George Mathews Whipple (15 September 1842 – 8 February 1893), was a British

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

who was superintendent of the

Kew Observatory The King's Observatory (called for many years the Kew Observatory) is a Grade I listed building in Richmond, London. Now a private dwelling, it formerly housed an astronomical observatory, astronomical and Terrestrial magnetism, terrestrial mag ...

Early life

He was born at

Teddington Teddington is an affluent suburb of London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Historically an Civil parish#ancient parishes, ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and situated close to the border with Surrey, the district became ...

where both his father, George Whipple, and mother were teachers. He attended

Kingston Grammar School Kingston Grammar School is a private co-educational day school in Kingston upon Thames, England. The school was founded by royal charter in 1561 but can trace its roots back to at least the 13th century.

, a private school run by Dr Williams in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, where he obtained his BSc in 1871.

Career

He joined the staff at the Kew Observatory in 1858, became magnetic assistant in 1862, chief assistant in 1863, and superintendent in 1876. He was responsible for the testing of magnetographs before being distributed abroad. The Observatory also tested barometers, thermometers, anemometers, telescopes, chronometers, watches, photographic lenses, etc. He prepared the magnetic section of the report on the 1883

Krakatoa Krakatoa (), also transcribed (), is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. The caldera is part of a volcanic island group (Krakatoa archipelago) comprising four islands. Tw ...

eruption. He carried out pendulum experiments for determining the

constant of gravitation The gravitational constant is an empirical physical constant involved in the calculation of gravitational effects in Sir Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation and in Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. It is also known as t ...

with Captain William James Heaviside of the Indian Survey in 1873, with Colonel John Herschel of the Royal Engineers in 1881, and with General James Thomas Walker in 1888. Whipple was a Fellow of the

Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...

Royal Meteorological Society The Royal Meteorological Society is an organization that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Members can be lay enthusiasts. It publishes vari ...

and the Physical Society. He would give talks on various subjects, such as "the weather, how can it be fortold".

Personal life

He married Elizabeth Beckley (1846–1927), a pioneering British astronomical photographer who worked at the Observatory, at St John's Church, Richmond, in 1870. In 1871 they were living at 2 Old Deer Park Cottages. They had five sons. The eldest was Robert Whipple, who was a scientific instrument collector, and founded the

Whipple Museum of the History of Science The Whipple Museum of the History of Science is a museum attached to the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, which houses an extensive collection of scientific instruments, apparatus, models, pictures, prints, photographs, books and other m ...

in Cambridge. Their third son, George Frederick, was an

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

and automotive engineer. Their fourth son was Francis Whipple who was superintendent at Kew Observatory from 1925 to 1939. Entry of Francis John Welsh Whipple. Whipple died at Oak Villa, 9, Jocelyn Road, Richmond, on 8 February 1893 and was buried in Richmond Old Burial Ground.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whipple, George Mathews 1842 births 1893 deaths Burials at Richmond Cemetery People from Teddington English physicists Alumni of King's College London People educated at Kingston Grammar School