Sir George Howard Darwin | |
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Sir George Howard Darwin
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Born | George Howard Darwin 9 July 1845 Down House, Downe, Kent, England |
Died | 7 December 1912 Cambridge, England |
(aged 67)
Nationality | British |
Fields | Astronomy and mathematics |
Alma mater |
St John's College, Cambridge Trinity College, Cambridge |
Academic advisors | Edward John Routh |
Notable students |
Ernest William Brown E. T. Whittaker |
Notable awards |
Smith's Prize (1868) Royal Medal (1884) Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1892) Copley Medal (1911) |
Signature |
Sir George Howard Darwin KCB FRS FRSE (9 July 1845 – 7 December 1912) was an English barrister and astronomer.
George Darwin was born at Down House, Kent, the second son and fifth child of Charles Darwin and Emma Darwin.
From the age of 11 he studied under Charles Pritchard at Clapham Grammar School, and entered St John's College, Cambridge, in 1863, though he soon moved to Trinity College, where his tutor was Edward John Routh. He graduated as second wrangler in 1868, when he was also placed second for the Smith's Prize and was appointed to a college fellowship. He earned his M.A. in 1871. He was admitted to the bar in 1872, but returned to science. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in June 1879 and won their Royal Medal in 1884 and their Copley Medal in 1911. He delivered their Bakerian Lecture in 1891 on the subject of "tidal prediction".
In 1883 Darwin became Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. He studied tidal forces involving the Sun, Moon, and Earth, and formulated the fission theory of Moon formation.