George Darwin | |
|---|---|
 Sir George Howard Darwin | |
| Born | George Howard Darwin (1845-07-09)9 July 1845 Down House,Downe, Kent, England |
| Died | 7 December 1912(1912-12-07) (aged 67) Cambridge, England |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Known for | Darwin symbols |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 5, includingGwen and Charles Galton |
| Parent(s) | Charles Darwin Emma Wedgwood |
| Awards | Smith's Prize (1868) Royal Medal (1884) Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1892) Copley Medal (1911) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy and mathematics |
| Academic advisors | Edward John Routh |
| Notable students | Ernest William Brown E. T. Whittaker |
| Signature | |
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Sir George Howard Darwin (9 July 1845 – 7 December 1912)[1] was an English barrister andastronomer, the second son and fifth child ofCharles Darwin andEmma Darwin. He is known for theharmonic analysis of thetheory of tides. The Darwin symbols for tides are named after him.
George H. Darwin was born 9 July 1845 atDown House, Kent, the fifth child of biologistCharles Darwin andEmma Darwin.
From the age of 11 he studied underCharles Pritchard atClapham Grammar School, and enteredSt John's College, Cambridge, in 1863, though he soon moved toTrinity College,[2] where his tutor wasEdward John Routh. He graduated BA in mathematics in 1868 (assecond wrangler), when he was also placed second for theSmith's Prize and was appointed to a college fellowship. He became M.A. in 1871.[2] He was admitted to thebar in 1872, but returned to science.[2] George Darwin conducted studies into the prevalence and health outcomes of contemporary first-cousin marriages (such as his parents’) in Great Britain. His father Charles had become concerned after the death of three of his children, including his favourite daughter, Annie, fromtuberculosis in 1851, that his and Emma's union may have been a mistake from a biological perspective. He was reassured by George's results.[3]
Although George Darwin was the son of the famousgeologist turnedbiologist,[4]Charles Darwin, rather than moving predominantly into the field ofbiology, George kept his focus ongeology. Subsequently, his efforts within geology caused him to stumble onto many seemingly radical ideas, some of which were related to the notion that preserved within the physical structure of the planet was themechanical energy (or the collectiveinertial motion), which may have allowed an ancient rapidly spinning Earth to somehow expel a piece of its mass, and it was this expelled mass which later congealed to create the natural satellite that was now in orbit around the Earth. So, before the Apollo mission and the rise to prominence of the relativistic notion that theorigin of the Moon was due in part to collisions within a very activeprotoplanetary disk, there was a radically different depiction oflunar andplanetary evolution, which was proposed by George Darwin, in 1879, called the fission theory.[5][6]
In 1883 Darwin becamePlumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at theUniversity of Cambridge. He studiedtidal forces involving theSun,Moon, andEarth, and formulated thefission theory of the Moon formation.[5]
He was an invited speaker in theInternational Congress of Mathematicians 1908, Rome on the topic of "Mechanics, Physical Mathematics, Astronomy."[7] As President of theCambridge Philosophical Society, he also gave the Introductory Address to the Congress in 1912 on the character of pure and applied mathematics.[8]
In 1879, he was elected aFellow of the Royal Society and won theirRoyal Medal in 1884[9] and theirCopley Medal in 1911.[10] He delivered theirBakerian Lecture in 1891 on the subject of "tidal prediction".
Darwin was a Fellow of theRoyal Astronomical Society (RAS) and won theGold Medal of the RAS in 1892. He was elected to both theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences and theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1898.[11][12] From 1899–1901 he served asPresident of the RAS. He was elected to the United StatesNational Academy of Sciences in 1904.[13] The RAS founded a prize lectureship in 1984 and named it theGeorge Darwin Lectureship in Darwin's honour.
He received the degree ofDoctor mathematicae (honoris causa) from theRoyal Frederick University inOslo on 6 September 1902, when they celebrated the centennial of the birth ofmathematicianNiels Henrik Abel.[14][15]
Darwin crater on Mars is named after him.[16]
Darwin marriedMartha (Maud) du Puy, the daughter of Charles du Puy ofPhiladelphia, in 1884; his wife was a member of theLadies Dining Society in Cambridge, with 11 other members.
She died on 6 February 1947. They had three sons and two daughters:
George and Maud Darwin boughtNewnham Grange, Cambridge in 1885. The Darwins extensively remodelled the house. Since 1962 the Grange has been part ofDarwin College, Cambridge.
He is buried in Trumpington Extension Cemetery in Cambridge with his son Leonard and his daughter Gwen (Raverat), whilst his wife LadyMaud Darwin was cremated at Cambridge Crematorium; his brothers SirFrancis Darwin and SirHorace Darwin and their respective wives are interred in theParish of the Ascension Burial Ground.
"Tides".Encyclopædia Britannica (9th ed.). 1875–1889.
