Erasmus Smith’s Professors of Natural and Experimental Philosophy

Richard Helsham was born in Kilkenny city in 1682. His father, Joshua Helsham, was mayor of Kilkenny (1692 - 1694). Helsham entered Trinity College Dublin in 1698, was elected a Scholar in 1700 and graduated BA in 1702, MA in 1705, MB (medicine) in 1710 and MD (medicine) in 1713. He was elected a Fellow of Trinity College in 1704 and became a senior Fellow in 1714.  He became the first Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy in 1724, which marked the beginning of professorships of physics in Trinity College. In 1730 he resigned his Fellowship and married Jane Putland, the widow of Dublin banker Thomas Putland, on the 16^th of December. In 1733 he was appointed Regius Professor of Physic (medicine). Helsham was personal physician and close friend to Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels. He wrote of Helsham, referring to him as ‘The most eminent physician of this city and kingdom.’ ^[1] Helsham and his colleague, Bryan Robinson, consulted on Dublin’s water supply and proposed a plan to improve it. In return, Helsham was granted the honour of freedom of the city. Helsham died on 1^st August 1738 of a stomach tumour. Robinson published Helsham’s lectures posthumously as ‘Helsham’s Course of Lectures on Natural Philosophy’ (1739). These were based on the work of Isaac Newton, but with an appealing simplicity of approach for undergraduates. It was used until 1849.  Michael Clancy (writer, 1704-1776) wrote of Helsham, ‘The only man to whom I owed any obligations, while I was at the university.’

Sources

1. Alfred Webb (1878), Richard Helsham, Compendium of Irish Biography, https://www.libraryireland.com/biography/RichardHelsham.php
2. Eric Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition
3. Turlough O’Riordan (2009), Helsham, Richard, Dictionary of Irish Biography, https://www.dib.ie/biography/helsham-richard-a3914
4. Brocard M Mansfield (1984), Dr Richard Helsham – The Most Eminent physician of this City and Kingdom, Kilkenny Archaeological Society, https://kilkennyarchaeologicalsociety.ie/old-kilkenny-review-1984/okr1984-24-brocard-m-mansfield-dr-richard-helsham-the-most-eminent-physician-of-this-city-and-kingdom/

Image of Richard Helsham, By Engraver Thomas Beard - http://dr-steevens-hospital-a-history.edwardworthlibrary.ie/doctors/robinson-and-helsham/ , Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46857849

Caleb Cartwright was born around 1696 in Cork. He entered Trinity College on 7^th July 1716. He graduated BA in 1720, MA in 1723 and DD (divinity) in 1735. He was elected a Fellow in 1724. He was Donegall Lecturer in Mathematics (1735-1738) and the second Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy (1738 – 1743). He became Senior Dean in 1737. He died on 25^th August 1763.

Sources

1. Mathematics Ireland (Last updated 23 Feb 2023), Mathematical Professorships at Trinity College, Mathematics Ireland http://www.mathsireland.ie/blog/2019_11_cm
2. TCD (2017), past senior deans, TCD https://www.tcd.ie/seniorDean/about/pastDeans/
3. Thomas Ulick Sadlier (1935), Alumni Dublinenses: a register of students, graduates, professors, and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860), Thom Co Ltd, image 162, page 139 https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/70795b624
4. Eric Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition
5. Image of Trinity college, By James Cartwright - https://www.flickr.com/photos/186395973@N06/51295550025/ , Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=107295494

William Clement was born in Co. Monaghan in 1707. He entered Trinity College on 28^th April 1722, aged just 14, and became a Scholar in 1724. He graduated BA in 1726, MA in 1731 and was elected a Fellow in 1733 and Senior Fellow in 1743. He graduated MB (medicine) in 1747 and MD (medicine) in 1748. He lectured on botany (1733-1763). He was the third Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy (1745 to 1759). From 1750-1759 he was the Donegall Lecturer in Mathematics and he served as Vice-Provost from 1753 to 1782. In 1761 he was appointed Regius Professor of Physic (medicine). He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Trinity College in 1761 and MP for Dublin city (1771 to 1782). In the 18^th Century, Fellows of the College were expected to be celibate. Clement, however, was ‘secretly married’ to Mary Coxe around the time that he was elected a Fellow. Later he obtained a royal dispensation to be married to Mary. He died on January 15^th, 1782, and is buried in the chapel of Trinity College.

Sources

1. Thomas Ulick Sadlier (1935), Alumni Dublinenses: a register of students, graduates, professors, and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860), Thom Co Ltd, page 156, image 179 https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/70795b624
2. Linde Lunney (2009), Clement, William, Dictionary of Irish Biography, https://www.dib.ie/biography/clement-william-a1733
3. TCD botany (last updated 24 Feb 2011), William Clements, TCD https://www.tcd.ie/Botany/tercentenary/300-years/chairs/william-clements.php
4. Eric Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition

Hugh Hamilton was born in Co. Dublin on 26^th March 1729. His Father was Alexander Hamilton, who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Killyleagh. He entered Trinity College aged 14 on 17th November 1742. He graduated BA in 1747 and MA in 1750 and was elected a Fellow in 1751. He graduated BD in 1759 and DD (Divinity) in 1761. His book ‘De sectionibus conicis tractatus geometricus’ (1758), concerning properties of conic sections, was well received. Euler in his book ‘the Analysis of Infinties’ wrote ‘There are but three perfect mathematical works; these are by Archimedes, Newton, and Hamilton.’ He was Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy (1759 to 1769). He published philosophical essays on vapours, comets, and mechanics (1767) and in 1784 an essay in which he attempted to prove the existence of God. His textbook ‘Four Introductory Lectures on Natural Philosophy’ was used in Trinity and Cambridge for fifty years. He was one of the founding members of the Royal Irish Academy. He became Dean of Armagh helping improve Armagh city by establishing a piped water supply and a county hospital. In 1796 he was appointed Bishop of Clonfert. He married Isabella Wood in 1772 and they had five sons and two daughters. He died on 1^st December 1805 and was buried at St Canice’s cathedral in Kilkenny. His descendants include Clive Staples Lewis, John Millington Synge and John Lighton Synge, academics and playwright.

Sources

1. Thomas Ulick Sadlier (1935), Alumni Dublinenses: a register of students, graduates, professors, and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860), Thom Co Ltd, image 385, page 362 https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/70795b624
2. Alfred Webb (1878), Hugh Hamilton, Bishop of Ossory, Library Ireland https://www.libraryireland.com/biography/HughHamiltonBishopofOssory.php
3. Linde Lunney (2012), Hamilton, Hugh, Dictionary of Irish Biography, https://www.dib.ie/biography/hamilton-hugh-a3745
4. Eric Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition
5. Image of Hugh Hamilton, By Gilbert Stuart - Historical Portraits Image Gallery, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21957456 

Thomas Wilson was born in Co. Donegal in 1726 and educated in Co. Dublin. In 1743-1744 he enrolled in Trinity College at the age of 17. He became a Scholar in 1746 and graduated BA in 1748, MA in 1753, BD in 1758 and DD in 1764. He was elected a Fellow (1853) and served as Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy from 1769 to 1786. He served as the Archbishop King’s Lecturer (1785) and in 1786 became the Church of Ireland rector at Ardstraw, Co. Tyrone. He died on 22^nd September 1799.

Sources

1. Thomas Ulick Sadlier (1935), Alumni Dublinenses: a register of students, graduates, professors, and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860), Thom Co Ltd, page 888 https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/70795b624
2. Eric Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition
3. Image of Trinity college, By James Cartwright - https://www.flickr.com/photos/186395973@N06/51295550025/ , Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=107295494

Matthew Young was born in 1750 in Castlerea, Co. Roscommon. He entered Trinity College in 1766 and became a scholar in 1769. He graduated BA in 1772, MA in 1774, BD in 1782 and DD in 1786. He was elected a Fellow in 1775. His tutors, Henry Ussher and Richard Murray, inspired his interest in physics. He is described as a ‘staunch Newtonian’ defending Newton’s theory of sound in ‘an enquiry into the principal phenomena of sounds and musical strings.’  He was the sixth Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy (1786 - 1799).  A collection of his lectures, ‘An Analysis of the principles of Natural Philosophy’, was published in 1800. As one of the founding members of the Royal Irish Academy (RIA), he published several papers on topics such as algebra, optics, hydrodynamics, and Gaelic poetry in Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. He had a keen interest in Irish literature. His translations of Irish manuscripts were the first Gaelic scholarship produced by the RIA. He married Anne Cuthbertson and they had several children. He was appointed Bishop of Clonfert in 1798 and died on 28^th November 1800.

Sources

1. Thomas Ulick Sadlier (1935), Alumni Dublinenses: a register of students, graduates, professors, and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860), Thom Co Ltd, page 903, https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/70795b624
2. Enda Leaney (2009), Young, Matthew, Dictionary of Irish Biography https://www.dib.ie/biography/young-matthew-a9175
3. John Comerford (1796) The Rev. Matthew Young, Bishop of Clonfert, https://www.artnet.com/artists/john-comerford/the-rev-matthew-young-bishop-of-clonfert-I51kcL7k7JrWe1TGTJABXQ2

Thomas Elrington was born near Dublin on 18^th December 1760. He entered Trinity College on 1^st May 1775, aged 15, and became a scholar in 1778. He graduated BA in 1780, MA in 1785, BD in 1790 and DD in 1790. He was elected Fellow of Trinity College in 1781 and became Senior Fellow in 1795. He was the first Donnellan divinity lecturer (1794), Archbishop King’s Lecturer in Divinity (1795), Donegall Lecturer in Mathematics (1790-1795), Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Mathematics (1995-1799) and seventh Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy (1799-1807).  He edited several books, the most important of which was ‘Euclidis Elementorum Sex Libri Priores, Cum Notis’ (1788). His own work includes Sermons on Miracles and Letters on Tythes.

He was granted permission by the chief secretary to break the rule of celibacy for Fellows and married Charlotte Preston in 1799. They had two sons and an unknown number of daughters. In 1801 he facilitated the transfer of 20,000 volumes from the Fagel library to the College library (a private Dutch library from the 17^th and 18^th centuries and an important asset of the College library today). He was one of five College Fellows to support the passing of the act of union in 1800. He became Church of Ireland rector of Ardtrea, Co. Armagh in 1806 but was recalled to Trinity in 1811 when he was chosen as Provost by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the Duke of Richmond. He retired from Trinity in 1820 and became Church of Ireland Bishop of Limerick and later Leighlin and Ferns. He died on 12^th July 1835 from paralysis, said to have been induced by sea sickness. His portrait hangs in the Fitzgerald Building in Trinity College.

Sources

1. Thomas Ulick Sadlier (1935), Alumni Dublinenses: a register of students, graduates, professors, and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860), Thom Co Ltd, page 263, https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/70795b624
2. TCD (2021), Thomas Elrington, TCDhttps://www.tcd.ie/Provost/history/former-Provosts/t_elringrton.php
3. Patrick M. Geoghegan (2009), Elrington, Thomas, Dictionary of Irish Biography https://www.dib.ie/biography/elrington-thomas-a2916
4. Eric Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition
5. Image of Thomas Elrington, By Thomas Foster - Oil on canvas, Anne Crookshank and David Webb, Paintings and Sculptures in Trinity College Dublin (Dublin, 1990), p. 50.

William Davenport was born in 1772 in Capel St, Dublin. He enrolled in Trinity College on 6^th November 1787, aged 15. He became a Scholar in 1791 was elected a Fellow in 1795. He graduated BA in 1792, MA in 1796 and DD in 1808. From 1807 to 1822 served as the eighth Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy. He was Archbishop King’s Lecturer in 1815. He was Director of the Armagh Observatory and incumbent at the parish of Clonfeacle, Co. Tyrone, from 1815 until his tragic death in 1823.

Sources

1. Thomas Ulick Sadlier (1935), Alumni Dublinenses: a register of students, graduates, professors, and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860), Thom Co Ltd, page 212, https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/70795b624
2. Armagh Space (Accessed July 2023), William Davenport, Armagh Space https://www.armagh.space/our-people
3. Erich Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition
4. Image of Trinity College and Bank from Irish Pictures Drawn with Pen and Pencil (1888) by Richard Lovetthttps://www.libraryireland.com/IrishPictures/I-2.php 

Bartholomew Lloyd was born in 1772 in New Ross, Co. Wexford. He enrolled in Trinity College on 28^th June 1787, aged 15 and became a Scholar in 1790. He graduated BA in 1792, MA in 1796, BD in 1805, and DD in 1808. He became a Fellow in 1796 and the Donnellan Lecturer in 1807.  He was appointed the Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Mathematics in 1813, despite being a Junior Fellow at the time. He began reforming the teaching of mathematics, introducing the latest developments in mathematics from French mathematicians such as Laplace and Poisson. In 1822 he became the Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, serving until 1831. He was appointed Archbishop King’s Lecturer in 1823 and 1827.

Lloyd was appointed Provost of Trinity College in 1831. His reforms included: reorganising the tutorial system, introducing three academic terms, excluding certain professors from tutorial duties and increasing their salaries.  Opposition arose as one of those who stood to benefit was the incoming Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy and Lloyd’s son, Humphrey, was a leading candidate.  Humphrey would later also become Provost. The increase in salaries was greatly beneficial as professors could focus on lectures and research rather than needing additional work to make a living.  Lloyd also approved the construction of new buildings in Front Square, the construction of a magnetic observatory, and the distinction between pass and honors courses. Sir William Rowan Hamilton claimed that Lloyd’s ’Treatise on analytic geometry‘ (1819) inspired him to pursue his scientific career. He was married to Eleanor McLaughlin and they had four sons and six daughters. Lloyd died suddenly on 24^th November 1837 and is buried in the College chapel. His portrait hangs in the Fitzgerald Building in Trinity College.

Sources

1. Thomas Ulick Sadlier (1935), Alumni Dublinenses: a register of students, graduates, professors, and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860), Thom Co Ltd, page 504, https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/70795b624
2. TCD (2021), Bartholomew Lloyd, TCD https://www.tcd.ie/Provost/history/former-Provosts/b_llyod.php
3. J. Connor and E. F. Robertson (2016), Bartholomew Lloyd, St Andrews https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Lloyd_Bartholomew/
4. David Murphy (2009), Lloyd, Bartholomew, Dictionary of Irish Biography. https://www.dib.ie/biography/lloyd-bartholomew-a4854
5. Image of Bartholomew Lloyd, By Unknown author - McTutor History of mathematics: http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/PictDisplay/Lloyd_Bartholomew.html , Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47528046

Humphrey Lloyd was born in Dublin on 16^th April 1800 to Bartholomew Lloyd (a future Provost of Trinity) and Eleanor McLaughlin. He was educated at White’s School in Dublin and enrolled in Trinity College on 3^rd July 1815, aged 15, becoming a Scholar in 1818. He graduated BA in 1820, MA in 1827, BD and DD in 1840. He was elected a Fellow in 1824. In 1831 he succeeded his father as the tenth Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, serving until 1843.

He worked mainly in the field of optics, making his most notable discovery in 1833.  William Rowan Hamilton had earlier predicted that a ray of light emerging from a biaxial crystal would be refracted into a cone of rays, a phenomenon known as conical refraction. Lloyd was able to observe conical refraction from a crystal of the mineral aragonite. A demonstration of conical refraction can be seen in the current Tercentenary Exhibition. He assumed responsibility for the magnetic observatory in Trinity and carried out magnetic surveys of Ireland under the auspices of the British Association and the Royal Society.  Observing stations were set up in Britain and India to take geo-magnetic measurements such as vertical and horizontal components of the Earth’s magnetic field and its inclination. In 1841, along with James McCullagh and Thomas Luby, he recommended that a school of civil engineering be established in Trinity, which was achieved later that year. From 1846 to 1851 he served as the president of the Royal Irish Academy. In 1867 he was elected as the Provost. He encouraged research as a principal function of the College. His publications include ‘A treatise on light and vision’ (1831), ‘Lectures on the wave theory of light’ (1836 and 1841), and ‘The elements of optics’ (1849). Over his career he published 8 books and 64 papers. He married Dorothea Bulwer in 1840; the couple had no children. He died on 17^th January 1881 in the Provost’s house. His portrait hangs in the Fitzgerald Building in Trinity College.

Sources

1. Thomas Ulick Sadlier (1935), Alumni Dublinenses: a register of students, graduates, professors, and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860), Thom Co Ltd, page 505, https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/70795b624
2. TCD (2021), Humphrey Llyod, TCD, https://www.tcd.ie/Provost/history/former-Provosts/h_lloyd.php
3. David Murphy (2009), Llyod, Humphrey, Dictionary of Irish Biography https://www.dib.ie/biography/lloyd-humphrey-a4858
4. J. Connor and E. Robertson (2016), Humphrey Llyod, St Andrews, https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Lloyd_Humphrey/
5. Eric Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition
6. Image of Humphrey Lloyd, By Unknown author - http://www.orden-pourlemerite.de/mitglieder/humphrey-lloyd?m=3&u=3  , Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27539048

James MacCullagh was born in 1809 in Landahussy townland, Co. Tyrone. His father, also James MacCullagh, was a farmer. He was educated at the parish school in Castledamph and in Strabane, Co. Tyrone. He enrolled in Trinity College in November 1824, aged 15, becoming a Scholar in 1827. He graduated BA in 1829, MA in 1836. After two failed attempts, he was elected a Fellow in 1832. In 1835 he was appointed the Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Mathematics. He earned LLB and LLD degrees in 1838. He was appointed Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy in 1843, serving until 1847. In 1841, along with Humphrey Lloyd and Thomas Luby, he recommended the establishment of a school of civil engineering in Trinity. His career was cut short by his tragic death, aged 38.

MacCullagh is mainly known for his work on optics, but also on geometry. His most important contribution to optics was, ‘An essay towards a dynamical theory of crystalline reflexion and refraction’ (1838) which provided a framework for accurately describing a broad range of physical optics. The paper begins by defining a new concept, what was later named the curl of a vector field, by James Clerk Maxwell. His most important contribution to geometry, ‘On surfaces of the second order’, was published in 1843.

Sources

1. Thomas Ulick Sadlier (1935), Alumni Dublinenses: a register of students, graduates, professors, and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860), Thom Co Ltd, page 530, https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/70795b624
2. Enda Leaney (2009), MacCullagh, James, Dictionary of Irish Biography, https://www.dib.ie/biography/maccullagh-james-a5635
3. J. Connor and E.F. Robertson, James MacCullagh, St Andrews, https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/MacCullagh/
4. Erich Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition
5. Image of James McCullagh, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1229172

Vickers Dixon was born in Dublin on 22^nd October 1812. He enrolled in Trinity College in 1827, aged 15. He graduated BA in 1833, MA in 1839, BD and DD in 1862. In 1838 he was elected a Fellow of the College. He served as Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy from 1848 to 1854. Dixon was a Fellow and professor during the Irish famine (1845-1852). In 1849 he published a book ‘A treatise on heat’. In 1853 he became rector of Clogherny parish in Co. Tyrone and sometime after that, the Archdeacon of Armagh. He died on 14^th May 1885.

Sources

1. Thomas Ulick Sadlier (1935), Alumni Dublinenses: a register of students, graduates, professors, and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860), Thom Co Ltd, page 232 https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/70795b624
2. Erich Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living edition.
3. Image of Trinity College and Bank from Irish Pictures Drawn with Pen and Pencil (1888) by Richard Lovetthttps://www.libraryireland.com/IrishPictures/I-2.php

Joseph Allen Galbraith was born in Dublin on 29^th November 1818. His father was a Scottish Presbyterian and merchant who died while he was a child, leaving him to support himself. He enrolled in Trinity College on 3^rd November 1834, aged 16. He graduated BA in 1840, MA in 1844 and was made a Fellow in 1844. In 1845 he was elected to the Royal Irish Academy and in 1846 made a deacon of the Church of Ireland. He served as Junior Dean from 1847-1848. In 1854 he was appointed Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy and served until 1870.

As Erasmus Smith’s professor, he and Samuel Haughton created a series of manuals on physics and mathematics, which were eventually introduced as textbooks to schools and colleges in Ireland and England and continued to be printed into the 1900’s. Galbraith was a popular professor and would often invite student groups to his summer home for discussion. In 1851 Galbraith and Haughton constructed an 11-metre Foucault’s pendulum to replicate the famous experiment performed in Paris. During the 1860s, he along with Samuel Haughton, performed multiple land surveys of Dublin to prove that a canal system was the best option for the city’s water supply. This was in opposition of the proposed Vartry reservoir scheme.

He became active in Irish politics in the early 1860’s and he is credited with inventing the term, ‘Home Rule’. He helped found the Home Government Association in 1870. He listened avidly to speeches by Daniel O’Connell. He was a freemason and served as Grand Chaplain of the Freemasons in the 1850s. His political views affected his career in Trinity. After serving as Erasmus Smith’s professor, he did not hold an office in Trinity College until 1880, when he was finally elected Senior Fellow. He was an active member of the Irish National League founded by Charles Stewart Parnell in 1882. He died on 20^th October 1890.

Sources

1. Thomas Ulick Sadlier (1935), Alumni Dublinenses: a register of students, graduates, professors, and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860), Thom Co Ltd, page 314, https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/70795b624
2. Desmond McCabe (2016), Galbraith, Joseph-Allen, Dictionary of Irish Biography, https://www.dib.ie/biography/galbraith-joseph-allen-a3401
3. Erich Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition
4. FIG. 1*‘Galbraith and Haughton minus Haughton’ as shown in Ireland’s Eye, 10 October 1874, 74.  DeArce, Miguel. “The parallel lives of Joseph Allen Galbraith (1818—90) and Samuel Haughton (1821-97): religion, friendship, scholarship and politics in Victorian Ireland.” Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature 112C (2022): 333 - 359. 

John Robert Leslie was born in 1831 near Timoleague, Co. Cork. He enrolled in Trinity College on 1^st July 1847, aged 16. He graduated BA in 1852, MA in 1856, DD in 1862 and earned Fellowship in 1858. He served as the Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy from 1870 to 1881. In 1871 the moderatorship curriculum for physics was improved. Two moderatorships were offered, one in Experimental Science (physics, chemistry, and mineralogy), and another in Natural Science (geology, zoology, and botany). This moderatorship structure persisted until 1955.

Sources

1. Erich Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition
2. Wikipedia (2023), John Robert Leslie, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Robert_Leslie_(academic)

George Francis Fitzgerald was born on 3^rd August 1851. He grew up in Monkstown, Co. Dublin. His father, William Fitzgerald, was a curate in the Church of Ireland in Monkstown and his mother, Anne Frances, was the sister of George Johnstone Stoney, the Irish physicist known for introducing the term electron and a graduate of Trinity College. He did not attend school but was tutored by Mary Ann, sister of George Boole along with his brothers and sisters. Fitzgerald proved himself to be an exceptional student in arithmetic and algebra. He began studying mathematics and experimental philosophy at 16 in Trinity. He graduated in 1871, top of his class. Fitzgerald became a Fellow in 1877 and was appointed Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy in 1881.

Following his graduation, Fitzgerald spent his time studying the works of Hamilton, Lagrange, and Laplace. Maxwell published his equations of electromagnetism during this period. Fitzgerald, together with Oliver Heaviside and Oliver Lodge (the ‘Maxwellians’ of the book by Bruce Hunt) spent much of the rest of his life pursuing an understanding of light. Fitzgerald helped lay the basis of wireless telegraphy when he concluded that an oscillating electric current produces electromagnetic waves. This was verified Experimentally by Heinrich Hertz.

Fitzgerald’s name is associated with the Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction in the special theory of relativity by Einstein. The Michelson-Morley experiment in the 1880s resulted in failure to detect the existence of the ether, a medium in which light was believed to exist. Fitzgerald in 1889 and, later, Hendrik Lorentz in Leiden, proposed that a body in motion through the ether is shorter (contracted) than when at rest. This contraction was proposed to explain the failure to detect the presence of the ether by Michelson and Morley. Subsequently, Lorentz developed the idea of a Lorentz transformation in which the geometry of space-time itself depends on relative motion rather than the mechanical effect initially proposed by Fitzgerald and Lorentz.

When Fitzgerald was appointed Erasmus Smith’s professor, he used a disused chemical laboratory to begin teaching Experimental physics as there was no teaching of practical physics in Dublin at that time. Fitzgerald also had a strong belief in education once stating that ’The function of the University is primarily to teach mankind’ then further stating  ’Are the Universities to devote the energies of the most advanced intellects of the age to the instruction of the whole nation, or to the instruction of the few whose parents can afford them an - in some places fancy - education that can in the nature of things be only attainable by the rich?’ ^[3]. In 1898 he was the Commissioner of National Education in Ireland with hopes of reforming education by introducing more practical topics for primary education. Fitzgerald also wished for the ’modernisation’ of Trinity College and supported women in higher education. Fitzgerald was secretary of the Royal Dublin Society for 8 years and attended meetings of the British Association, now known as the British Science Association. He was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1883 and the Royal Medal of the Society in 1899 (awarded to those who make outstanding achievements in their field). Fitzgerald married Harriette Mary Jellett in 1885, daughter of the Provost of Trinity. They had five daughters and three sons. He died on 22^nd February 1901, after an operation due to a digestive complaint. His portrait hangs in the library of the Fitzgerald Building in Trinity College.

Sources

1. Gillian O’Neill. (2020, June 3). ‘Flightless Fitzgerald’: Remembering one of Trinity’s Greatest Scientific Pioneers. University Times. https://universitytimes.ie/2020/06/flightless-fitzgerald-remembering-one-of-trinitys-greatest-scientific-pioneer/ (Accessed June 2023)
2. Denis Weaire. (2009, October). Fitzgerald, George Frances. Dictionary of Irish Biography. https://www.dib.ie/biography/fitzgerald-george-francis-a3146 (Accessed June 2023)
3. J. Connor, E. F. Robertson. (2003, October). George Frances Fitzgerald. MacTutor. University of St Andrews. https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/FitzGerald/ (Accessed June 2023)
4. Eric Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College, Living Edition
5. Image of George Francis FitzGerald, By Hollinger and Rockey photographers, New York. - Scanned from Oliver Heaviside: Sage in Solitude, From the Physics Digital Archive

William Edward Thrift was born on 28^th February 1870 in Halifax, Yorkshire. He moved to Dublin during his childhood as his father was an officer in the Inland Revenue. He entered Trinity College, aged 19, in 1889. In his Junior Freshman year (1890), he earned a scholarship in mathematics. He graduated BA in 1893, top of his class, with gold medals in mathematics and experimental science. He was elected a Fellow in 1896. Thrift was assistant to his predecessor, George Francis Fitzgerald. After Fitzgerald’s early death, Thrift was appointed 16^th Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, serving from 1901 to 1929.

Though the new Physical Laboratory facilities designed by Fitzgerald were completed in 1906, research stagnated during Thrift’s tenure. Ernest Walton recalled that the lectures given by the department were a decade out of date. While he had a distinguished undergraduate career, his strengths were in administration and in sports rather than academic research. Thrift served as Vice-Provost from 1935-7 and as Provost from 1937-42.  He was a director of Trinity’s social services company, a charity, which acquired property to house the poor; he was the first chairman of the Dublin University Central Athletic Committee (1919-37) after its revival; he was an accomplished cyclist, winning many races; he served as the TD for the constituency of Dublin University (1922-37) until university representation was abolished in 1937. He was a council member for the Royal Dublin Society (1902-42). He died on 23^rd April 1942.

Sources

1. TCD (2021), William Edward Thrift, TCD, https://www.tcd.ie/Provost/history/former-Provosts/we_thrift.php
2. Lawrence William White, Thrift, William Edward, Dictionary of Irish Biography, https://www.dib.ie/biography/thrift-william-edward-a8549
3. Erich Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition
4. Image of William Edward Thrift, By Leo Whelan - Oil on canvas, Anne Crookshank and David Webb, Paintings and Sculptures in Trinity College Dublin (Dublin, 1990), p. 132.

Robert William Ditchburn was born on 14^th January 1903 in Waterloo, Lancashire. He attended Bootle Grammar School where his father was headmaster. Aged 16 he earned a scholarship to Liverpool University. He graduated BSc Hons in 1922. He did his PhD in the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge working on the absorption of light by potassium vapours. After his PhD, he applied for Fellowship in Trinity College Dublin, the first instance where candidates from other universities could apply. Ditchburn was successful and criteria for election to Fellowship now included submitted work already completed and the candidate’s future promise.  He was appointed Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy in 1929, serving until 1946. 

Ditchburn immediately took on reorganisation of the experimental physics course. He submitted a report to the College Board, giving the course greater structure, doubling the time Senior Sophisters spent doing research work, and reducing the experimental work done by theoretical physicists, instead requiring additional coursework and reading on relativity and quantum mechanics.  Ditchburn published 35 papers on subjects including vacuum technology, the uncertainty principle, the retina of the eye, the refugee problem, and continued his work on the absorption of light by potassium vapours, during his tenure as Erasmus Smith’s professor. He was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 1930. He returned to England in 1946 as head of the physics department at Reading University, until 1968. His textbook, ‘Light’ (1953), was a standard text on the subject for many years. He died on 8^th April 1987.

Sources

1. Optica (2022), In Memoriam: Robert William Ditchburn, 1903-1987, Optica https://www.optica.org/en-us/about/newsroom/obituaries/2022/robert_william_ditchburn/
2. Eric Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition
3. University of Reading (Accessed July 2023), Ditchburn, Robert William, University of Reading https://collections.reading.ac.uk/special-collections/collections/ditchburn-robert-william-physicist/ 
4. Image of Robert William Ditchburn, Downloaded from https://royalsocietypublishing.org/  on 14 July 2023

Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton was born on 8^th October 1906 in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. His father was a Methodist minister leading the family to move every three years. While studying at Methodist College Belfast he excelled in science and mathematics. He entered Trinity College in 1922 on a sizarship. He graduated BA in 1926 and MA in 1927 and was awarded the MacCullagh prize. Thereafter he was accepted as a research student under the supervision of Ernest Rutherford in Cambridge. Rutherford had worked on transmutation of nitrogen into oxygen when bombarded with alpha particles. Walton suggested artificially producing charged particles to induce the transmutation by accelerating particles using high voltages. Walton’s work on generation of high energy electrons contributed to development of the betatron particle accelerator in 1929. Walton was awarded his PhD in 1931. In 1932 Walton and John Cockcroft, working together in Cambridge, succeeded in producing artificial nuclear disintegration, for the first time. This ‘splitting of the atomic nucleus’ by accelerated protons initiated a new branch of physics in particle acceleration and verified Einstein’s relation E = mc², relating the energy and mass of a particle and the speed of light. Walton and Cockcroft won the Nobel Prize for physics for this work in 1951. 

Walton returned to Trinity in 1934 where he was elected to Fellowship without exam on the merit of his published work and appointed professor in Experimental physics soon after. He became the 18^th Erasmus Smith’s professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy in 1946. Walton built up the Trinity physics department, hiring several new lecturers. He was known as an excellent teacher, explaining complex topics in understandable terms. New undergraduate syllabuses were created in the late 1950s, including nuclear physics, acceleration of charged particles, and modern solid-state physics. The number of students in the department increased, so that lectures had to be duplicated.  In 1950 Walton and Robert Elliot built a Van de Graaff accelerator in Trinity, however its success was limited by available resources and damp weather.

Walton was invited to participate in scientific war work, both in Britain and the United States. The latter invitation was to join the Manhattan project, which led to the development of the atomic bomb. Walton had strong pacifist views and declined both invitations; later he was a member of the Pugwash Group (and president of the Irish section), a society of scientists concerned about the threat of nuclear weapons to humanity. Walton died in Belfast on 25^th June 1995 after inspiring generations of physicists at home and abroad. His portrait hangs in the Fitzgerald Building in Trinity College.

Sources

1. Eric Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition
2. Nobel Prize Outreach AB (2023. Mon. 24), Ernest T.S. Walton, Biographical, NobelPrize.org. (Accessed July 2023). https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1951/walton/biographical/
3. Vincent McBrierty (2009), Walton, Ernest Thomas Sinton, Dictionary of Irish Biography, https://www.dib.ie/biography/walton-ernest-thomas-sinton-a8909 
4. Image of Ernest Walton, By Nobel foundation - http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1951/walton-bio.html , Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6181764

Brian Henderson was born on 26^th March 1936 in Doncaster, Yorkshire. He was educated at Maltby Grammar School before continuing his education at the University of Birmingham. He obtained a BSc in 1958 and a PhD in 1960. He worked as a senior science officer in Harwell Atomic Energy Research Establishment in 1962 before joining Keele University in 1968. In 1974 he became the 19^th Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy in Trinity, serving until 1984, was elected a Fellow in 1976.  He was a solid-state physicist working on spectroscopic properties of point defects and paramagnetic ions in condensed matter. Shortly after his arrival, Henderson secured a grant for £30,000 to purchase research equipment, a sum unheard of at Trinity at that time. Henderson introduced extended project work for Senior Sophisters replacing their Laboratory classes. Henderson strongly supported the founding of the Dublin University Physical Society. He moved to Strathclyde University in Scotland in 1984. He left the Trinity physics department flourishing through hiring a significant number of new academic staff, something that was unimaginable for the department decades before. He died on 20^th August 2017.

Sources

1. Eric Finch (2016), Three Centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition
2. Wikipedia (29 Jan 2022), Brian Henderson (academic), In Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Henderson_(academic)
3. Mathematics Ireland (Last updated 23 Feb 2023), Mathematical Professorships at Trinity College, Mathematics Ireland http://www.mathsireland.ie/blog/2019_11_cm
4. Image of Brian Henderson, Downloaded From http://www.mathsireland.ie/blog/2019_11_cm

Denis Weaire was born in 1942. He was a student and Fellow at Clare College, Cambridge where he graduated with a BA in 1964 and a PhD in 1968. He worked in the United States at Harvard and Yale before taking up professorships in Heriot-Watt University and University College Dublin. In 1971 while at Harvard University with Michael Thorpe, they developed the Weaire-Thorpe model for computation of the electronic structure of amorphous silicon. Weaire was appointed Erasmus Smith’s professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy in October 1984, a position he held until 2007. Weaire’s research interests include computational physics, amorphous materials, electronic structure, magnetic devices, soft condensed matter, history of science and especially, properties of foams.

Weaire was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Member of the Royal Irish Academy.  He served as president of the European Physical Society from 1997 to 1999. He was also vice-president of Academia Europaea and the Institute of Physics. In 1994 he co-founded Magnetic Solutions Ltd, a company still in operation which sells a wide range of magnetic products. In 2002 he received the Cecil Powell Memorial award from the European Physical Society. In 2005 he was awarded the Cunningham Medal from the Royal Irish Academy. He received the Hollingweck Medal from the Institute of Physics and French Physical Society in 2008. In 1984 he helped organise the first physics conference on foams.

Weaire has authored over 350 publications. This includes several books such as ‘The Physics of Foam’ with Stefan Hutzler, ‘The Pursuit of Perfect Packing’ with Tomaso Aste, and ‘George Francis Fitzgerald.’ His most notable publication comes from a 1994 paper regarding the structure of foam. The ‘Weaire -Phelan’ structure overturned conjectures on the structure of the minimal energy foam structure by Lord Kelvin a century before. The Weaire-Phelan structure has the minimal energy structure of any known foam structure of equal-sized bubbles in three dimensions. The structure was used in the building of the Beijing National Aquatic Centre built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Weaire retired in 2007 and continues to work with the foams and complex systems group in Trinity College.

Sources

1. TCD (2019), Denis Weaire, TCD, https://www.tcd.ie/research/profiles/?profile=dweaire
2. TCD (2023) Foams and Complex Systems Group, TCD, https://www.tcd.ie/physics/research/groups/foams/index.html
3. Research Gate (Accessed July 2023), Denis Weaire, In Research Gate,
4. Eric Finch (2016), Three centuries of Physics in Trinity College Dublin, Living Edition
5. Image of Denis Weaire, Downloaded from https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Weaire_Denis 

Michael Coey was born in Belfast in 1945. In 1966 he received his BA from Cambridge and in 1971 received his PhD from the University of Manitoba. Coey’s thesis was on the ‘Mossbauer Effect of ⁵⁷Fe in Magnetic Oxides’. Shortly after receiving his PhD he was appointed to a position with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Grenoble, France where he investigated metal-insulator transitions in NiS and Ti₄₀O₇. Coey moved to Trinity in 1978. In 1987 he was awarded a ScD by Trinity College and began working as the professor of experimental physics. He co-founded Magnetic Solutions Ltd in 1994. From 1984 to 1994 he co-ordinated the Concerted European Action on Magnets. He was appointed Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy in 2007, serving until 2012. 

His books include: ‘Rare-earth Iron Permanent Magnets’ (1996), ‘Permanent Magnetism’ with Ralph Skomski (1999). One of his most influential works in the field is an iron-based rare-earth magnet, Sm₂Fe₁₇N₃, which he discovered alongside his graduate student Sun Hong. He was a founding scientist of the Science Foundation Ireland funded Centre of Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN) and Centre for Advanced Materials and Bioengineering Research (AMBER). New funding streams spurred development of the Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN) and the Science Gallery, conceived by Coey. In 2003 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 2005 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Irish Academy. Coey has over 800 publications, mainly in the field of magnetism, condensed matter, and materials science and is one of Ireland’s most cited scientists. His portrait hangs in the Fitzgerald Building in Trinity College.

Sources

1. Jonathan Lifland (2009), Profile of John Michael David Coey, PNAS, https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0904444106
2. Trinity Research (2019), Professor Michael Coey, TCD https://www.tcd.ie/research/profiles/?profile=jcoey
3. Research Gate (Accessed July 2023), J.M.D Coey, In Research Gate https://www.researchgate.net/profile/J-M-D-Coey
4. M.D. Coey at the Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices (CRANN) in Dublin, Ireland. Courtesy of John Kelly.

Jonathan Coleman was born in 1973. He graduated BA Mod. in 1995 and PhD in 1999 at Trinity College, where he worked with Werner Blau in experimental nanoscience. He became a lecturer in Trinity in 2001.  He was appointed professor of chemical physics in 2012 and Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy in 2022. The chair had been vacant since Michael Coey’s tenure ended in 2012. He was elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2015. He was the Science Foundation Ireland researcher of the year in 2011.

Coleman’s research interests include nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes, nanowires and two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets. His most notable work is on liquid phase exfoliation, a method of separating atomically thin layers of two-dimensional materials in solution. These layers have important applications in many fields including electronics and catalysis, thin films, coatings, and composites.  This was pioneered by his research group in 2008. This method is currently used to produce over 60% of the world’s graphene, which consists of single layers of carbon in a honeycomb network. He is one of the most cited material scientists globally and the most cited physicist in Ireland.

Sources

1. Trinity Research (2019), Professor Jonathan Coleman, TCD, https://www.tcd.ie/research/profiles/?profile=COLEMAJ
2. Amber Centre (Accessed July 2023), Jonathan Coleman, In Amber Centre, https://ambercentre.ie/people/jonathancoleman/
3. Research Gate (Accessed July 2023), Jonathan Coleman, In Research Gate https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jonathan-Coleman
4. Image of Jonathon Coleman, Downloaded from https://www.ria.ie/jonathan-nesbit-coleman