Samuel Milner facts for kids

Samuel Roslington Milner (born August 22, 1875 – died August 12, 1958) was a British scientist who studied physics. People often called him 'Ross'. He was especially interested in how electricity moves through liquids. He is famous for his work on something called the Debye-Milner Plasma Theory.

Early Life and Learning

Samuel Milner was born in a small village called Dodworth in Yorkshire, England. His father, Samuel Wilkinson Milner, worked with coal mines. His mother was Ann Roslington. Samuel was the only boy in the family, with four older sisters.

When he was young, his family moved to Retford. He went to King Edward VI School there. He won a special prize from his headmaster: a microscope! But soon, he became very interested in physics.

Later, Samuel went to University College in Bristol. There, in 1894, he met Winifred Esther Walker. She was also studying physics. They both became important student leaders. They helped make sure that both boys and girls could join the College's Social and Debating Society.

Samuel and Winifred both won special scholarships called the 1851 Exhibition Scholarships. These scholarships helped them continue their science studies. Winifred finished her degree in 1898.

Samuel then went to Germany to study for his DSc degree at the University of Göttingen. He worked with a famous scientist named Walther Nernst, who later won a Nobel Prize.

In 1952, Samuel and Winifred moved to Sydney, Australia. They went to live closer to their son, Christopher J Milner. Christopher was also a scientist and worked as a professor in Australia.

Milner's Scientific Work

Samuel Milner was a physicist who focused on plasma physics. This is a field that studies how electricity moves through certain materials, like liquids that have dissolved salts in them. These liquids are called electrolytes.

He created a special mathematical formula. This formula helped explain the forces between tiny charged particles in these liquids. His most well-known work is the Debye-Milner Plasma Theory.

Milner's ideas about plasma (from 1912) were very important. Other scientists, Peter Debye and Erich Hückel, used his work. They used it to develop their own theory about electrolytes in 1923.

Milner taught at the University of Manchester. Later, he became a professor at the University of Sheffield in 1917. He worked there until he retired in 1940. Because of his important scientific work, he was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1922. This is a very high honor for a scientist in Britain.

Here are some of the roles he held:

• He was an 1851 Exhibition Scholar from 1895 to 1898.
• In 1898, he became a Demonstrator of Physics at the University of Manchester.
• From 1900, he was a Lecturer in Physics at the University of Sheffield.
• He became a full Professor of Physics there from 1921 to 1940.
• During World War I, he also worked as an Assistant Radiographer at a hospital from 1914 to 1917.