Stewart, Dugald 215 and Edmund Burke 189–90 St John’s College, Cambridge 8, 17, 24, 216, and teaching 174, 178–80, 185 255, 258, 262–3, 269, 276, 346, 399, 404 education of 176–8 Stokes, George Gabriel 3–4, 12, 14–16, election of 176 28–30, 36–7, 40, 250, 274, 288, 295–336, irreligion of 177, 188–9 343, 346, 361, 442–3

index 485

and æther 22–3, 308–12, 329–30, 361 Thomson, J. J. 313, 329, 331, 334, 347, 349, and arbitration of science 320–1, 324–6 351, 382, 398 and creationism 36, 318–20 Thomson, William see Lord Kelvin and dynamical theories 310–11 Thorne, Kip 434 and Darwinism 36–7, 296, 318–21, 327–9 Tories 206–7, 229–35, 243, 246, 248, 267, and determinism 320–1 287, 328 and Huxley 327–8 Traite Elementaire´ de Calcul Differentiel´ and hydrodynamics 36, 307–8 234 and Ireland 28, 299, 328 transformation techniques 357 and Kelvin 295–6, 312, 315 treadmills 272–3, 288 and King 297, 335–6 Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism 307, and Lucasian chair 30, 306, 312 311, 349–50, 357, 372 and optics 22–3, 306, 308–12, 331 Treatise on Natural Philosophy 307, 365, and politics 328 373 and radioactivity 36, 329–30 Trinity College, Cambridge 11, 69, 73–4, and religion 21–3, 30, 37, 296, 299–301, 112, 237, 247, 253, 262, 269–70, 275–6, 315–24, 332–3 284, 287, 349 and Royal Society 296, 323–9 Trinity College Dublin 275 and Smith’s Prize 314–15, 330–1 Troughton, Edward 262–3, 276 and Whewell 300–1, 312 Turton, Thomas 22, 29, 35, 246, 254, 263, and women 15–16, 331–3 268, 274 and X-rays 36, 329–30 Tyndall, John 23, 320, 322–3 Cambridge education of 297, 300–5 childhood of 299–300, 316 uncertainty principle 400 lectures of 306–7, 312–13, 330–1 universal gravitation see gravity students of 313–14, 332–3 universe Stokes, Isabella 332 expansion of the 436–40 ‘Stokes’s law’ of fluid resistance 3, 308 origin of the 436, 438–40, 444 ‘Stokes’s law’ of fluorescence 311 University College London 29 Stonehenge 122 University of Cambridge see Cambridge Strype, John 192 University students 313–14 USSR see Soviet Union Stukeley, William 145 System of Mechanics 222 Van Musschenbroek, Pieter 189 Victoria Institute 22, 321 Tait, Peter Guthrie 311, 315, 322 Vigani, John Francis 111 Tamm, Igor 405–6 Vince, Samuel 179, 222–3, 235, 298 telegraphy 13, 28, 288 Vindicae Priestleianae 230 telescopes see astronomical instruments Voltaire, François Marie Arouet de 206 Telluris Theoria Sacra see Sacred Theory of von Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm 109, 118 the Earth textbooks, mathematical 245, 252, 255, 258, Wakefield, Gilbert 12, 213–14 260–1, 298, 400–1 Wallis, John 9, 51, 53, 56, 62, 79 Thackeray, William Makepeace 241, 255 Walpole, Horace 179, 183 Theologiæ Gentilis Origines Philosophicæ warfare 410 27 Waring, Edward 22, 29, 34–5, 175, 207, theory, physical 37, 40, 311, 344, 350, 359, 211–24 361–80, 421–2, 436–7, 439, 450 and Cambridge values 209–10, 216 thermodynamics 23–4, 275, 284, 288, 307, criticisms of 211–12 311, 313, 320–2, 364–6, 397, 436, 438–9 election of 216–17

486 index

Essay on the Principles of Human London politics 151–5 Knowledge 222 New Theory of the Earth 19, 138–41, mathematical work of 214–17 155–6 Meditationes Algebraicae 215 Newtonianism 138, 140–7, 167 Miscellanae Analyticae 216 pedagogy 135–6, 141–7, 162–3 religious beliefs of 222–3 Primitive Christianity Reviv’d 149 taciturnity of 212–13 religion 19–20, 142–62, 165–7 Waring, Mary 213 Sermons and Essays 148 Waring’s theorem 2 Works of Flavius Josephus 166–7 Waterland, Daniel 174 White, Edward 317 Weisskopf, Victor 402 Wickens, John 73 West, Richard 176 Wilberforce, William 218, 233–4 Whewell, William 13, 213, 237, 247–8, Wilkins, John 50 251–5, 258, 260–2, 269–70, 272, 275–7, William I 116–17 279, 282–7, 298–300, 302, 305–6, 308, Willis, Robert 288 312, 315 Windet, James 470 and Airy 248, 261, 266, 271–2, 275, 282 Wittgenstein, Ludwig 24, 388, 419 and Babbage 12–13, 248, 253, 260–1, 270, Wollaston, John 49 277–8, 283–6 women, and Cambridge University 15–16, and Cambridge curriculum 247–8, 255, 199, 331–3, 399, 403 274, 287, 305, 312 Wood, James 179, 235, 255, 258, 263, 270, and Lucasian chair 252, 269–71, 277 298 and machine philosophy 262, 265, 283–5, Woodhouse, Robert 13, 35, 236, 245, 260–1, 288 263, 266, 275–6, and mathematical analysis 13, 251–3, 262 and Lucasian chair 245–6, 260–1 and moral philosophy 283–4, 300–1, 315 and mathematical analysis 245, 260–1 and political economy 282–3 and textbooks 260–1 and religion 247–8, 282, 284–6, 300–1 Woodward, John 138 Mastership of Trinity 252, 271, 287, 305 Woolsthorpe 72, 77 Whigs 226–30, 257–8, 265 Wordsworth, Christopher 269–71, 272 Whiston, Ruth 141 World War II 409–10 Whiston, William 19–20, 33–4, 115, 135–68, wranglers 10, 253, 255–6, 266, 269, 274, 285, 171–3, 175, 178, 221, 231, 464 287–8, 297, 313–14, 331, 333 Accomplishment of Scripture Prophecies Wren, Christopher 91, 95 148, 160 and longitude 163–5 X club 323 Astronomical Lectures 146 X-rays 36, 329–30, 347 biblical exegesis 19, 147–51, 155–60 comets 19, 139–40, 155–61 Young, Thomas 275, 299, 367 education of 136–7 election to professorship 140–1 Zeeman, Pieter 347