Samuel Hawksley Burbury facts for kids
Samuel Hawksley Burbury (born May 18, 1831 – died August 18, 1911) was a brilliant British mathematician. He was also a FRS, which means he was part of a very important group of scientists. He was known for his advanced work in math and physics.
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A Smart Start
Samuel Burbury was born in Kenilworth, England, on May 18, 1831. He was the only son of Samuel and Helen Burbury.
School and University
He went to Shrewsbury School from 1848 to 1850, where he was the head boy. After that, he studied at St. John's College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, he was incredibly good at both classic subjects (like ancient languages) and mathematics.
He won many awards, including the Person prize twice (in 1852 and 1853). He also won the Craven university scholarship in 1853 and a special medal for classics in 1854. In 1854, he finished his first degree (B.A.). He was the fifteenth best in math and the second best in classics! He became a fellow of his college that same year. He earned his M.A. degree in 1857.
His Career
In 1855, Samuel Burbury began studying law at Lincoln's Inn. He became a lawyer in 1858. From 1860, he worked as a lawyer dealing with laws made by Parliament.
Later, he started to lose his hearing. This made it hard for him to work in court. So, he changed to working only in a private office. He stopped working completely in 1908.
In 1890, he was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a big honor for scientists. Samuel Burbury passed away on August 18, 1911, in London. He was buried at Kensal Green.
His Math and Science Work
Even while working as a lawyer, Burbury continued to study advanced mathematics. He often worked with his friend from Cambridge, Henry William Watson.
Working with Henry Watson
Together, they wrote two important books. One was about how to use special math to understand how things move. The other was called The Mathematical Theory of Electricity and Magnetism. In these books, they tried to build on the ideas of another famous scientist, Clerk Maxwell. They wanted to make the math behind electricity and magnetism even clearer.
His Own Research
Samuel Burbury also wrote many papers by himself for a science magazine called the 'Philosophical Magazine'. Some of his papers were about the 'Second Law of Thermodynamics'. This is a rule about how energy works and changes. He also wrote about how energy can be lost or spread out.
His Family
Samuel Burbury married Alice Ann Taylor on April 12, 1860. Alice Ann was the oldest daughter of Thomas Edward Taylor. They had four sons and two daughters. A painting of Samuel Burbury from 1884 was owned by his wife.
