George Matthew Whipple was born on September 15, 1842, in Teddington, Middlesex, England.

He was a British physicist. He was educated at King's College, London (B.Sc., 1871). Whipple joined the staff of Kew Observatory in 1858, becoming a magnetic assistant in 1862, chief assistant in 1863, and superintendent in 1876. Between 1873 and 1888, he undertook a series of pendulum experiments to determine the constant of gravitation. Wind pressure and velocity were his lifelong study. He joined the Meteorological Society (later the Royal Meteorological Society) in 1874, served on its council (1876–1887) and acted as its foreign secretary (1884–1885). Whipple was on the council of the Physical Society of London and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1872. He was an assistant examiner in natural philosophy at the University of London (1876–1881) and the Department of Science and Art, South Kensington (1879–1882, 1884–1889). He contributed articles to scientific journals, especially the Quarterly Journal of the Meteorological Society. Whipple compiled the "Report on the Eruption of Krakatoa" published by the Royal Society in 1888.

In 1870, he married Elizabeth Beckley (1847–1927). He died on February 8, 1893, in Richmond, Surrey, England.