Person Strutt; John William (1842 - 1919); 3rd Baron Rayleigh; experimental and mathematical physicist Strutt John William experimental and mathematical physicist 1842 - 1919 British Male Langford Grove, Maldon, Essex, England 12 November 1842 18421112 Terling Place, Witham, Essex, England 30/06/1919 19190630

Terling Place, Witham, Essex (1872)

experimental and mathematical physicist Physics Education: Eton; at home; private school at Wimbledon; Harrow School (1857); private school with the Reverend George Townsend Warner who took pupils privately in Torquay (1857); Trinity College, Cambridge (1861). BA (1865, Senior Wrangler and 1st Smith's Prizeman) Career: Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge (1866-1871); managed his estate of Terling Place, before succeeding to the barony (1873) and passing the job to his brother (1876); Cavendish Professor of Physics, Cambridge succeeding James Clerk Maxwell (1879-1884); Professor of Natural Philosophy, Royal Institution, London (1887-1905); had a private laboratory at Terling Place, where his work on producing diffraction gratings by photgrpahic reduction of hand drawn rulings led to the production of the earliest known so-called Fresnel zone plates - an entry in his notebook in 1871 predates by four years a paper by Soret, previously thought to be the first report of this two dimensional lens, later to find application in Polaroid cameras and used for focusing synchroton radiation. Privy Councillor (1905); discovered argon President of a Government Committee on Explosives; Scientific Advisor to Trinity House; Lord Lieutenant of Essex (1892-1901); Chancellor of Cambridge University. Medals and prizes: Smith's Prize (1865) De Morgan Medal (1890) Matteucci Medal (1895) Barnard Medal for Meritorious Service to Science (1895) Faraday Lectureship Prize (1895) Order of Merit (1902) Nobel Prize (Physics) (1904) Albert Medal (1905) Elliott Cresson Medal (1913) Honours: OM (1902) Parents: John James Strutt, second Baron Rayleigh (d. 1873), and wife, Clara Elizabeth La Touche, eldest daughter of Captain Richard Vicars RE and sister of the Crimean War hero Hedley Shafto Johnstone Vicars. Spouse: Evelyn Georgiana Mary (19 July 1871), sister of Arthur James, Earl Balfour (FRS 1888) Children: Robert John Strutt, 4th Baron Rayleigh (FRS 1905) Succeeded as 3rd Baron Rayleigh (1873) Discovered argon. His magnum opus, "The Theory of Sound"explored vibrations, resonance of elastic solids and gases, and acoustical propagation in material media. Provided the first theoretical treatment of the scattering of light by particles smaller than the light's wavelength, called "Rayleigh scattering". Described transverse surface waves in solids, called "Rayleigh waves". Royal Society roles: Sec 1885-1896; PRS 1905-1908 Medals and prizes: Rumford Medal 1914; Royal Medal 1882; Copley Medal 1899 Lectures: Bakerian 1902 Fellow 12/06/1873 31 John Ball Arthur Cayley Thomas Webster William Henry Leighton Russell John Phillips James Joseph Sylvester Robert Bellamy Clifton John Tyndall John Hall Gladstone Barthomolew Price Henry Holland James Clerk Maxwell Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB Obituaries: Proc Roy Soc Series A 1920-1921 vol 98 pp i-l, plate, by Arthur Schuster References: Mary Nixon, 'The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Archive Resource at the Royal Society: A Work in Progress' in NR 1999 vol 53 pp 183-186, plate A A Mills and R Hall, 'The Production of a Plane Surface. As Illustrated by Specula From Some Early Newtonian Telescopes' in NR 1982-83 vol 37 pp 147-166 John R Levene, 'Nevil Maskelyne, FRS, and the Discovery of Night Myopia' in NR 1965 vol 20 pp 100-108, plate Sir Harold Hartley, 'The Ramsay Centenary' in NR 1953 vol 10 pp 71-80 Derek J Price, 'The Cavendish Laboratory Archives' in NR 1953 vol 10 pp 139-147 Lord Rayleigh, OH: Nobel Laureate in Science [exhibition catalogue] Harrow School Old Speech Room Gallery 13th October -22nd November 1992 R Singh and F Riess, 'The nobel laureate Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman FRS and his contacts with the British Scientific community in a social and political context' in NR 2004 vol 58 pp 47-64 ' The Acoustical Experiments of Lord Rayleigh. Exhibition Guide and biographical sketch by Professor Edward A Davis' Whipple Museum of the History of Science. 2011 Part of the 'Local Heroes' initiative of the Royal Society as part of their 350th anniversary. Strutt J W, IM004429.jpg ©The Royal Society International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorRaw=Strutt%2C+John+William RCN R65417 RCN R65415 RCN R65418 RCN R65419 https://pictures.royalsociety.org/results?mi_search_type=adv&mi_adv_search=yes&adv_person_id=AUTH8183 12 Nov 1842 - 30 Jun 1919 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 21/08/2024 as part of the Name Authority Project update. NA6090 21/11/2001 Andyg Martind 21/08/2024 RS_NET\VidaM Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/32059492 3bd0480c-f2f8-40e9-9119-06a12b3166af