![JamesCumming](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/JamesCumming.JPG)
James Cumming (26 September 1777 – 10 November 1861) was the ninth
Professor of Chemistry in Cambridge from 1815 to 1860.
Cumming is remembered for his research-led teaching
and his lectures during which he would literally
shock
Shock may refer to:
Common uses Collective noun
*Shock, a historic commercial term for a group of 60, see English numerals#Special names
* Stook, or shock of grain, stacked sheaves
Healthcare
* Shock (circulatory), circulatory medical emergen ...
the audience with a
galvanic apparatus.
He was also known to
electrocute
Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death.
The term "electrocution" was coined ...
a
cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
during a demonstration.
Childhood and education
Cumming was born in
Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...
,
London, on 26 September 1777, but his home moved to the
Buxton Hall Hotel (now called Old Hall Hotel) in
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.[Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...]
, from the
5th Duke of Devonshire. His father was considered socially more than a mere hotelier, and the hotel's clientele included bishops and visiting aristocracy.
Cumming was sent to school at
Marlborough
Marlborough may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Marlborough, Wiltshire, England
** Marlborough College, public school
* Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England
* The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England
Austral ...
before he became a student 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 ...
. Graduating he took holy orders earlier than most aspiring academics under the
Bishop of Lincoln
The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.
The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...
,
George Tomline, in 1802.
Career
Cumming was appointed to the professorship in 1815, although no records survive of his work prior to that date. Like all professors at that time, he had to compete with rival professors for the attention of his students. Study of his curriculum reveals that he was keeping abreast of the current research in his subject. In 1816 he was admitted to 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 ...
, in company with
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
, as well as the
Geological Society
The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows.
Fe ...
.
![All Saints' Church, North Runcton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/All_Saints%27_Church%2C_North_Runcton.jpg)
In 1819 he was given the rectorship of
North Runcton
North Runcton is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is west of Norwich, south-south-west of King's Lynn and north of London. The village is located a small distance south-west of the A47 between King's ...
near
King's Lynn
King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...
. This small Norfolk parish of 400 people was
"in the gift" of Trinity College and
Daniel Gurney
Daniel Gurney (1791–1880), was an English banker and antiquary from the Gurney family of Norwich.
Life
Gurney was born at Earlham Hall, near Norwich, on 9 March 1791, as the youngest son of John Gurney (1749–1809) of Earlham, Norfolk, and b ...
, the banker. With this substantial income he was able to marry Sarah Humphrey of Cambridge.
In the same year Cumming was a founder member of the
Cambridge Philosophical Society
The Cambridge Philosophical Society (CPS) is a scientific society at the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1819. The name derives from the medieval use of the word philosophy to denote any research undertaken outside the fields of law ...
.(Cumming was later to serve as its President)
Cumming was said to lecture every day in the 1820s accompanied by three assistants so that he could cover a large amount of material in an hour's lecture. His students included
George Stokes and
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
's elder brother,
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...
. Erasmus Darwin commented on the entertainment value of Cumming's lectures where Cumming compared the results of one of his experiments to
artificial diamonds
Lab-grown diamond (LGD; also called laboratory-grown, laboratory-created, man-made, artisan-created, artificial, synthetic, or cultured diamond) is diamond that is produced in a controlled technological process (in contrast to naturally formed ...
(they weren't). The professor would include many historical and literary anecdotes as he commented on the danger implicit in his experiments. He would point out where previous experiments had blown a hole in the ceiling and how other professors had been maimed by an ill-considered demonstration. His research included investigating galvanometers and electricity. He was noted for giving electric shocks to his audience and for a demonstration in which he would electrocute a cat.
His style of teaching is highlighted today as he was an early example of science educators who were actively involved in research which informed, and inspired, their teaching.
In the 1840s his lectures did not attract the same audiences, but it must be remembered that they were not compulsory to students if they were not taking medicine. Students at Cambridge could graduate in mathematics or in classics without taking any "professional" lectures in additional subjects like chemistry. Moreover, students were coming under increasing pressure to improve their performance in the core subjects.
Cumming died and was buried in
All Saints Church in North Runcton. He had been the Professor in Cambridge until a year before his death on 10 November 1861.
Works include
In 1827 Cumming published ‘'A Manual of Electro-Dynamics,’', 1827 (after Montferrand's ‘Manuel d'Electricité Dynamique,’)
‘Report on Thermo-Electricity’ in ‘Brit. Assoc. Reports,’ 1831–2
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumming, James
1777 births
1861 deaths
19th-century British chemists
Fellows of the Royal Society
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
Professors of chemistry (Cambridge, 1702)
English Christian religious leaders