George Darwin

Sir George Howard Darwin (9 July 1845 – 7

Sir
December 1912)[1] was an English barrister and
astronomer, the second son and fifth child of Charles George Darwin
KCB FRS FRSE
Darwin and Emma Darwin.

Biography
George H. Darwin was born 9 July 1845 at Down
House, Kent, the fifth child of biologist Charles
Darwin and Emma Darwin.

From the age of 11 he studied under Charles Pritchard

at Clapham Grammar School, and entered St John's
College, Cambridge, in 1863, though he soon moved to
Trinity College,[2] where his tutor was Edward John
Routh. He graduated BA in mathematics in 1868 (as
second wrangler), when he was also placed second for
the Smith's Prize and was appointed to a college
fellowship. He became M.A. in 1871.[2] He was
Sir George Howard Darwin
admitted to the bar in 1872, but returned to science.[2]
Born George Howard Darwin
George Darwin conducted studies into the prevalence
9 July 1845
and health outcomes of contemporary first-cousin
Down House, Downe, Kent,
marriages (such as his parents’) in Great Britain. His
England
father Charles had become concerned after the death of
three of his children, including his favourite daughter, Died 7 December 1912 (aged 67)
Annie, from tuberculosis in 1851, that his and Emma's Cambridge, England
union may have been a mistake from a biological Alma mater St John's College, Cambridge
perspective. He was reassured by George's results.[3] Trinity College, Cambridge
Spouse Martha (Maud) du Puy
​
​(m. 1884)​
Darwinian mechanics Children 5, including Gwen and
Charles
Although George Darwin was the son of the famous
Parent(s) Charles Darwin
geologist turned biologist,[4] Charles Darwin, rather
Emma Wedgwood
than moving predominantly into the field of biology,
George kept his focus on geology. Subsequently, his Awards Smith's Prize (1868)
efforts within geology caused him to stumble onto Royal Medal (1884)
many seemingly radical ideas, some of which were Gold Medal of the Royal
related to the notion that preserved within the physical Astronomical Society (1892)
structure of the planet was the mechanical energy (or Copley Medal (1911)
the collective inertial motion), which may have Scientific career
allowed an ancient rapidly spinning Earth to somehow Fields Astronomy and mathematics
expel a piece of its mass, and it was this expelled mass
Academic Edward John Routh
which later congealed to create the natural satellite that
advisors
was now in orbit around the Earth. So, before the
Notable Ernest William Brown
Apollo mission and the rise to prominence of the
relativistic notion that the origin of the Moon was due students E. T. Whittaker
in part to collisions within a very active protoplanetary Signature
disk, there was a radically different depiction of lunar
and planetary evolution, which was proposed by
George Darwin, in 1879, called the Fission
Theory.[5][6]

In 1879, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and won their Royal Medal in 1884[7] and their
Copley Medal in 1911.[8] He delivered their Bakerian Lecture in 1891 on the subject of "tidal prediction".

In 1883 Darwin became Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at the University
of Cambridge. He studied tidal forces involving the Sun, Moon, and Earth, and formulated the fission
theory of Moon formation.[9]

Darwin was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) and won the Gold Medal of the RAS in
1892. He was elected to both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American
Philosophical Society in 1898.[10][11] From 1899–1901 he served as President of the RAS. He was elected
to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1904.[12] The RAS founded a prize lectureship in
1984 and named it the George Darwin Lectureship in Darwin's honour.

He was an invited speaker in the International Congress of Mathematicians 1908, Rome on the topic of
"Mechanics, Physical Mathematics, Astronomy."[13] As President of the Cambridge Philosophical
Society, he also gave the Introductory Address to the Congress in 1912 on the character of pure and
applied mathematics.[14]

He received the degree of Doctor mathematicae (honoris causa) from the Royal Frederick University in
Oslo on 6 September 1902, when they celebrated the centennial of the birth of mathematician Niels
Henrik Abel.[15][16] Darwin crater on Mars is named after him.[17]
 Sir George Howard George Darwin ca Lady George Darwin,
Darwin, oil on 1908 by his daughter pastel, Cecilia Beaux,
canvas, Mark Gertler, Gwen Raverat 1889
1912

Family
Darwin married Martha (Maud) du Puy, the daughter of Charles du Puy of Philadelphia, in 1884; his wife
was a member of the Ladies Dining Society in Cambridge, with 11 other members.

She died on 6 February 1947. They had three sons and two daughters:

Gwen Raverat (1885–1957), artist.

Sir Charles Galton Darwin (1887–1962), physicist and applied mathematician.
Margaret Elizabeth Darwin (1890–1974), married Sir Geoffrey Keynes.
William Robert Darwin (1894–1970)
Leonard Darwin (1899–1899)
George and Maud Darwin bought Newnham Grange, Cambridge in 1885. The Darwins extensively
remodelled the house. Since 1962 the Grange has been part of Darwin College, Cambridge.

He is buried in Trumpington Extension Cemetery in Cambridge with his son Leonard and his daughter
Gwen (Raverat), whilst his wife Lady Maud Darwin was cremated at Cambridge Crematorium; his
brothers Sir Francis Darwin and Sir Horace Darwin and their respective wives are interred in the Parish
of the Ascension Burial Ground.

Works
"Tides" (http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/T/TID/tides.html). Encyclopædia Britannica
(9th ed.). 1875–1889.
The tides and kindred phenomena in the solar system (https://archive.org/details/tideskindre
dphen00darwuoft) (Boston, Houghton, 1899)
Problems connected with the tides of a viscous spheroid (https://archive.org/details/problem
sconnecte00darwrich) (London, Harrison and Sons, 1879–1882)
Scientific papers (Volume 1) (https://archive.org/details/scientificpapers01darwrich): Oceanic
tides and lunar disturbances of gravity (Cambridge : University Press, 1907)[18][19]
Scientific papers (Volume 2) (https://archive.org/details/scientificpapers02darwrich): Tidal
friction and cosmogony. (Cambridge : University Press, 1908)[18]
 Scientific papers (Volume 3) (https://archive.org/details/scientificpapers03darwrich): Figures
of equilibrium of rotating liquid and geophysical investigations. (Cambridge : University
Press, 1908)
Scientific papers (Volume 4) (https://archive.org/details/scientificpapers04darwrich): Periodic
orbits and miscellaneous papers. (Cambridge : University Press, 1911)
Scientific papers (Volume 5) (https://archive.org/details/scientificpapers05darwrich)
Supplementary volume, containing biographical memoirs by Sir Francis Darwin and
Professor E. W. Brown, lectures on Hill's lunar theory, etc... (Cambridge : University Press,
1916)
The Scientific Papers of Sir George Darwin. 1907. Cambridge University Press (rep. by
Cambridge University Press, 2009; ISBN 978-1-108-00449-7)

Articles
"On Beneficial Restrictions to Liberty of Marriage," (https://archive.org/stream/contemporaryr
ev61unkngoog#page/n426/mode/2up) The Contemporary Review, Vol. XXII,
June/November 1873.
"Commodities Versus Labour," (https://archive.org/stream/contemporaryrev61unkngoog#pa
ge/n702/mode/2up) The Contemporary Review, Vol. XXII, June/November 1873.
"The Birth of a Satellite" Harper's Monthly Magazine, December 1903, pages 124 to 130.

References
1. GRO Register of Deaths: DEC 1912 3b 552 CAMBRIDGE – George H. Darwin, aged 67
2. "Darwin, George Howard (DRWN863GH)" (http://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search-2018.pl?
sur=&suro=w&fir=&firo=c&cit=&cito=c&c=all&z=all&tex=DRWN863GH&sye=&eye=&col=all
&maxcount=50). A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
3. George H Darwin. Marriages between first cousins in England and their effects. (https://acad
emic.oup.com/ije/article/38/6/1429/674568) International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume
38, Issue 6, 1 December 2009, Pages 1429–1439, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyp335. 19
November 2009
4. Herbert, Sandra (1986). "Darwin as a Geologist". Scientific American. 254 (5): 116–123.
Bibcode:1986SciAm.254e.116H (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1986SciAm.254e.116H).
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0586-116 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fscientificamerican0586-
116).
5. Britannica.com: Sir George Darwin (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9029407/Sir-Georg
e-Darwin)
6. Wise, D. U. (1966). "Origin of the Moon by Fission". In Marsden, B. G.; Cameron, A. G. W.
(eds.). The Earth-Moon System. Boston, MA: Springer. pp. 213–223. doi:10.1007/978-1-
4684-8401-4_14 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-1-4684-8401-4_14). ISBN 978-1-4684-
8403-8.
7. Kushner, David (January 1993). "Sir George Darwin and a British School of Geophysics".
Osiris. 8: 196–223. doi:10.1086/368724 (https://doi.org/10.1086%2F368724).
JSTOR 301701 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/301701).
8. A. E. H. L. (1913). "George Howard Darwin". Proceedings of the London Mathematical
Society. s2-12 (1): iv–iix. doi:10.1112/plms/s2-12.1.1-v (https://doi.org/10.1112%2Fplms%2
Fs2-12.1.1-v).
9. Britannica.com: Sir George Darwin (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9029407/Sir-Georg
e-Darwin)
10. "George Howard Darwin" (https://www.amacad.org/person/george-howard-darwin).
American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
11. "APS Member History" (https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=George+H.+
Darwin&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=ad
vanced). search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
12. "George Darwin" (https://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/200011
99.html). www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
13. "ICM Plenary and Invited Speakers since 1897" (https://web.archive.org/web/201711080121
53/http://www.mathunion.org/db/ICM/Speakers/SortedByCongress.php). International
Congress of Mathematicians. Archived from the original (http://www.mathunion.org/db/ICM/
Speakers/SortedByCongress.php) on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
14. Hobson, E. B.; Love, A. E. H., eds. (1913). Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress
of Mathematicians (Cambridge, 22-28 August 1912). Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. pp. 33–36.
15. "Foreign degrees for British men of Science". The Times. No. 36867. London. 8 September
1902. p. 4.
16. "Honorary doctorates from the University of Oslo 1902-1910" (http://www.uio.no/om/tall-og-f
akta/aresdoktorer/tidligere-aresdoktorer/1902-1910/). (in Norwegian)
17. de Vaucouleurs, G.; et al. (September 1975). "The new Martian nomenclature of the
International Astronomical Union". Icarus. 26 (1): 85–98. Bibcode:1975Icar...26...85D (http
s://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1975Icar...26...85D). doi:10.1016/0019-1035(75)90146-3 (http
s://doi.org/10.1016%2F0019-1035%2875%2990146-3).
18. Brown, Ernest W. (1909). "Review: Scientific Papers, by George Howard Darwin" (https://do
i.org/10.1090%2Fs0002-9904-1909-01862-2). Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 16 (2): 73–78.
doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1909-01862-2 (https://doi.org/10.1090%2Fs0002-9904-1909-0186
2-2).
19. Buckingham, James Silk; Sterling, John; Maurice, Frederick Denison; Stebbing, Henry;
Dilke, Charles Wentworth; Hervey, Thomas Kibble; Dixon, William Hepworth; MacColl,
Norman; Rendall, Vernon Horace; Murry, John Middleton (28 March 1908). "Review:
Scientific Papers. Vol. I by Sir George Howard Darwin" (https://books.google.com/books?id=
XSI5AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA386). The Athenaeum (4196): 386.

External links
Works by George Darwin (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/39625) at Project
Gutenberg
Works by or about George Darwin (https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28%28subject%
3A%22Darwin%2C%20George%20Howard%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Darwin%2C%2
0George%20H%2E%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Darwin%2C%20G%2E%20H%2E%2
2%20OR%20subject%3A%22George%20Howard%20Darwin%22%20OR%20subject%3
A%22George%20H%2E%20Darwin%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22G%2E%20H%2E%20
Darwin%22%20OR%20subject%3A%22Darwin%2C%20George%22%20OR%20subject%3
A%22George%20Darwin%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22George%20Howard%20Darwin%
22%20OR%20creator%3A%22George%20H%2E%20Darwin%22%20OR%20creator%3A%
22G%2E%20H%2E%20Darwin%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22G%2E%20Howard%20Dar
win%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Darwin%2C%20George%20Howard%22%20OR%20cr
eator%3A%22Darwin%2C%20George%20H%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Darwin%
2C%20G%2E%20H%2E%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Darwin%2C%20G%2E%20Howar
d%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22George%20Darwin%22%20OR%20creator%3A%22Darw
in%2C%20George%22%20OR%20title%3A%22George%20Howard%20Darwin%22%20O
R%20title%3A%22George%20H%2E%20Darwin%22%20OR%20title%3A%22G%2E%20
 H%2E%20Darwin%22%20OR%20title%3A%22George%20Darwin%22%20OR%20descripti
on%3A%22George%20Howard%20Darwin%22%20OR%20description%3A%22George%2
0H%2E%20Darwin%22%20OR%20description%3A%22G%2E%20H%2E%20Darwin%22%
20OR%20description%3A%22Darwin%2C%20George%20Howard%22%20OR%20descript
ion%3A%22Darwin%2C%20George%20H%2E%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Georg
e%20Darwin%22%20OR%20description%3A%22Darwin%2C%20George%22%29%20O
R%20%28%221845-1912%22%20AND%20Darwin%29%29%20AND%20%28-mediatype:s
oftware%29) at the Internet Archive
O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F. "George Darwin" (https://mathshistory.st-andrew
s.ac.uk/Biographies/Darwin.html). MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive. University of St
Andrews.
George Howard Darwin (https://mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=17467) at the Mathematics
Genealogy Project
"The Genesis of Double Stars" (http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/modern-science/cha
pter28.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110606170700/http://www.stephenjay
gould.org/library/modern-science/chapter28.html) 6 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine –
by George Darwin, from A.C. Seward's Darwin and Modern Science (http://www.stephenjay
gould.org/library/seward_modern-science.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20110
606170717/http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/seward_modern-science.html) 6 June
2011 at the Wayback Machine (1909).
"Archival material relating to George Darwin" (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/detai
ls/c/F57064). UK National Archives.
details of correspondence (https://web.archive.org/web/20040513214342/http://www.nahste.
ac.uk/cgi-bin/view_isad.pl?id=GB-0237-Sir-Archibald-Geikie-Gen-524-14&view=basic)
Trinity College Chapel memorial (http://www.trinitycollegechapel.com/about/memorials/brass
es/darwin/)
George Darwin (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/96774353) at Find a Grave

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