| Authorised form of name | Smith; Robert (1689 - 1768) |
| Dates | 1689 - 1768 |
| Place of birth | Lea, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England |
| Date of birth | 1689 |
| Place of death | The Master's Lodge, Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Date of death | 02 February 1768 |
| DatesAndPlaces | Burial:
Trinity College chapel, Cambridge |
| Research field | Physics |
| Activity | Education:
Mr Thomas's School at Leicester; Trinity College, Cambridge; BA (1712), MA (1715), LLD (1723), DD (Lit Reg 1739)
Career:
Assistant to his cousin; Fellow of Trinity (1714); Tutor at Trinity (1715-1734); Plumian Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge (1716-1760); ordained deacon and priest (1738); Vice Chancellor of Cambridge (1742-1743); Master of Trinity (1742-1768); benefactor of Cambridge University
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 05/02/1719 |
| Relationships | Son of John Smith, Rector of Lea, and his wife, Hannah, aunt of Roger Cotes (FRS 1711) |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB; Venn
References:
Gentleman's Magazine 1768, p94 (obituary)
London Magazine 1768, p166 (obituary)
L B Glyn, 'Israel Lyons: a short but starry career. The life of an eighteenth-century Jewish botanist and astronomer' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 275-305 |
| Code | NA835 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| MM/4/64 | Letter from Robert Smith, Cambridge, to Martin Folkes | 22 February 1731/2 |
| L&P/2/94 | Letter, 'Concerning the mean motion of the Moon's apogee' from Patrick Murdoch to Robert Smith | 6 April 1750 |
| CLP/4ii/9 | Paper, 'Description of a barometer wherein the scale of variation may be increased at pleasure' by Reverend John Rowning | 1732 |
| CLP/22ii/5 | Paper, Account of the book 'Harmonia mensurarum sive analysis et synthesis per rationum .... [The harmony of measure, or analysis and synthesis through reasoning...]' by Roger Cotesius [Cotes], edited by Robert Smith | [1723] |