Person

Rayleigh, John William Strutt, Baron, 1842-1919

1842-1919

John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh of Terling Place, was born on November 12, 1842, in Maldon, Essex, England.

He was a British scientist. He studied mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge University (B.A., 1865; M.A., 1868) and was elected to a fellowship of Trinity (1868-1871). When his father, John Strutt, 2nd Baron of Rayleigh, died in 1873, he inherited the Barony of Rayleigh. He was appointed the second Cavendish Professor of Experimental Physics at Cambridge University (1879-1884) and was awarded the Royal Medal in 1882. From 1887 to 1905, he was a professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution. In 1904, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics "for his investigations of the densities of the most important gases and his discovery of argon". He was a member of the American Philosophical Society (1886) and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1897). He served as president of the Royal Society (1905-1908) and Chancellor of Cambridge University (1908-1919).

In 1871, he married Evelyn Georgiana Mary Balfour (1847–1934). He died on June 30, 1919, in Witham, Essex, England.