Horace Lamb
Encyclopedia
Sir Horace Lamb FRS
(27 November 1849 – 4 December 1934) was a British applied mathematician and author of several influential texts on classical physics
, among them Hydrodynamics (1879) and Dynamical Theory of Sound (1910). Both of these books are still in print.
Horace Lamb is not to be confused with the Nobel Prize
winning American physicist, Willis Lamb
.
, Cheshire
, England
, the son of John Lamb and his wife Elizabeth, née Rangeley. He studied at Stockport Grammar School
, Owens College
, Manchester
, and Trinity College, Cambridge
where he was Second Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos, 2nd Smith's Prize
man and elected fellow in 1872. His professors included James Clerk Maxwell
and George Gabriel Stokes
.
. For the next 10 years the average number of students doing the arts course at Adelaide was fewer than 12; though Lamb also did some popular lecturing, his workload was relatively light. In 1878 appeared his able and original A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of the Motions of Fluids.
In 1883 Lamb published a paper in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
applying Maxwell's equations
to the problem of oscillatory current flow in spherical conductors, an early examination of what was later to be known as the skin effect
.
Lamb was appointed to the Chair of Mathematics at the Victoria University of Manchester
in 1885 and which became the Beyer Chair
in 1888, a position Lamb held until retirement in 1920.
His Hydrodynamics appeared in 1895 (6th ed. 1933), and other works included An Elementary Course of Infinitesimal Calculus (1897, 3rd ed. 1919), Propagation of Tremors over the Surface of an Elastic Solid (1904), The Dynamical Theory of Sound (1910, 2nd ed. 1925), Statics (1912, 3rd ed. 1928), Dynamics (1914), Higher Mechanics (1920) and The Evolution of Mathematical Physics (1924).
In 1932 Lamb, in an address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science
, wittily expressed on the difficulty of explaining and studying turbulence
in fluids.
He reportedly said, "I am an old man now, and when I die and go to heaven there are two matters on which I hope for enlightenment. One is quantum electrodynamics
, and the other is the turbulent motion of fluid
s. And about the former I am rather optimistic."
Lamb is also known for description of special waves in thin solid layers. Now these waves are called Lamb waves.
In 1875, Lamb married Elizabeth Foot of Dublin, who died in 1930. Lamb was survived by three sons and four daughters. The sons (who included the painter Henry Lamb
) were born at Adelaide
, South Australia
, and all became distinguished.
He is buried at the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground
in Cambridge.
in 1902 and, its highest honour, the Copley Medal
in 1924. He was president of the London Mathematical Society 1902-4, president of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
, and president of the British Association in 1925. He was knighted in 1931.A room in the Alan Turing Building
at the University of Manchester
is named in his honour.
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
(27 November 1849 – 4 December 1934) was a British applied mathematician and author of several influential texts on classical physics
Classical physics
What "classical physics" refers to depends on the context. When discussing special relativity, it refers to the Newtonian physics which preceded relativity, i.e. the branches of physics based on principles developed before the rise of relativity and quantum mechanics...
, among them Hydrodynamics (1879) and Dynamical Theory of Sound (1910). Both of these books are still in print.
Horace Lamb is not to be confused with the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winning American physicist, Willis Lamb
Willis Lamb
Willis Eugene Lamb, Jr. was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1955 together with Polykarp Kusch "for his discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum". Lamb and Kusch were able to precisely determine certain electromagnetic properties of the electron...
.
Early years
Lamb was born at StockportStockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the son of John Lamb and his wife Elizabeth, née Rangeley. He studied at Stockport Grammar School
Stockport Grammar School
Stockport Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Stockport, England, founded in 1487 by the 1482 Lord Mayor of London Sir Edmund Shaa.The school motto is "Vincit qui patitur" – He who endures, conquers....
, Owens College
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester was a university in Manchester, England. On 1 October 2004 it merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form a new entity, "The University of Manchester".-1851 - 1951:The University was founded in 1851 as Owens College,...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
where he was Second Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos, 2nd Smith's Prize
Smith's Prize
The Smith's Prize was the name of each of two prizes awarded annually to two research students in theoretical Physics, mathematics and applied mathematics at the University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England.- History :...
man and elected fellow in 1872. His professors included James Clerk Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell of Glenlair was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. His most prominent achievement was formulating classical electromagnetic theory. This united all previously unrelated observations, experiments and equations of electricity, magnetism and optics into a consistent theory...
and George Gabriel Stokes
George Gabriel Stokes
Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet FRS , was an Irish mathematician and physicist, who at Cambridge made important contributions to fluid dynamics , optics, and mathematical physics...
.
Career
In 1875 Lamb was appointed professor of mathematics in the newly founded University of AdelaideUniversity of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...
. For the next 10 years the average number of students doing the arts course at Adelaide was fewer than 12; though Lamb also did some popular lecturing, his workload was relatively light. In 1878 appeared his able and original A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of the Motions of Fluids.
In 1883 Lamb published a paper in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
applying Maxwell's equations
Maxwell's equations
Maxwell's equations are a set of partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electrodynamics, classical optics, and electric circuits. These fields in turn underlie modern electrical and communications technologies.Maxwell's equations...
to the problem of oscillatory current flow in spherical conductors, an early examination of what was later to be known as the skin effect
Skin effect
Skin effect is the tendency of an alternating electric current to distribute itself within a conductor with the current density being largest near the surface of the conductor, decreasing at greater depths. In other words, the electric current flows mainly at the "skin" of the conductor, at an...
.
Lamb was appointed to the Chair of Mathematics at the Victoria University of Manchester
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester was a university in Manchester, England. On 1 October 2004 it merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form a new entity, "The University of Manchester".-1851 - 1951:The University was founded in 1851 as Owens College,...
in 1885 and which became the Beyer Chair
Beyer Chair of Applied Mathematics
The Beyer Chair of Applied Mathematics is an endowed professorial position in the School of Mathematics, University of Manchester, England. The endowment came from the engineer Charles Frederick Beyer, a generous supporter of the University....
in 1888, a position Lamb held until retirement in 1920.
His Hydrodynamics appeared in 1895 (6th ed. 1933), and other works included An Elementary Course of Infinitesimal Calculus (1897, 3rd ed. 1919), Propagation of Tremors over the Surface of an Elastic Solid (1904), The Dynamical Theory of Sound (1910, 2nd ed. 1925), Statics (1912, 3rd ed. 1928), Dynamics (1914), Higher Mechanics (1920) and The Evolution of Mathematical Physics (1924).
In 1932 Lamb, in an address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science
British Association for the Advancement of Science
frame|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...
, wittily expressed on the difficulty of explaining and studying turbulence
Turbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic and stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time...
in fluids.
He reportedly said, "I am an old man now, and when I die and go to heaven there are two matters on which I hope for enlightenment. One is quantum electrodynamics
Quantum electrodynamics
Quantum electrodynamics is the relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. In essence, it describes how light and matter interact and is the first theory where full agreement between quantum mechanics and special relativity is achieved...
, and the other is the turbulent motion of fluid
Fluid
In physics, a fluid is a substance that continually deforms under an applied shear stress. Fluids are a subset of the phases of matter and include liquids, gases, plasmas and, to some extent, plastic solids....
s. And about the former I am rather optimistic."
Lamb is also known for description of special waves in thin solid layers. Now these waves are called Lamb waves.
In 1875, Lamb married Elizabeth Foot of Dublin, who died in 1930. Lamb was survived by three sons and four daughters. The sons (who included the painter Henry Lamb
Henry Lamb
Henry Taylor Lamb, MC, RA was an Australian-born British painter. A follower of Augustus John, he was a founder member of the Camden Town Group.Born in Adelaide, Australia, he was the son of Sir Horace Lamb FRS...
) were born at Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, and all became distinguished.
He is buried at the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground
Ascension Parish Burial Ground, Cambridge
The Ascension Parish Burial Ground, formerly St Giles and St Peter's Parish, is a cemetery just off Huntingdon Road near the junction with Storey's Way in the northwest of Cambridge, England. It includes the graves of many Cambridge academics and non-conformists of the 19th and early 20th century...
in Cambridge.
Honours and awards
Lamb was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1884, was twice vice-president, received its Royal MedalRoyal Medal
The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal, is a silver-gilt medal awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important contributions to the advancement of natural knowledge" and one for "distinguished contributions in the applied sciences" made within the Commonwealth of...
in 1902 and, its highest honour, the Copley Medal
Copley Medal
The Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society of London for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science, and alternates between the physical sciences and the biological sciences"...
in 1924. He was president of the London Mathematical Society 1902-4, president of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, popularly known as the Lit & Phil, is a learned society in Manchester, England.Established in 1781 as the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, by Thomas Percival, Thomas Barnes and Thomas Henry, other prominent members have included...
, and president of the British Association in 1925. He was knighted in 1931.A room in the Alan Turing Building
Alan Turing Building
The Alan Turing Building, named after the mathematician and founder of computer science Alan Turing, is a building at the University of Manchester, in Manchester, England. It houses the School of Mathematics, the Photon Science Institute and the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics...
at the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
is named in his honour.
Further reading
- Lamb, Horace. (1928). Statics: Including Hydrostatics and the Elements of the Theory of Elasticity. Cambridge University Press (reissued by Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, 2009; ISBN 9781108005319) - Lamb, Horace. (1961). Dynamics. Cambridge University Press (reissued by Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, 2009; ISBN 9781108005333) - Lamb, Horace. (1956). An Elementary Course of Infinitesimal Calculus. Cambridge University Press (reissued by Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, 2009; ISBN 9781108005340) - Paul J. Nahin, Oliver Heaviside: Sage in Solitude, (1988), IEEE Press, New York, ISBN 0879422386