Robert Rumsey Webb (9 July 1850 – 29 July 1936), known as R. R. Webb, was a successful coach for 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 ...

. Webb coached 100 students to place in the top ten wranglers from 1865 to 1909, a record second only to

Edward Routh Edward John Routh (; 20 January 18317 June 1907), was an English mathematician, noted as the outstanding coach of students preparing for the Mathematical Tripos examination of the University of Cambridge in its heyday in the middle of the ninet ...

Biography

Webb was born on 9 July 1850 in

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. ...

. He was the son of Thomas Webb (born 1812) and Hannah Edwards. He graduated from the Monmouth Grammar School and entered

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...

in 1868. Webb was

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

Smith's Prize The Smith's Prize was the name of each of two prizes awarded annually to two research students in mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1769. Following the reorganization in 1998, they are now awarded under the n ...

winner in 1872, when he obtained a Fellowship to St John's College. Webb was lecturer at both St John's (1877 to 1911) and Emmanuel College (1878 to 1893). He produced memorable lectures on the theory of elasticity. Students recalled that "jokes were repeated", seasoning his lectures with "attic salt", though they "retained their freshness". Webb became a Fellow of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...

on 18 November 1879. As senior wrangler himself, Webb attracted students with similar aspirations. "He succeeded Dr. Routh as the most brilliant, and most successful, mathematical coach of his day." Robert Rumsey Webb

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'' (MNRAS) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in astronomy and astrophysics. It has been in continuous existence since 1827 and publishes letters and papers reporting orig ...

97:283 When Andrew Warwick reviewed the record for his book ''Masters of Theory'', his tally of top ten wranglers placed Webb second. Though the Tripos results were prominent news at the time, Webb's "real memorial lies in the careers of his pupils." When A. R. Forsyth recalled his experience preparing for Tripos, he wrote of Webb: :Much junior in standing, a superb teacher, a man (I believe) whose powers would have taken him far as a pioneer into the domain of new knowledge had they been devoted to research rather than coaching. Forsyth also found that Routh was not the ideal teacher of rigid dynamics: :In that subject I went to a course at St. John’s by R.R. Webb, a master in its range: and his course was superb. Webb "was fond of travel, and interested in painting and music. During the latter part of his life he went in for linguistic studies over a wide range." Webb died in Cambridge on 29 July 1936. His papers, containing notes for coaching students, are stored at St John's College Library. A mathematical scholarship in Robert Webb's name was maintained by the William Jones Schools Foundation.R.R. Webb Mathematical Scholarship
from opencharities.org

Papers

R. R. Webb published the following articles in the

Messenger of Mathematics The ''Messenger of Mathematics'' is a defunct British mathematics journal. The founding editor-in-chief was William Allen Whitworth with Charles Taylor and volumes 1–58 were published between 1872 and 1929. James Whitbread Lee Glaisher was th ...

: * 1879: volume 9, pages 6 to 9: "On a certain system of simultaneous differential equations" * 1879: volume 9, page 124: "On an elementary integral" * 1879: volume 9, pages 125,6; "On Legendre's coefficients" * 1879: volume 9, pages 151 to 158: "The brachistochrone problem of a system" * 1879: volume 9, pages 170 to 178: "Some applications of a theorem in solid geometry" * 1880: volume 10, pages 150 to 156: "On a theorem in statics" * 1881: volume 11, pages 146 to 155: "Stress and strain in cylindrical and polar coordinates" * 1881: volume 11, pages 150 to 156: "On the equilibrium of a bent plate"

References

* "In memoriam R.R. Webb" (16 October 1936) ''The Cambridge Review'' 58:25 (#1412). {{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Robert Rumsey People from Monmouth, Wales Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society 19th-century English mathematicians 20th-century English mathematicians 1850 births 1936 deaths