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{{Short description|British physicist (1842–1919)}}{{Use British English|date=July 2016}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}

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| name = The Lord Rayleighcountry=GBRPCsize=100%}}| image = John William Strutt.jpg| caption = Rayleigh in 1904df=yes11|12}}| birth_place = Langford Grove, Maldon, Essex, Englanddf=yes6184212}}| death_place = Terling Place, Witham, Essex, England| nationality = British| alma_mater = Trinity College, CambridgeHarrow SchoolEton CollegeEdward John RouthSir George Stokes, 1st Baronet>Sir George StokesHTTPS://WWW.GENEALOGY.MATH.NDSU.NODAK.EDU/ID.PHP?ID=101979>TITLE=JOHN STRUTT (LORD RAYLEIGH) – THE MATHEMATICS GENEALOGY PROJECTWilliam Thomson, 1st Baron KelvinRANFORDTITLE=JOHN WILLIAM STRUTT-- THE 3RD BARON RAYLEIGH (1842–1919): RECENTLY STUDIED CORRESPONDENCEPAGE=25,www.researchgate.net/publication/338819094, }}J. J. Thomson Jagadish Chandra Bose >Sir William Ramsay}}Discovery of argonPlateau–Rayleigh instability>Rayleigh waves Rayleigh scattering >Rayleigh criterion Rayleigh distance>Rayleigh–Bénard convection Experiments of Rayleigh and Brace>Rayleigh–Brace experimentsRayleigh–Faber–Krahn inequality>Taylor–Couette flow#Rayleigh’s criterion >Combustion_instability#Thermoacoustic_combustion_instabilities>Rayleigh distributionRayleigh interferometer>Rayleigh’s method of dimensional analysis Rayleigh–Ritz method> Rayleigh quotientRayleigh–Lorentz pendulum>Rayleigh–Gans approximation Rayleigh dissipation function>Rayleigh fadingRayleigh flow >(Bessel_function#Spherical_Bessel_functions:_jn,_ynRayleigh fractionationRayleigh law>Rayleigh numberRayleigh problem >Reciprocity (electromagnetism)>Rayleigh–Plesset equationPerturbation theory (quantum mechanics)>Rayleigh–Schrödinger perturbation theory Rayleigh Still>Rayleigh–Taylor instabilityRayleigh–Jeans catastrophe>Rayleigh–Jeans lawRayleigh’s equation (fluid dynamics)>Rayleigh’s equationJanzen-Rayleigh expansion>Janzen–Rayleigh expansionElectrospray>Rayleigh limitRayleigh test>Rayleigh theorem for eigenvaluesRayleigh’s energy theorem>Beatty sequence>Acoustic streamingAnti-reflective coating>Bending>End correctionDrag equation>Dynamic soaringInteraural time difference>Duplex theoryOptical theorem>Photonic crystalPrinciple of similitude>Self-oscillationParticle-size_distribution#Acoustic_spectroscopy_or_ultrasound_attenuation_spectroscopy>Ultrasound scatteringAcoustics>Sound theoryWaveguide>Whispering-gallery wave}}| signature = Autograph of Rayleigh.png| field = Physics, optics, acoustics| work_institutions = Trinity College, Cambridgestyle="white-space:nowrap;” 1865}} Smith’s Prize 1882}} Royal Medal 1890}} De Morgan Medal 1894}} Matteucci Medal 1895}} Barnard Medal for Meritorious Service to Science1895}} Faraday Lectureship Prize1899}} Copley Medal 1904}} Nobel Prize in Physics 1905}} Albert Medal (Royal Society of Arts)> {{smallElliott Cresson Medal >{{smallRumford Medal >}}Evelyn Balfour|1871}}| children = 3 sons}}John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|OM|PC|FRS}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|eɪ|l|i}}; 12 November 1842 â€“ 30 June 1919) was a British mathematician and physicist who made extensive contributions to science. He spent all of his academic career at the University of Cambridge. Among many honours, he received the 1904 Nobel Prize in Physics “for his investigations of the densities of the most important gases and for his discovery of argon in connection with these studies.” He served as president of the Royal Society from 1905 to 1908 and as chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1908 to 1919.Rayleigh provided the first theoretical treatment of the elastic scattering of light by particles much smaller than the light’s wavelength, a phenomenon now known as “Rayleigh scattering”, which notably explains why the sky is blue. He studied and described transverse surface waves in solids, now known as “Rayleigh waves”. He contributed extensively to fluid dynamics, with concepts such as the Rayleigh number (a dimensionless number associated with natural convection), Rayleigh flow, the Rayleigh–Taylor instability, and Rayleigh’s criterion for the stability of Taylor–Couette flow. He also formulated the circulation theory of aerodynamic lift. In optics, Rayleigh proposed a well-known criterion for angular resolution. His derivation of the Rayleigh–Jeans law for classical black-body radiation later played an important role in the birth of quantum mechanics (see ultraviolet catastrophe). Rayleigh’s textbook The Theory of Sound (1877) is still used today by acousticians and engineers. He introduced the Rayleigh test for circular non-uniformity, of which the Rayleigh plot visualizes.

Biography

Strutt was born on 12 November 1842 at Langford Grove in Maldon, Essex. In his early years he suffered from frailty and poor health.JOURNAL, The Popular Science Monthly, Sketch of Lord Rayleigh, 840 ff,books.google.com/books?id=fiwDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA840, October 1884, 25, 46, Bonnier Corporation, He attended Eton College and Harrow School (each for only a short period), before going on to the University of Cambridge in 1861 where he studied mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree (Senior Wrangler and 1st Smith’s Prize) in 1865, and a Master of Arts in 1868.{{acad }} He was subsequently elected to a fellowship of Trinity. He held the post until his marriage to Evelyn Balfour, daughter of James Maitland Balfour, in 1871. He had three sons with her.One son, Robert Strutt, 4th Baron Rayleigh, was also an eminent physicist and fellow of the Royal Society.WEB , In 1873, on the death of his father, John Strutt, 2nd Baron Rayleigh, he inherited the Barony of Rayleigh.He was the second Cavendish Professor of Physics at the University of Cambridge (following James Clerk Maxwell), from 1879 to 1884. He first described dynamic soaring by seabirds in 1883, in the British journal Nature.JOURNAL, RAYLEIGH, John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, The soaring of birds, Nature (journal), Nature, 1883, 27, 701, 534–535, 10.1038/027534a0, 1883Natur..27..534R, 45898842, free, From 1887 to 1905 he was professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution.Around the year 1900 Rayleigh developed the duplex (combination of two) theory of human sound localisation using two binaural cues, interaural phase difference (IPD) and interaural level difference (ILD) (based on analysis of a spherical head with no external pinnae). The theory posits that we use two primary cues for sound lateralisation, using the difference in the phases of sinusoidal components of the sound and the difference in amplitude (level) between the two ears.File:Lord Rayleigh Vanity Fair 21 December 1899.jpg|thumb|160px|Caricature of Lord Rayleigh in the London magazine Vanity Fair, 1899]]In 1904 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics “for his investigations of the densities of the most important gases and for his discovery of argon in connection with these studies”.During the First World War, he was president of the government’s Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, which was located at the National Physical Laboratory, and chaired by Richard Glazebrook.BOOK, Constable and company Limited, Lanchester, Frederick William, Frederick W. Lanchester, Aircraft in Warfare, London, 1916, 163, :s:Aircraft in Warfare (1916), In 1919, Rayleigh served as president of the Society for Psychical Research.WEB, Past Presidents,www.spr.ac.uk/page/past-presidents-parapsychology, Society for Psychical Research, 19 November 2014, dead,www.spr.ac.uk/page/past-presidents-parapsychology," title="web.archive.org/web/20150223112644www.spr.ac.uk/page/past-presidents-parapsychology,">web.archive.org/web/20150223112644www.spr.ac.uk/page/past-presidents-parapsychology, 23 February 2015, dmy-all, As an advocate that simplicity and theory be part of the scientific method, Rayleigh argued for the principle of similitude.Rayleigh was elected fellow of the Royal Society on 12 June 1873, and served as president of the Royal Society from 1905 to 1908. From time to time he participated in the House of Lords; however, he spoke up only if politics attempted to become involved in science.Many of the papers that he wrote on lubricationJOURNAL, Rayleigh, Lord, 1918, I. Notes on the theory of lubrication,www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14786440108635730, The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, en, 35, 205, 1–12, 10.1080/14786440108635730, are now recognized as early classical contributions to the field of tribology. For these contributions, he was named as one of the 23 “Men of Tribology” by Duncan Dowson.JOURNAL, Dowson, Duncan, 1979-01-01, Men of Tribology: John William Strutt (Lord Rayleigh) (1842–1919) and Beauchamp Tower (1845–1904),asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/tribology/article/101/1/1/430997/Men-of-Tribology-John-William-Strutt-Lord-Rayleigh, Journal of Lubrication Technology, en, 101, 1, 1–7, 10.1115/1.3453272, 0022-2305, free, He died on 30 June 1919, at his home in Witham, Essex.WEB, John Strutt, Lord Rayleigh,www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/john-strutt-lord-rayleigh, Westminster Abbey, 7 May 2019, en, He was succeeded, as the 4th Lord Rayleigh, by his son Robert John Strutt, another well-known physicist. Lord Rayleigh was buried in the graveyard of All Saints’ Church in Terling in Essex. There is a memorial to him by Derwent Wood in St Andrew’s Chapel at Westminster Abbey.The Abbey Scientists, Hall, A. R. p. 59: London; Roger & Robert Nicholson; 1966

Religious views

Rayleigh was an Anglican. Though he did not write about the relationship of science and religion, he retained a personal interest in spiritual matters.Peter J. Bowler (2014). Reconciling Science and Religion: The Debate in Early-Twentieth-Century Britain, University of Chicago Press. p. 35 When his scientific papers were to be published in a collection by the Cambridge University Press, Strutt wanted to include a quotation from the Bible, but he was discouraged from doing so, as he later reported:{{Blockquote|When I was bringing out my Scientific Papers I proposed a motto from the Psalms, “The Works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.” The Secretary to the Press suggested with many apologies that the reader might suppose that I was the Lord.Robert John Strutt Baron Rayleigh (1924). John William Strutt: Third Baron Rayleigh, O.M., F.R.S., Sometime President of the Royal Society and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, E. Arnold & Company, p. 307Lord Rayleigh (Robert John Strutt), John William Strutt Baron Rayleigh (1964). “An Appraisal of Rayleigh”, Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, Office of Aerospace Research, U.S. Air Force. p. 1150.}}Still, he had his wish and the quotation was printed in the five-volume collection of scientific papers. In a letter to a family member, he wrote about his rejection of materialism and spoke of Jesus Christ as a moral teacher:{{Blockquote|I have never thought the materialist view possible, and I look to a power beyond what we see, and to a life in which we may at least hope to take part. What is more, I think that Christ and indeed other spiritually gifted men see further and truer than I do, and I wish to follow them as far as I can.|Rayleigh (1910)Melba Phillips (1992), The Life and Times of Modern Physics: History of Physics II. American Institute of Physics. p. 50As quoted in R. J. Strutt. John William Strutt. p. 361. in Reconciling Science and Religion: The Debate in Early-Twentieth-Century Britain, by Peter J. Bowler (2014). p. 35Sir William Gavin (1967). Ninety Years of Family Farming: The Story of Lord Rayleigh’s and Strutt & Parker Farms. Hutchinson, p. 37}}He held an interest in parapsychology and was an early member of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). He was not convinced of spiritualism but remained open to the possibility of supernatural phenomena.DeYoung, Ursula. (2011). A Vision of Modern Science: John Tyndall and the Role of the Scientist in Victorian Culture. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 178. {{ISBN|978-0-230-11053-3}} Rayleigh was the president of the SPR in 1919. He gave a presidential address in the year of his death but did not come to any definite conclusions.Haynes, Renee. (1982). The Society for Psychical Research 1882–1982: A History. London: MacDonald & Co. p. 198. {{ISBN|978-0-356-07875-5}}Lindsay, Robert Bruce. (1970). Men of Physics Lord Rayleigh–The Man and His Work. Pergamon Press. pp. 227–242. {{ISBN|978-1-4831-1435-4}}

Honours and awards

The lunar crater Rayleigh as well as the Martian crater Rayleigh were named in his honour.{{GPN|4966|name=Lunar crater Rayleigh}}{{GPN|4967|name=Martian crater Rayleigh}} The asteroid 22740 Rayleigh was named after him on 1 June 2007.WEB

• Smith’s Prize (1864)
• Royal Medal (1882)
• Member of the American Philosophical Society (1886)
• Matteucci Medal (1894)
• Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1897)
• Copley Medal (1899)
• Nobel Prize in Physics (1904)
• Elliott Cresson Medal (1913)
• Rumford Medal (1914)

Lord Rayleigh was among the original recipients of the Order of Merit (OM) in the 1902 Coronation Honours list published on 26 June 1902,NEWSPAPER THE TIMES, The Coronation Honours, 26 June 1902, 5, 36804, and received the order from King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on 8 August 1902.NEWSPAPER THE TIMES, Court Circular, 9 August 1902, 6, 36842, {{London Gazette|issue=27470|page=5679|date=2 September 1902|}}He received the degree of Doctor mathematicae (honoris causa) from the Royal Frederick University on 6 September 1902, when they celebrated the centennial of the birth of mathematician Niels Henrik Abel.NEWSPAPER THE TIMES, Foreign degrees for British men of Science, 8 September 1902, 4, 36867, WEB,www.uio.no/om/tall-og-fakta/aresdoktorer/tidligere-aresdoktorer/1902-1910/, Honorary doctorates from the University of Oslo 1902–1910, (in Norwegian)Sir William Ramsay, his co-worker in the investigation to discover argon described Rayleigh as “the greatest man alive” while speaking to Lady Ramsay during his last illness.BOOK, Ninety Years of Family Farming, Gavin, Sir William, Hutchinson of London, 1967, 24, H. M. Hyndman said of Rayleigh that “no man ever showed less consciousness of great genius”.

Bibliography

(File:Rayleigh, John William Strutt – Theory of sound, 1894 – BEIC 6738003.jpg|thumb|Theory of sound, 1894)

• The Theory of Sound vol. I (London : Macmillan, 1877, 1894) (alternative link: Bibliothèque Nationale de France OR (Cambridge: University Press, reissued 2011, {{ISBN|978-1-108-03220-9}})
• The Theory of Sound vol.II (London : Macmillan, 1878, 1896) (alternative link: Bibliothèque Nationale de France) OR (Cambridge: University Press, reissued 2011, {{ISBN|978-1-108-03221-6}})
• Scientific papers (Vol. 1: 1869–1881)JOURNAL, Review of Scientific Papers by John William Strutt, Baron Rayleigh, Vols. I–IV, The Athenaeum, 3937, April 11, 1903, 469,books.google.com/books?id=oKA5AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA469, (Cambridge : University Press, 1899–1920, reissued by the publisher 2011, {{ISBN|978-0-511-70396-6}})
• Scientific papers (Vol. 2: 1881–1887) (Cambridge : University Press, 1899–1920, reissued by the publisher 2011, {{ISBN|978-0-511-70397-3}})
• Scientific papers (Vol. 3: 1887–1892) (Cambridge : University Press, 1899–1920, reissued by the publisher 2011, {{ISBN|978-0-511-70398-0}})
• Scientific papers (Vol. 4: 1892–1901) (Cambridge : University Press, 1899–1920, reissued by the publisher 2011, {{ISBN|978-0-511-70399-7}})
• Scientific papers (Vol. 5: 1902–1910) (Cambridge : University Press, 1899–1920, reissued by the publisher 2011, {{ISBN|978-0-511-70400-0}})
• Scientific papers (Vol. 6: 1911–1919) (Cambridge : University Press, 1899–1920, reissued by the publisher 2011, {{ISBN|978-0-511-70401-7}})

See also

{{div col|content=

• Acoustic levitation
• Acoustic radiation pressure
• Aeolian harp
• Breath-figure self-assembly
• Calibrated airspeed
• Capillary breakup rheometry
• Clark cell
• Dawes’ limit
• Extremal principles in non-equilibrium thermodynamics
• Eigenvalue perturbation
• Group velocity
• Hanle effect
• Helmholtz minimum dissipation theorem
• Laminar–turbulent transition
• Langmuir–Blodgett trough
• List of presidents of the Royal Society
• Machmeter
• Moffatt eddies
• Multiple scattering theory
• Parametric oscillator
• Rayl, a unit of specific acoustic impedance.
• Rayleigh frequency
• Rayleigh–Sommerfeld diffraction theory
• Rayleigh mixture distribution
• Rayleigh Medal (Institute of Acoustics)
• [hide]Institute of Physics Awards|Rayleigh Medal (Institute of

Physics)[edih]

• Rayleigh bandwidth (signal processing)
• Rayleigh quotient iteration
• Rayleigh’s quotient in vibrations analysis
• Rayleigh sky model
• Representative layer theory
• Talbot effect
• Thermoacoustics
• Thermoacoustic heat engine
• Virial theorem
• Waveguide (acoustics)
• Waveguide (radio frequency)
• WKB approximation}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

• Life of John William Strutt: Third Baron Rayleigh, O.M., F.R.S., (1924) Longmans, Green & Co.

External links

{{Commons|John William Strutt}}{{wikisource author}}

• About John William Strutt
• {{MacTutor Biography|id=Rayleigh}}
• googledrive.com/host/0B-UggpdTDpJEQVlHcUtSOUZ6eGM/GECReviewv7n3p167.htm" title="archive.today/20130411013600googledrive.com/host/0B-UggpdTDpJEQVlHcUtSOUZ6eGM/GECReviewv7n3p167.htm">Lord Rayleigh – the Last of the Great Victorian Polymaths, GEC Review, Volume 7, No. 3, 1992
• {{Internet Archive author |sname=John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh}}
• {{Nobelprize|name=Lord Rayleigh}}

{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1901–1925}}{{1904 Nobel Prize winners}}{{Copley Medallists 1851–1900}}{{De Morgan Medallists}}{{Royal Society presidents 1900s}}{{Acoustics}}{{Scientists whose names are used as non SI units}}{{Chancellors of the University of Cambridge}}{{Authority control}}