The Spirit Of Inquiry: Cambridge Science Since 1819

Most people associate Cambridge science with Isaac Newton, or with the high reputation of the university in the sciences in the last 100 years or so. But many do not know that at the dawn of the 19th century, science in Cambridge was moribund.

The Cambridge colleges were training would-be Anglican priests, and apart from making them learn a little mathematics they were not teaching anything we would now call “science”. But elsewhere in Europe, and indeed in Scotland, scientific research was being pursued with vigour. For Cambridge, everything changed in 1819 when two young men became enthused by geological studies, and campaigned to set up a forum for discussion of scientific matters. In those days, “science” was still known as “natural philosophy”, and their foundation is still known as the Cambridge Philosophical Society. The Society acted as a focus for the discussion and communication of scientific research, and also as a pressure group for reform of the university.

In this talk Claire and Jim will present a potted history of Cambridge science since that time, and the role of the Philosophical Society. They will give biographical sketches of the two young men, Adam Sedgwick and John Stevens Henslow. They will talk a little about other famous individuals who are part of the story, like Charles Darwin, William Lawrence Bragg, Lord Rayleigh and the pioneer molecular biologists like Francis Crick and Sir John Kendrew. They will also give a few vignettes following particular themes, ranging from wave theory in optics, acoustics and astronomy, to the origins of modern statistics in the study of “anthropometrics”.

Claire Barlow started her research career in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at Cambridge, specialising in electron microscopy. She has worked on a variety of materials, natural and man-made, for which the common theme is that their behaviour is strongly influenced by their microstructure. She continued this style of work after moving to the Department of Engineering, but in recent years her research focus has shifted to environmental aspects, especially the use and disposal of engineering materials including plastics. Claire is the current President of The Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Jim Woodhouse studied mathematics as an undergraduate at Cambridge University, and did a PhD and post-doctoral work in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics in Cambridge on the acoustics of the violin. This interest developed from a hobby interest in making musical instruments. After a few years working in a consultancy company on noise and vibration issues, he joined the Engineering Department at Cambridge in 1985, and remained there throughout his career: as lecturer, then Reader, then Professor, and now Emeritus Professor. The musical instrument interest has continued through the years, together with research on vibration of complex systems, statistical approaches to vibration prediction, and vibration driven by friction. His work has always focussed on the interplay between theoretical understanding and laboratory measurements, aiming to combine research in fundamental physics with practical implications, both for industrial applications and for musical instrument makers. He was President of the Cambridge Philosophical Society during the planning for their 200th anniversary, and through that exercise he learned something of the Society’s history.

Refreshments will be available from 30 minutes before the advertised start time.

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