Horace Lamb
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Sir Horace Lamb (27 November 1849 – 4 December 1934)R. B. Potts,

, ''
Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...
'', Volume 5, MUP, 1974, pp 54–55. Retrieved 5 Sep 2009
was a British
applied mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
and author of several influential texts on
classical physics Classical physics is a group of physics theories that predate modern, more complete, or more widely applicable theories. If a currently accepted theory is considered to be modern, and its introduction represented a major paradigm shift, then the ...
, among them ''Hydrodynamics'' (1895) and ''Dynamical Theory of Sound'' (1910). Both of these books remain in print. The word
vorticity In continuum mechanics, vorticity is a pseudovector field that describes the local spinning motion of a continuum near some point (the tendency of something to rotate), as would be seen by an observer located at that point and traveling along wi ...
was coined by Lamb in 1916.


Biography


Early life and education

Lamb was born in
Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...
,
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, the son of John Lamb and his wife Elizabeth, ''née'' Rangeley. John Lamb was a foreman in a cotton mill who had gained some distinction by the invention of an improvement to spinning machines, he died when his son was a child. Lamb's mother married again, and shortly afterwards Horace went to live with his strict but maternal aunt, Mrs. Holland. He studied at Stockport Grammar School, where he made the acquaintance of a wise and kindly headmaster in the Rev. Charles Hamilton, and a graduate of classics, Frederic Slaney Poole, who in his final year became a good friend. It was from these two tutors that Lamb acquired his taste for mathematics and, to a somewhat lesser extent, classical literature.Brian Launder. (2012)
'Horace Lamb and the circumstances of his appointment at Owens College'
''Notes Rec. R. Soc.'' 67: 139–158
In 1867, he gained a classical scholarship at
Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...
. Since Lamb's inclination, however, was to pursue a career in engineering, he chose to decline the offer, and instead worked for a year at the
Owens College Owens may refer to: Places in the United States * Owens Station, Delaware * Owens Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota * Owens, Missouri * Owens, Ohio * Owens, Virginia People * Owens (surname), including a list of people with the name * Ow ...
in nearby
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, as a means of developing his mathematical proficiency further. At that time, the Chair of Pure Mathematics at Owens College was held by Thomas Barker, an eminent Scottish mathematician, who graduated as
Senior Wrangler The Senior Frog Wrangler is the top mathematics undergraduate at the University of Cambridge in England, a position which has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain." Specifically, it is the person who a ...
and first Smith's prizeman from the Cambridge
Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. It is the oldest Tripos examined at the University. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was ...
in 1862. An acknowledged lecturer of high quality, Lamb prospered under the guidance of Barker, and was elected to a minor scholarship at
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
. At Trinity, he was
Second Wrangler At the University of Cambridge in England, a "Wrangler" is a student who gains first-class honours in the final year of the university's degree in mathematics. The highest-scoring student is the Senior Wrangler, the second highest is the Secon ...
in the
Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. It is the oldest Tripos examined at the University. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was ...
, 2nd Smith's prizeman and elected fellow in 1872. Among his professors were
James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and ligh ...
and
George Gabriel Stokes Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet, (; 13 August 1819 – 1 February 1903) was an Irish migration to Great Britain, Irish English physicist and mathematician. Born in County Sligo, Ireland, Stokes spent all of his career at the University ...
. He was soon elected both a Fellow and a tutor in the college.


University of Cambridge, 1872–75

By 1874, Lamb had become thoroughly invested in his work at Trinity, preparing there an innovative and original series of lectures on the subject of hydrodynamics for third-year students.
Richard Glazebrook Sir Richard Tetley Glazebrook (18 September 1854 – 15 December 1935) was an English physicist. Education and early career Glazebrook was born in West Derby, Liverpool, Lancashire, the son of a surgeon. He was educated at Dulwich College unt ...
, a final-year student at the time, wrote of them that they were 'a revelation', and praised Lamb for his lucid presentation of the properties of liquids in rotational motion. However, Lamb soon became romantically involved with Elizabeth Foot, sister-in-law to his former headmaster, and, since the conditions of his position at Trinity stipulated that he should hold it only so long as he was unmarried, he was compelled, in 1875, to resign and continue his work elsewhere.


University of Adelaide, 1876–1885

Lamb's acquaintance from Stockport, Frederic Slaney Poole, had by now for some years lived in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
; hearing of his engagement, Poole suggested in a letter that he should apply for the chair at the recently founded
University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...
. In 1875, he was appointed the first (Sir Thomas)
Elder Professor of Mathematics Sir Thomas Elder, (5 August 1818 – 6 March 1897), was a Scottish-Australian pastoralist, highly successful businessman, philanthropist, politician, race-horse owner and breeder, and public figure. Amongst many other things, he is notable fo ...
there, and took up the chair in March, 1876. Lamb was instrumental in the establishment of the academic and administrative structure of the university, and lectured in pure and applied mathematics, also giving practical demonstrations in physics. For the next ten years the average number of students enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts course at Adelaide was fewer than twelve; though Lamb also gave some public lectures in the evenings, his workload was relatively light. His deftly rendered and original ''A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of the Motions of Fluids'' (which would later be reprinted as ''Hydrodynamics'' in 1895) was first published in 1878. In 1883, Lamb published a paper in the ''Philosophical Transactions of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
'' applying
Maxwell's equations Maxwell's equations, or Maxwell–Heaviside equations, are a set of coupled partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, and electric circuits. ...
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 is the tendency of an alternating electric current (AC) to become distributed within a conductor such that the current density is largest near the surface of the conductor and decreases exponentially with greater depths in the co ...
. Lamb was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1884.


University of Manchester, 1885–1920

Lamb was appointed to the Chair of Mathematics at
Owens College, Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...
, in 1885 and which became the Beyer Chair in 1888, a position Lamb held until retirement in 1920 (Owens College was merged with the Victoria University of Manchester in 1904). 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).


Later years, 1920–1934

In 1932 Lamb, in an address to the
British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...
, wittily expressed on the difficulty of explaining and studying
turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between ...
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 In particle physics, quantum electrodynamics (QED) 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 spec ...
, and the other is the turbulent motion of
fluid In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that continuously deforms (''flows'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, are substances which cannot resist any shear ...
s. And about the former I am rather optimistic." Lamb is also known for description of special waves in thin solid layers. These are now known as
Lamb wave Lamb waves propagate in solid plates or spheres. They are elastic waves whose particle motion lies in the plane that contains the direction of wave propagation and the direction perpendicular to the plate. In 1917, the English mathematician Horace L ...
s. Lamb was survived by three sons and four daughters. The sons (who included Walter Lamb (classicist) and the painter
Henry Lamb Henry Taylor Lamb (21 June 1883 – 8 October 1960) was an Australian-born British painter. A follower of Augustus John, Lamb was a founder member of the Camden Town Group in 1911 and of the London Group in 1913. Early life Henry Lamb was bo ...
) were born at
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, and all became distinguished. He is buried at the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge, with his wife.


Honours and awards

Lamb was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1884, was twice vice-president, received its
Royal Medal The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important ...
in 1902 and, its highest honour, the
Copley Medal The Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society, for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science". It alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the biological sciences. Given every year, the medal is t ...
in 1924. He was president of the London Mathematical Society 1902–1904, president of the
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, popularly known as the Lit. & Phil., is one of the oldest learned societies in the United Kingdom and second oldest provincial learned society (after the Spalding Gentlemen's Society). Promine ...
, 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 , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
is named in his honour and in 2013 the
Sir Horace Lamb Chair The Department of Mathematics at the University of Manchester is one of the largest unified mathematics departments in the United Kingdom, with over 90 academic staff and an undergraduate intake of roughly 400 students per year (including students ...
was created at Manchester. A building at the University of Adelaide also bears his name.


Publications

* * * * * * * *


See also

*
Lamb (crater) Lamb is a lunar crater that lies beyond the southeastern limb on the Moon's far side. It is located in an irregular lunar mare region named Mare Australe, just to the east of the crater Jenner. This crater has a slender inner wall and an interi ...
*
Lamb–Oseen vortex In fluid dynamics, the Lamb–Oseen vortex models a line vortex that decays due to viscosity. This vortex is named after Horace Lamb and Carl Wilhelm Oseen. Mathematical description Oseen looked for a solution for the Navier–Stokes equati ...


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Horace 1849 births 1934 deaths English physicists 19th-century English mathematicians 20th-century English mathematicians Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Recipients of the Copley Medal Royal Medal winners Fluid dynamicists Second Wranglers People educated at Stockport Grammar School People from Stockport De Morgan Medallists Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society