Robert Bellamy Clifton FRS (13 March 1836 – 21 February 1921) was a British scientist.

Academic career

Clifton was educated at

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

and St John's College, Cambridge where he studied under

Sir George Stokes Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 1st Baronet, (; 13 August 1819 – 1 February 1903) was an Irish English physicist and mathematician. Born in County Sligo, Ireland, Stokes spent all of his career at the University of Cambridge, where he was the Lu ...

. In 1860 he went to

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 ...

as Professor of

Natural Philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe. It was dominant before the development of modern science. From the ancient wo ...

. In 1865 he was appointed Professor of experimental Natural Philosophy at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

. While at Oxford he designed

Clarendon Laboratory The Clarendon Laboratory, located on Parks Road within the Science Area in Oxford, England (not to be confused with the Clarendon Building, also in Oxford), is part of the Department of Physics at Oxford University. It houses the atomic and ...

and gave research space to Charles Vernon Boys. On 4 June 1868 he became a fellow 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 ...

. He was president of the Physical Society (now

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physic ...

) from 1882 until 1884. From 1868 until his retirement in 1915 he was a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford.

Family

Clifton's father was the clergyman Robert Cox Clifton. His daughter Catharine Edith was married to the surgeon

Henry Souttar Sir Henry Sessions Souttar (14 December 1875 – 12 November 1964) was a British surgeon with a wide breadth of interests. He trained first as a mathematician and engineer. His engineer’s training enabled him to design and make new types of s ...

References

1836 births 1921 deaths British physicists British scientists Burials in Oxfordshire Presidents of the Physical Society Alumni of University College London Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Academics of the University of Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society Dr Lee's Professors of Experimental Philosophy Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Burials at Wolvercote Cemetery {{UK-physicist-stub