Coutts Trotter (1 August 1837 – 4 December 1887) was a British physicist and academic administrator, vice-master of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

from 1885.

Life

He was the son of the stockbroker Alexander Trotter and his first wife Jacqueline Otter, daughter of William Otter, born on 1 August 1837 in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

; the electrical engineer Alexander Pelham Trotter was his half-brother, and Henry Dundas Trotter his uncle. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

, and matriculated at

, in 1855, graduating B.A. in 1859, and M.A. in 1862. Trotter was elected a Fellow of Trinity College in 1861. In 1863 he was ordained deacon to a curacy in

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a market town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester, England, Worcester. Located north of the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour and east of the River Severn, in th ...

, where he stayed for two years. He then went to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

in the

German Confederation The German Confederation ( ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved ...

to study experimental physics under

Hermann von Helmholtz Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (; ; 31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894; "von" since 1883) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability. The ...

and

Gustav Kirchhoff Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (; 12 March 1824 – 17 October 1887) was a German chemist, mathematician, physicist, and spectroscopist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy and the emission of black-body ...

from 1865 to 1866. After spending some further time in Italy, he returned to Trinity College, where in 1869 he was appointed lecturer in physical science, a post which he held until 1884. Settled in Cambridge, Trotter became an influential figure in university administrative affairs, in part because of a polymathic understanding of academic subjects. From 1874 onwards he was a member of the council of the Senate of the university. There were changes in the statutes in 1882, and his role was particularly important for the increased attention to

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

. He was a reformer, and in politics a Liberal. The drive for reform began in Trinity College itself, after

William Whewell William Whewell ( ; 24 May 17946 March 1866) was an English polymath. He was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. In his time as a student there, he achieved distinction in both poetry and mathematics. The breadth of Whewell's endeavours is ...

died in 1866, where Trotter had allies in

Henry Sidgwick Henry Sidgwick (; 31 May 1838 – 28 August 1900) was an English Utilitarianism, utilitarian philosopher and economist and is best known in philosophy for his utilitarian treatise ''The Methods of Ethics''. His work in economics has also had a ...

and Henry Jackson. In Trinity, Trotter became junior dean in 1870, and senior dean in 1874. He was tutor of his college from 1872 to 1882, and was appointed its vice-master in 1885. He died unmarried in Trinity College on 4 December 1887: at the time he was president 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 ...

, and vice-president of the council of Newnham College. He left much of his library, with a bequest in money, to Trinity College, and the remainder of his library and his collection of scientific instruments to Newnham College.

Legacy

From the time of Trotter's death, Trinity College has offered the Coutts Trotter studentship, supported by a bequest of £7,000. The chosen areas were experimental physics and physiology. It was held, for example, by

Ernest Rutherford Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand physicist who was a pioneering researcher in both Atomic physics, atomic and nuclear physics. He has been described as "the father of nu ...

Notes

External links

Attribution

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trotter, Coutts 1837 births 1887 deaths English physicists 19th-century Anglican deacons Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Presidents of the Cambridge Philosophical Society People educated at Harrow School