List of Cornish scientists and inventors
Encyclopedia
Scientists
- John Couch AdamsJohn Couch AdamsJohn Couch Adams was a British mathematician and astronomer. Adams was born in Laneast, near Launceston, Cornwall, and died in Cambridge. The Cornish name Couch is pronounced "cooch"....
, co-discoverer of the planet NeptuneNeptuneNeptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. Named for the Roman god of the sea, it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter and the third largest by mass. Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus, which is 15 times... - Herbert Stanley AllenH. Stanley AllenHerbert Stanley Allen was a pioneer in early X-ray research, working under J. J. Thomson at the University of London and alongside Nobel laureate Charles Glover Barkla at the University of Edinburgh...
, physicist - Edwin DunkinEdwin DunkinEdwin Dunkin FRS, , astronomer, president of the Royal Astronomical Society and the Royal Institution of Cornwall-Birth and family:...
, FRS, President of the Royal Astronomical SocietyRoyal Astronomical SocietyThe Royal Astronomical Society is a learned society that began as the Astronomical Society of London in 1820 to support astronomical research . It became the Royal Astronomical Society in 1831 on receiving its Royal Charter from William IV...
and the Royal Institution of CornwallRoyal Institution of CornwallThe Royal Institution of Cornwall was founded in Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom, in 1818 as the Cornwall Literary and Philosophical Institution. The Institution was one of the earliest of seven similar societies established in England and Wales. The RIC moved to its present site in River Street... - Davies GilbertDavies GilbertDavies Gilbert FRS was a British engineer, author, and politician. He was elected to the Royal Society on 17 November 1791 and served as President of the Royal Society from 1827 to 1830....
, applied mathematician and technocrat, President of the Royal Society - John HellinsJohn HellinsJohn Hellins FRS was an autodidact, schoolteacher, mathematician, astronomer and country parson.-Early years:He was born in Devon ca...
, FRS, mathematician, curate of Constantine. - Antony HewishAntony HewishAntony Hewish FRS is a British radio astronomer who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1974 for his work on the development of radio aperture synthesis and its role in the discovery of pulsars...
, astronomer - William OliverWilliam Oliver (physician)William Oliver was an English physician and philanthropist, and inventor of the Bath Oliver. He was born at Ludgvan, Cornwall, and baptised on 27 August 1695, described as the son of John Oliver. His family, originally seated at Trevarnoe in Sithney, resided afterwards in Ludgvan, and the estate...
, FRS, inventor of the Bath Oliver and a founder of the Royal Mineral Water Hospital at Bath - Roy SamblesRoy SamblesJohn Roy Sambles, FRS is an English experimental physicist.Sambles, originally from Callington in Cornwall, studied physics at Imperial College, London, gaining his BSc and PhD degrees there, and has since published over 400 papers in international journals. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal...
, physicist
Biologists
- George Carter BignellGeorge Carter BignellGeorge Carter Bignell was an eminent entomologist. He was born in Exeter on 1 March 1826. He left school at the age of 12 to become a bookings clerk but joined the Royal Marines when he was 16. He joined HMS Superb, one of the last all-wooden, all-sailing, ships-of-the-line to serve in the Royal...
, entomologist - William BorlaseWilliam BorlaseWilliam Borlase , Cornish antiquary, geologist and naturalist, was born at Pendeen in Cornwall, of an ancient family . From 1722 he was Rector of Ludgvan and died there in 1772.-Life and works:...
, naturalist, geologist and antiquary, Rector of Ludgvan - William CliftWilliam CliftWilliam Clift, , British naturalist, born at Burcombe, about half a mile from the town of Bodmin in Cornwall, on 14 Feb. 1775, was the youngest of the seven children of Robert Clift, who died a few years later, leaving his wife and family in the depths of poverty.-Education:The boy was sent to...
, naturalist and Fellow of the Royal Society - Jonathan CouchJonathan CouchJonathan Couch was a British naturalist, the only child of Richard and Philippa Couch, of a family long resident at Polperro, a small fishing village between Looe and Fowey, on the south coast of Cornwall.-Biography:...
, naturalistNatural historyNatural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
and physicianPhysicianA physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments... - Richard Quiller CouchRichard Quiller CouchRichard Quiller Couch, , British naturalist, eldest son of Jonathan Couch, was born at Polperro, Cornwall, UK on 14 March 1816. After receiving a medical education under his father and at Guy's Hospital, London, where he gained several honours and prizes and obtained the ordinary medical...
, naturalist - Frederick Hamilton DaveyFrederick Hamilton DaveyFrederick Hamilton Davey was an amateur botanist who devoted most of his leisure time to the study of the flora of Cornwall. Born at Ponsanooth in the Kennall Vale, Cornwall to a large family of limited means, he left school aged 11 to work in the Kennall Powder Mills. Encouraged by his father and...
, botanist - Oscar KempthorneOscar KempthorneOscar Kempthorne was a statistician and geneticist known for his research on randomization-analysis and the design of experiments, which had wide influence on research in agriculture, genetics, and other areas of science...
, statistician and geneticist. - William LobbWilliam LobbWilliam Lobb was a Cornish plant collector, employed by Veitch Nurseries of Exeter, who was responsible for the commercial introduction to England of Araucaria araucana from Chile and the massive Sequoiadendron giganteum from North America.He and his brother, Thomas Lobb, were the first...
, plant collector - Richard Lower, blood transfusionBlood transfusionBlood transfusion is the process of receiving blood products into one's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used in a variety of medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood...
pioneer - John MayowJohn MayowJohn Mayow FRS was a chemist, physician, and physiologist who is remembered today for conducting early research into respiration and the nature of air...
, physiologist - William Noye of PaulWilliam Noye of PaulWilliam Noye was born at Paul near Penzance, Cornwall and died in Australia. He was an amateur entomologist and his paper on insects found in the Land’s End district was the first published account of the Cornish Lepidoptera....
, entomologist - Francis Polkinghorne PascoeFrancis Polkinghorne PascoeFrancis Polkinghorne Pascoe was a Cornish entomologist mainly interested in Coleoptera.-Biography:He was born in Penzance Cornwall and trained at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Appointed surgeon in the Navy he served on Australian, West Indian and Mediterranean stations...
, entomologist - John RalfsJohn RalfsJohn Ralfs was an English botanist. Born in Millbrook, near Southampton, he was the second son of Samuel Ralfs, a yeoman of an old family in Hampshire...
, botanist - Francis Rilstone, botanist
- Edward Hearle RoddEdward Hearle RoddEdward Hearle Rodd , ornithologist, born at the vicarage of St Just in Roseland, Cornwall, on 17 March 1810, was third son of Edward Rodd, D.D. , by his wife Harriet, daughter of Charles Rashleigh, esq., of Duporth, Cornwall.-Life:...
, ornithologist - John Coulson TregarthenJohn Coulson TregarthenJohn Coulson Tregarthen was a British field naturalist and author, described as "the best loved Cornishman of his time"....
, naturalist - Sir Richard Vyvyan, BartSir Richard Vyvyan, 8th BaronetSir Richard Rawlinson Vyvyan, 8th Baronet was an English landowner and Whig and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1825 and 1857.-Early life:...
, MP for Cornwall and scientist - William WagstaffWill WagstaffWilliam Wagstaff, commonly known as Will Wagstaff, is a leading ornithologist and naturalist in the Isles of Scilly, and also an author. His popular guided wildlife walks have made him both a well-known and popular figure in the islands. Originally from South Wales, Wagstaff has lived on the Isles...
, ornithologist and naturalistNaturalistNaturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
Earth scientists
- William BorlaseWilliam BorlaseWilliam Borlase , Cornish antiquary, geologist and naturalist, was born at Pendeen in Cornwall, of an ancient family . From 1722 he was Rector of Ludgvan and died there in 1772.-Life and works:...
, naturalist, geologist and antiquary, Rector of Ludgvan - Edward BudgeEdward Budge-Life:He was the son of John Budge, and was a native of Devon. He was educated at Saffron Walden, Essex, and was admitted at Christ's College, Cambridge, on 14 March 1820, when twenty years old. In 1824 he took the degree of B.A., and in the same year was ordained deacon by the bishop of Exeter...
, geologist and clergyman - Elizabeth Carne, geologist and philanthropist
- Joseph CarneJoseph CarneJoseph Carne was a British geologist and industrialist.-Early life:Carne was born at Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom, the eldest son of William Carne, a banker, and was educated at the Wesleyan school, Keynsham, near Bristol. His younger brother was John Carne...
, geologist, industrialist and Fellow of the Royal Society - Richard EdmondsRichard Edmonds (scientist)Richard Edmonds was a notable British scientific writer of the Victorian period.-Biography:Edmonds, the eldest son of Richard Edmonds , was born on 18 September 1801. He was educated in the grammar schools at Penzance and Helston. Articled as an attorney with his father in 1818, he qualified in...
, geologist and antiquary - Robert Were FoxRobert Were Fox the YoungerRobert Were Fox FRS was a British geologist, natural philosopher and inventor. He is known mainly for his work on the temperature of the earth and his construction of a compass to measure magnetic dip at sea....
, FRS, geologist - William GregorWilliam GregorWilliam Gregor was the British clergyman and mineralogist who discovered the elemental metal titanium.-Early years:...
, discoverer of titaniumTitaniumTitanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
and clergyman - John HawkinsJohn Hawkins (geologist)John Hawkins was a geologist, traveller and writer,He was the youngest son of Thomas Hawkins of Trewinnard, St Erth, Cornwall, M.P. for Grampound, by Anne, daughter of James Heywood of London...
, geologist, traveller and FRS - Robert HuntRobert Hunt (scientist)Robert Hunt , a scientist and antiquarian, was born at Devonport, Plymouth, in the United Kingdom. He was involved in statistical, mineralogical and other studies. He died in London on 17 October 1887.-Early life:...
, mineralogist and writer - Matthew Paul MoyleMatthew Paul MoyleMatthew Paul Moyle , meteorologist and writer on mining, second son of John Moyle, by Julia, daughter of Jonathan Hornblower, was born at Chacewater, Cornwall, 4 October 1788, and educated at Guy's and St...
, meteorologist and mining writer - William PengellyWilliam PengellyWilliam Pengelly, FRS FGS was a British geologist and early archaeologist who was one of the first to contribute proof that the Biblical chronology of the earth calculated by Archbishop James Ussher was incorrect....
, geologistGeologistA geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
and archaeologist - John Arthur PhillipsJohn Arthur PhillipsJohn Arthur Phillips was a British geologist. He was born at Polgooth, near St Austell in Cornwall the son of John Phillips, who at one time was occupied as a mineral agent, and of Prudence Gaved of Tregian, St Ewe....
, FRS, geologist, metallurgist, mining engineer